Another year come and gone, and I've slaved away these last few days rushing to finish Digimon fic chapters so that must mean it's Odaiba Day! Hope it's been a good year my old faithful readers! Since you've waiting all year, I'll just save the notes for after. Enjoy the chapter!

I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON ADVENTURE, 02, TAMERS, FRONTIER OR SAVERS!

Chapter 51: Into the Fray

The Digital World: Location: Southeastern Warzone

Yolei panted as she broke cover and ducked behind another crumbled wall while Aquilamon sent a Grand Horn attack at a line of attacking Tankmon with the aid of a downed Jetakumon and a few Hippogryphomon.

"Are you alright, Yolei?" Aquilamon shouted.

"Fine!" Yolei managed to shout back.

There was a whimpering sound to her left that caught her attention. After making sure that Aquilamon and the others were holding their own, Yolei slipped out from behind the rubble and darted to the next spot that placed her inside what used to be a house in the deserted village they'd ended up. She found four injured In-Training Digimon flinching every time an attack landed nearby. From the look of them, Yolei could only determine that these Digimon had been fighting until they'd been reduced to their lower level forms.

"Hey, it's alright," she said as she gathered them up into her arms. She recognized one as a Koromon, another as a Yokomon, but the other two she wasn't familiar with. "Let's get you guys to the makeshift medic center."

Yolei looked around, trying to figure out where she'd seen Mimi and Willace herding injured Digimon. Suddenly there was a flash of green and pink and Yolei soon spotted Lillymon with two twin looking gold and black Digimon.

"Bingo!" she cried as she began to make her way there darting from cover to cover.

"Yolei!" Aquilamon roared, getting her attention just in time for her to see a new wave to Tankmon approach and level their guns in her direction.

Yolei crouched down behind the only cover she could find, huddling over the In-Training Digimon, bracing herself, but wasn't at all prepared for the wave of heat that followed a loud thunderous crack of the Tankmon attack. The air around her seemed to evaporate, becoming suffocating and the next thing she knew, she was airborne, flying back. When she collided with the ground she felt what air she had left in her lungs whoosh out and for a moment she lay on the ground stunned.

The sky above her was a blur - probably because her glasses had fallen off - and there was a dull ringing in her ears, drowning out all sound. She could feel the coarse sand of the desert bite into her exposed skin in her hands, neck, and the small of her back where her top had ridden up. Yet at the same time she felt numb, part of her still in the heated air of the blast.

When she was finally able to gulp in a painful lungful of air, she rolled onto her side, groaning as the world spun. She had to lay there for a few moments before she was able to lever herself up on her elbow and took in what she could of her landing spot. She couldn't see much without her glasses, but she saw large shapes around her, meaning that she had to have fallen into a building, and there was something that caught the sunlight a few feet from her. She managed to crawl towards the object and reached for it, relieved when she felt the familiar shape of her glasses. She was less happy to find that one lense was cracked right down the middle and the other was chipped and missing a small piece.

When she looked around this time, she saw the four small shapes of the In-Training Digimon she'd been holding, and felt her heart clench when one of the two she didn't know the names of whimpered and shattering into data.

Wincing, Yolei managed to regain her feet and gathered up the surviving three.

"Yolei!"

Yolei looked up through the hole in the ceiling and saw Aquilamon circling overhead, firing off an occasional attack as he searched for her.

Relief hit her all at once when she saw that he was unharmed. She was about to call out to him when something caught her eye. Half buried in the sand was a stone tablet of some sort, glowing a hot pinkish orange color. The closer she got to it, the more it appeared to glow.

"Yolei?!" a new voice shouted.

The girl looked up again just in time to see Tai riding a beat up looking WarGreymon. Then another glow caught her eye and she saw another tablet in the sand. She carefully kneeled down and brushed the sand off of the tablets.

"Tai get down here!" she shouted when she saw the symbols on the tablets. One of them was a very familiar sun.

She felt the ground shake when WarGreymon and Aquilamon touched down. When Tai reached her side, the second tablet glowed bright orange.

"That's my Crest of Courage!" Tai shouted, staring in awe as the tablets glowed brightly before shrinking down to crystals bearing the same symbols.

"But what's this one?" Yolei asked, pointing to the more pinkish orange crystal.

"Must be yours if it's reacting to you," Tai said, smiling.

"But what's it called? I've never seen it before," Yolei said, taking a look at the symbol, which was a swirl of fire.

"Crests are usually named for the virtue that defines you most," Tai said.

"That defines me most?" Yolei repeated, frowning.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Tai reassured her. "But right now there's a war going on. We have to get your little friends to Mimi.

Yolei nodded, flinching when the action made her head spin.

"Easy," Tai said, holding her steady. "Looks like you hit your head really hard."

"Great," Yolei grumbled.

"Now which direction is that medic camp?" Tai asked, looking around.

"On the other side of that line of Tankmon," Aquilamon sighed.

"They just keep coming," WarGreymon growled.

"Makes things seem almost impossible, doesn't it," Tai said, smiling sadly, surveying what he could see of the battlefield that raged all around them from outside of building where they were temporarily hidden in. "We come bringing reinforcements, and Kushyamon just throws more at us."

The little Digimon in Yolei's arms whimpered. She held them close and grit her teeth.

"We can't give up," she said. "We have so many counting on us. And nothing's impossible. The difference between the impossible and the possible is one's determination to see it through."

The crystal hovering in front of Yolei suddenly flared brilliantly.

"I think you just figured out the name of your crest," Tai said, grinning broadly.

"What?" she asked.

"Yolei, from what I've come to know about you, you've always been the stubborn, headstrong type," Tai said. "To be honest you remind me a bit of myself when I was younger, in that sort of reckless way."

"But I'm not brave like you are," Yolei said, staring at the older teen. "I don't have your courage."

"But what is true courage?" Tai asked, almost philosophically. "They say that true courage isn't an absence of fear, but the result of having conquered your fear. The first time I got my crest to glow, I was scared, almost paralyzed with the fear that I could die. But I pushed through. Matt would say it was because of my stubbornness issues, but I believe that the courage I found that day was only possible because I was too determined to turn back. And that's what you have too. It's the basis of your crest."

"You mean determination?" Yolei asked, eyes widening in surprise when the crystal flashed brightly again.

"Courage and Determination go hand in hand, don't you think?" Tai asked. "One wouldn't really be complete without the other."

Yolei smiled. "Right!"

They both pulled out their digivices and held them up to the crystals that were now vibrating. Yolei squawked in surprise when they dissolved and began to drift into the digivices. Yolei's red grip digivice turned the same hot-pinkish orange color the crystal had been and Tai's turned bright orange. When the DigiDestined of Courage and Determination turned to their partner Digimon they saw that both Aquilamon and WarGreymon looked healed and refreshed, ready to wage war once more.

"Let's find a way to end to this battle," Tai exclaimed, retaking his position on WarGreymon's shoulder.

"We're with ya on that one!" Yolei said, climbing aboard her partner's back with a firm grip on her remaining In-Training charges, amazed when she found that she no longer hurt. Her glasses were even fixed. Her logical mind was trying to figure out how it was possible, but her adventurous streak told it to shut up because this was the Digital World and logic was more like a guideline than an actual rule when it came to how the world worked.

Together they soared into the sky and it didn't take Yolei long to spot the flash of pink that was Lillymon and pinpoint where the makeshift medic area was located. Tai covered her when she and Aquilamon left to drop off the In-Training Digimon into Mimi's capable hands.

"Ready to head back out there?" Yolei asked her partner once she was sure the In-Training Digimon would be alright and Mimi had checked her over for injuries as well. Her crystal had apparently healed all her wounds. She didn't even have a migraine.

"Yes," the large bird beast answered.

Yolei turned back towards the battlefield and saw Tai and WarGreymon holding off another wave of Tankmon with Mai on her digivolved partner Ryuoumon, and a long haired redhead guy dressed in black and orange digital cammies riding on the shoulder of a white and red armored draconic Digimon she'd never seen before with fiery wings, shield and sword.

"Let's send these guys packing," Yolei said, squaring her shoulders in a determined fashion, startling in surprise when her Digivice squealed and Aquilamon began to glow.

"AQUILAMON DIGIVOLVE TOOO… GARUDAMON X!"

Yolei stared in amazement as her partner towered over her. She'd seen Sora's Garudamon a couple times before, but her partner looked very different. Garudamon X didn't have long blonde hair, but rather a headdress and mane of white and black feathers. Garudamon X was also sporting deerskin pants, a red tunic, and shouldered what looked like a missile launcher on his right arm.

"Garudamon...X?" Yolei said, staring up in amazement.

"At your service," Garudamon X said in a deep rumbling voice that reminded her of thunder. "Let's see about helping Tai end this fight."

Yolei nodded, hopping aboard her enormous partner's palm and then slid down to stand upon his shoulder when he lifted her up into position. Then they took to the sky and joined Tai, Mai and the new guy, their auras meeting in a blaze of red-orange light.

The Digital World: Location: Sekizou Mountain

Kari sighed as they took a rest break. It had taken them all morning to hike up the mountain and only now were they reaching the tunnels into the mountain. She looked out towards the lands beyond Sekizou and watched with some trepidation as lights occasionally flashed in the distance, no doubt from the battle happening hundreds of kilometers away.

Before they'd left Sekizou Palace, they'd managed to get in contact with Suzakumon and Takuya in Netsusa to let them know about the new digivice readings south of the city. It turned out that they'd just missed Tai by minutes. It appeared that her older brother was off leading reinforcements from the Rebel Armies of Shinrin and Netsusa into battle with Mai and Yolei.

Kari knew that her brother was a force to be reckoned with, especially with WarGreymon at his side, but she couldn't help but worry for him. She wasn't sure if she could handle seeing him injured as he had been only a little over a week ago at Mai's hand. Technically Mai had been the Zaigou, Paressemon, when she'd hurt Tai, but Kari still didn't completely trust the redhead that her brother was suddenly so close to.

Unlike the Warrior DigiDestined who exuded pure light auras (with the exception of Koichi, whose aura was dark, but still pure), Mai's aura… felt tarnished. She couldn't really put it into words. There was just something unclean about the readhead. Something off putting enough that Kari hadn't really been able to try connecting with the young woman even though everyone else seemed to turn a blind eye to her past transgressions as a Zaigou because Mai had been the unfortunate victim of an evil Digimon. Even Koji hadn't seemed to mind being around her, and his affinity with the Light was stronger than Kari's. Afterall, Light was only an attribute of her character, but Koji was an embodied representative of the element itself.

"You alright?"

Kari looked up and saw Koji leaning against the cliff wall beside her, eyes also focused on the far away battle.

She shrugged. "I've been better, but I've also been worse."

"Worried about Tai?" he asked.

"Of course," Kari murmured, tensing as a bright shock of red-orange light flashed in the distance. "What was that?"

Koji closed his eyes and hummed. "Not sure, but I don't think I need to tell you that a whole lot of energy was just released."

"Like a powerful attack?" Izzi asked from where he was sitting with his laptop nearby.

Koji shook his head. "This is different. It's hard to tell because of all the energies roiling over there, but for an instant something different flared brighter for a moment."

"Different how?"

"Not sure," Koji huffed, his voice verging on irritated. "I haven't experienced an energy surge like that. It's nothing ominous feeling, however, so I don't think it's anything to worry about. What we should be focusing on right now, is finding those newcomers."

"Right," JP said, smirking. "Let's go find our new Warrior friends. Is your computer done tracking them, Izzi?"

"Just about," Izzi confirmed, just before his computer started beeping. "Done. Let's go."

Kari stayed in the back of the group with Michael and Suzie, who was getting a piggyback ride from the American. The hike had been hard on her, the poor girl. For a while, it was a rather boring trek. The tunnels never seemed to change, so everyone was glad that Izzi was able to navigate with his laptop.

"Sure is different from the last time we were in here," JP commented when he decided to hang back and talk with Michael.

"Different how?" the blonde asked.

"Well last time we were in here, we were on our way to meet Aiyokumon and save Takuya."

Kari shivered. She'd almost forgot about that. It seemed so long ago since they'd ended up in this world and lost Takuya. The boy had been back so suddenly and melded into the group so naturally it was still a bit of a shock to remember that he had actually died and was not just gotten lost, separated from the group for a little while. He'd only been dead for about a week before they'd got him back. Despite his death being so traumatic, so much had happened that his return had just kind of slapped a bandaid over the whole incident so that everyone could dwell on the next horrific thing.

"Do you hear that?" Koji suddenly asked, halting everyone in their tracks.

Kari strained her hearing, but she couldn't and looked towards the Digimon. Gatomon's tail thrashed about in a nervous manner, her ears twitching. Lopmon's ears had shot straight up and were quivering. Betamon and Tentomon tilted their heads for a moment, but simply shook them negatively.

"I hear it," both Lopmon and Gatomon suddenly declared.

"What is it?" Michael asked, slipping Suzie off his shoulders and set her on his hip.

"Humming," Lopmon said. "Like a song."

"Like a lullabye," Gatomon added, "A really creepy one."

"There's power behind it," Koji muttered. "I wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't for this numb feeling I started to get in my head."

"What do we do about it?" Izzi asked.

"Can you get your laptop to give off white noise?" Koji asked. "It should be fine while we're still this far from the source, but I don't think I want to know what will happen if we listen to it without some sort of interference."

"Right," Izzi said, nodding as he tapped at his computer a little bit and got it to make a constant buzzing staticy sound.

"Better?" Koji asked Gatomon and Lopmon.

"It's annoying, but I can't hear the humming now," Gatomon said, jumping up to perch on Kari's shoulder.

"Do we continue as we are or should I start looking for a detour?" Izzi asked.

"We don't know the source of the humming," Koji said, scowling, "but we are in former Zaigou territory and should definitely be cautious. I say we continue as we are, but come up with a few detours in the event we need to change direction."

Izzi nodded and tapped away as the group continued on.

Nothing eventful seemed to happen for a while, but occasionally, Kari fancied she could hear a humming sound every now and again, but the static noise coming from Izzi's laptop prevented her from getting a lock on it.

"It's like it's following us," Gatomon commented.

"What is?" Kari asked.

"The humming," Lopmon answered from where she was walking hand in hand with Suzie beside Michael and Betamon.

"It doesn't like the white noise," Koji said, nodding towards Izzi's computer.

"Should we be worried?" JP asked, looking around at the dimly torch-lit walls of the tunnel they were traveling through.

"I think in this case, it doesn't hurt to be a little paranoid," Koji said.

"Hold up," JP said, grabbing Izzi's shoulder to stop the older teen. "Koji, Kari, you two feel that?"

Kari shared a confused look with Koji before reaching out with her senses trying to feel whatever it was JP was sensing. She frowned when she felt a familiar aura, but couldn't quite put a finger on why it was familiar. Then she felt it. A brief energy spike. She would have missed it if she hadn't been on alert.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Damn it," Koji cursed, drawing his D-Tector. JP followed his lead.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Michael asked.

Then Kari felt another energy spike. Then another only seconds later. Like something was building up.

"I've only felt it a few times," JP admitted. "I wasn't quite in tune with my powers back in my world's Digital World, but this kind of energy-"

JP cut off when Kari felt a huge energy surge and a slight pressure in the air. Suzie whimpered and clung to Michael's side, Lopmon tense in front of them with Betamon at their rear, looking back the way they'd come. Gatomon was tense on Kari's shoulder, fur standing on end. Tentomon buzzed, hovering at head level with Izzi, his antennae twitching.

"Ok, that I felt," Izzi said, voice trembling slightly. "That's like…"

"Every time a bad guy's powered up and become bigger and badder than ever?" Koji asked grimly.

"Yeah."

"Who…?" Kari began only to trail off when the torches flickered and she sensed something behind her. Betamon growled and the entire group turned and stared as a black armored figure seemed to melt out of the shadows.

"Crusademon," Koji growled.

"Crap, almost forgot about him," JP laughed weakly.

"Hello, DigiDestined," the knight drawled. "And why would you be down here? Are you lost? It's a good thing I've found you in that case." Kari gulped as other Digimon seemed to melt out of the shadows. Gazimon, a couple of Devimon, and several she couldn't quite see.

"Guys, now would be a good time to Digivolve," Izzi whispered.

Kari nodded, pulling out her D3.

In a flash of light, Lobomon, Beetlemon, Seadramon and Nefertimon stood in front of them. As the three began to ward off the attackers, Kari, Michael, Suzie, Lopmon, Izzi, and Tentomon turned to run, but were faced with another group of enemy Digimon.

The Digital World: Location: Underground Tunnels Below Southeastern Battlefield

Jeri groaned as she came back to consciousness. The last thing she remembered was Tai and WarGreymon showing up with reinforcements and getting separated from Mimi and Willace. The ground beneath her and Leomon seemed to crumble and… then nothing.

"Are you alright, Jeri?" Leomon asked, coughing slightly as he appeared crouching next to her.

"I'm fine. Where are we?" Jeri asked.

"An underground tunnel," Leomon informed her. "And we're not alone."

Jeri tensed when she heard sounds echoing in the tunnels. Growls and moans mostly.

"I've been holding off enemy Digimon that fell down here with us," Leomon sighed, sinking wearily to his haunches. "Mostly overturned Tankmon."

"Kushyamon doesn't seem to ever run out of them," Jeri mused. "How long was I out?"

"I'm not sure. Half an hour?"

"Thank you for protecting me," Jeri said, smiling sadly up at her partner. "You've always been so good to me, I wish I was more help to you."

"You help plenty," Leomon said gruffly. Jeri couldn't tell in the dim light, but she thought he might be blushing.

"All the same, thank you, Leomon," Jeri said, her smile brightening.

Leomon smiled fondly back before he stood up once more. "We should get moving now that you are awake. I'm not sure how secure the tunnels are, but I don't like the way they shake."

Jeri flinched as the tunnels did just that and dirt started to sift down and debris from the tears that she could see in the ceiling with jagged shards of light beaming down. She nodded and followed her partner further through the tunnels. Over the next hour, she got used to the shaking of the tunnels, which happened less and less as they moved on, but they came across several Digimon on their way. Most were enemy Digimon like Tankmon and Mekanorimon who tried to kill them the moment they spotted the DigiDestined and partner Digimon. Leomon was always quick to act, cutting them down before they could get off a powerful enough attack that could bring down the tunnel. A few were severely injured rebel fighters from Netsusa reduced to their In-Training Level. Jeri treated them as best she could with the supplies and healing crystals she had on her and carried them along. After a few hours of this, Jeri realized that there wasn't any action going on above them, though the sounds of battle could still be heard.

"The battleground has moved on," Leomon mused. "We out of the fight for now."

"I think we've been removed from the fight for a while now," Jeri said just as they were turning another bend in the tunnels before they suddenly came face to face with a woman Digimon wearing a red dress and witch's hat.

Leomon moved in front of Jeri and pulled out his sword, leveling it's point at the woman.

"Are you going to gut me while I'm down?" the woman Digimon asked.

"You're Witchmon," Leomon said. "The likes of you are never honorable. You are part of Kushyamon's army, are you not?"

"I might be. And you're one of the partner Digimon from another world in the company of a DigiDestined child."

Jeri peeked out from behind Leomon and saw Witchmon, laying against the tunnel wall, her broom broken at her feet and a cat shaped shadow on her lap. Her stance was casual, but Jeri noticed the way she was holding her side.

"You're injured," Jeri said, stepping into view.

"Jeri," Leomon said, warningly.

"I am," Witchmon said, her crystal blue eyes sparking in the dim light.

Witchmon and Jeri stared at one another for a moment before Jeri set her armful of In-Training Digimon down by Leomon and approached.

"Are you sure that's wise, child?" Witchmon asked, smiling mischievously, eyes flickering to Leomon as he tensed.

"You haven't attacked me yet," Jeri reasoned, kneeling before Witchmon and took out some healing crystals.

"Perhaps not," Witchmon murmured. "But I am your enemy. Why help me?"

"Because you're hurt," Jeri said. "I don't like seeing others hurt."

Witchmon remained silent as Jeri began treating her wounds. Her shadow cat even let Jeri pet it.

"Thank you, child," Witchmon said when Jeri was done.

"May I ask a question?" Jeri asked, sitting back.

"I suppose. I may even answer, depending on the question."

"Why are you fighting for Kushyamon?"

Witchmon laughed lowly. "Why? Because Lord Kushyamon is immensely powerful. He's taken my world by storm and any resistance is met with death. I choose to fight to live."

"You don't seem to be fighting like your life depends on it," Jeri said. "You haven't made a move to harm me or my friends. Surely if you killed me it would bring you great honor in Kushyamon's eyes."

"Only fools believe that," Witchmon sneered. "It's best to be unnoticed and unremarkable. If you bring attention to yourself, you're only a target for his rage the moment you fail."

"So you don't want to fight for him," Jeri said. "That's why you don't even try to rejoin the battle."

"Yes, child."

"You could change sides. Join the rebels."

"If I fight with you and I'd die the slow death of a traitor. Kushyamon show no mercy to those who turn against him."

"I understand how you feel, but you don't need to fight," Jeri said, shaking her head. "We could always use more healers. I'm not a fighter either. I hate fighting. But… I hate being useless even more. So even though it hurts to see my friends get injured, even though I'm scared to be out here on the front lines… I stay to do my share. To help those I can. If I can save a life… any life… as many lives as I can, I know I'm doing my part. You don't have to be a fighter to make a difference. You don't have to serve Kushyamon to live if you're only going to die anyway in a fight you don't want to participate in," Jeri stood up and held out her hand to Witchmon. "So what do you say? Isn't it better to spend the rest of your days living, making the most of your life with others, or dying, knowing that you were going to die alone for someone who was going to send you to your death one day anyway."

"Well, when put like that," Witchmon drawled, her smile sad, but genuine, as she reached out, took Jeri's hand and stood.

Suddenly there was a flash of yellow light. Leomon shouted for Jeri, holding the In-Training Digimon close, while Witchmon stood in front of her, tensed to fight with her broken broom in hand, doing her best to shield Jeri, but the light dimmed.

Everyone stared in confusion as a yellow stone hovered before Witchmon.

"What is this?" Witchmon asked, allowing Jeri to step beside her. The stone followed her movement so that it was hovering before her.

"I… think this is… a Harmony Stone?" Jeri said in awe as she reached out and took hold of it. She stared down at two mirrored S-curved lines on either side of a circle. She traced the shape and wondered what it mean. She then decided that it didn't matter. She'd found her Harmony Stone and she was going to do what she could to help the others fighting above ground and those who were like Witchmon, fighting a fight they didn't believe in out of fear. She'd been in their situation before, knowing what it was like to be used to hurt others and if she could prevent or help someone who was in the position she once had been in, then she would do everything in her power to help them, like what Takato and the others had done for her.

The stone glowed brightly in her hand and her D-Power vibrated in her pocket. She took out her digivice and startled in surprise when the stone in her hand disintegrated, but the sand from that stone was absorbed into her D-Power, the screen flashing the symbol that had been on the rock, and this time Jeri knew what it meant. As if the digivice had translated its meaning for her.

"Empathy," she whispered, and the screen flash brightly one last time. When the light was gone, Jeri noticed that Witchmon's broom was fixed and Leomon looked strong and healthy, like he was ready to go another few rounds. Even the injured In-Training Digimon seemed to perk up a little.

"Well… shall we?" Jeri asked, smiling brightly. "We've got to get the In-Training Digimon to the field medics and make sure our friends are alright."

Leomon nodded."

"Are you coming with us, Witchmon?" Jeri asked.

"I thought that was obvious by now," Witchmon said, displaying a happier smile as she hopped aboard her broom, her shadow cat perched on her shoulder. "You've given me hope for this world, child. Allow me to take the little ones."

Leomon nodded, cautiously allowing Witchmon to take the five In-Training Digimon they'd managed to rescue in the tunnels.

"Leomon?" Jeri said, holding up her D-Power. "I'm ready when you are."

Leomon smiled proudly at her and felt a surge of power.

"LEOMON DIGIVOLVE TOOO… SABERLEOMON!"

Jeri stared in awe for a moment at her partner after he turned into a large sabertooth tiger Digimon with a big mane of yellow and red striped fur, before boarding his back. She laughed as he blasted the ceiling open with a Howling Crusher attack and jumped out of the hole he'd made with Witchmon flying right on their heels as they reentered the fray once more.

Two more Virtuous Crystals and the first Harmony Stone has been found! Who will find theirs next? How will the battle in the southeast resolve itself? I guess we'll just have to wait until next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!

And once again it's Odaiba Day! This summer, I finished my contract up with Americorps and moved from my parent's place in the country of Minnesota to the wonderful city of Souix Falls, South Dakota with my sister, meaning that I didn't have as much time as I thought I'd have to write these chapters. Unlike my Drowning Memories chapter, I'm very satisfied with out this one turned out even though it is short-ish, being only 3 POVs this time. It is actually a few pages longer than I thought it was, though. YAY!

So Yolei (and Tai) has discovered her what her Virtuous Crystal/Crest is and Jeri's found the first Harmony stone. Yay! I am only just now realizing that all the POVs are from one of the girl's perspectives. Lol. I think my favorite scene to write this chapter was the one with Yolei and Tai. I hope you guys like my interpretation of her character. I just see her as a bit more outgoing and stubborn than the other adventure girls. Mimi was definitely stubborn but she kind of mellowed out in season 2 and Sora has always been a calm reasonable sort of person. And Kari is Kari, enough said.

Yolei just gets so fired up, like Tai and Davis, so I couldn't help but slip in a mentor-Tai moment. Tai's little philosophical speech is actually a loose version of a quote from Nelson Mandela - "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph of it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." Yolei's little we-can't-give-up moment was also a loose Tommy Lasorda quote - "The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination." I found these quotes on BrainyQuote, looking for inspiration for a talk about their crests.

So that's chapter 51 of Ultimate Gathering of the DigiDestined. I STILL have this on hiatus because I'm working on getting Parent Worries caught up (my goal is to update monthly for the rest of the year now that I'm settled in my new home), but I am planing on posting a UGotD chapter for Christmas/New Years this year. If you want to see a certain DigiDestined next chapter, feel free to leave a suggestion in a review or PM.

Thank you guys so much for reading and sticking with me all these years. Happy Odaiba Day! :)