Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Thank you for choosing Hirano's Flowers." Saki politely bowed to the customer. "Have a nice day!"

Once they left, she slumped against the counter and groaned. "I'm so tired..." She whispered.

Running a hand through her short but curly light brown hair, she idly picked at the minute amount of dirt and flower debris on her. Working in a flower shop every day meant that she was used to being dirty, and in a way, she liked knowing that her hard work tending to the flowers meant customers were happy, but who wanted to work every day? 

Every day was the same thing. She would wake up, go to school, leave for the flower shop immediately after her school club hours- in the gardening club, of course- work until the store closes, wash up, eat dinner, do her homework, then go to bed. On weekends, she had to work here all day from opening to closing. Rinse, and repeat.

Saki was so sick and tired of her schedule.

"Stop slouching, young lady!" Her mom scolded her from the backroom where she was tending to the more temperature sensitive plants. "You have to look kind and inviting as the storefront!"

Saki withheld a huge sigh and reluctantly stood up. "Yes, mom..." She halfheartedly answered.

Her mother shook her head. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you? You're supposed to be my Saki: my hopeful blossom that will bloom into a beautiful girl who will someday inherit the business!" She tsk'ed and walked away. "At least the beautiful part was true."

Saki rolled her eyes and smoothed out her light green summer dress underneath her apron. "Because they're your genes, yes yes, mother," she answered with a long suffering sigh. 

She couldn't even complain without her mother coming down on her about how she was being ungrateful, that it was unladylike to complain, that she should hold herself as beautifully as a flower. She loved flowers, but even she had a limit. Working in the family shop meant nothing to her. All her wages only went back to her mother. 

If she could just have one day off, she could do so many things. She could...She could play games. She could go shopping. She could hang out with her classmates and be better friends with the people in the gardening club at school. She could be a normal teenager.

If only her boss wasn't also her mother.

"Saki!" Her mother called out from the backroom. "Do me a favor and take some nice lilies to pass out on the street as advertisement, and make sure you look pretty while you're at it!"

"Yes, mom," Saki monotonously replied, doing as she was told. 

Making sure she looked her best- or else her mother might kill her- Saki pasted on her customer service smile and stood outside of the shop. The flower shop was situated on a popular main street with lots of other stores, so there were always people to entice.

"Need flowers for special occasions? Come to Hirano's Flowers!" Saki announced, holding pure white and pink lilies in her hands. "We have all the flowers to make beautiful bouquets with whatever message you'd like!"

Most people walked passed without a glance, but some stopped to come up to her, interested in getting a flower for free. One boy stood back, hand in his pocket, and frowned thoughtfully at the flowers in her hand.

Noticing his interest, Saki held a lily out to him with a smile. "Would you like a flower? We have more inside!" 

The boy seemed taken aback by her offer. He was dressed in a blue tracksuit jacket, leaving the zipper open to show a yellow t-shirt. He had on cargo pants that ended above his ankles, showing his white and blue sneakers. He had long dark blue hair tied back in a low ponytail, and the rest was covered by a weirdly striped blue bandana.

He blinked a couple times, but slowly reached out and took the flower. "...Do you guys do anniversary bouquets?" He asked quietly after a moment.

Saki smiled. "Yes, we do! I can help you with that, or, well..." She looked down at the flowers in her hands. Her mother would be upset if she didn't finish advertising their store. "My mom can help since she's the boss. Go right on inside."

The boy gave her a grateful nod and walked inside. 

Saki smiled after him and turned back to continue advertising. It was nice to see a boy not get grossed out at the thought of flowers. She wondered what kind of anniversary he was buying for. Could it be for his girlfriend? He looked like he was around her age though, so unless he's been dating since he was 12, it must be for something else. If she had the energy and time, she would've thought he was cute.

Giving out several flowers, all with a forced smile on her face, Saki yelped when a much older man leered down at her. "Pretty flowers from a pretty girl, it must be my lucky day!" He grinned.

She tried to keep the smile on her face to be polite and took a step back, but dread and fear clawed at her when he also took a step forward, making all her progress null. "Um...W-Would you like a free flower?" She forced through her clenched teeth.

"Only if you come with it, little lady," The man smiled, showing yellow teeth. Coupled with his sweat stained shirt and protruding belly, he looked every part a predator.

Beginning to tremble, Saki took a deep breath and was about to run back into the store-

"Excuse me, what's going on here?" The boy from earlier walked up behind her with a challenging frown toward her harasser. "Is everything okay?"

"U-Um," Saki stammered, heart pounding a mile a minute with fear that was quickly morphing into relief. "It's the end of my shift, you can have the rest of these flowers, have a good day sir!" She said quickly, almost shoving the lilies into the creep- the lilies that were wilted and crushed from her anxious hands- and sped back into the shop. 

Hearing footsteps behind her, Saki looked up with dread but relaxed when she noticed it was the boy in the blue tracksuit. The creep had disappeared from her storefront. "...Th-Thank you for stepping in," She whispered, bowing slightly to show her gratitude.

"No problem," The boy responded with a frown. "I hate people like him. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I..." Saki was about to say yes, but paused. "...No. No, I'm not okay," She breathed out. Had she ever been okay? If she had stayed a moment longer, that horrible pervert could've tried to touch her, or, or worse. She's done advertising before, and there have been the occasional weirdo, but this was the first time it had ever gotten so bad. 

Tears welled up in her eyes. And all for what? Just so her mom's store could make a little more money?

The boy instinctively took a step back when he noticed her wet eyes. "H-Hey, it's okay," He awkwardly fumbled over his words. "He's gone now, so don't cry...Um..."

Sniffling, Saki covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry, you only came for flowers. I'll-I'll be okay, I just need to take a breather. Thank you again for that-"

"Saki!" Her mother called out with a disappointed voice as she walked toward the counter from the backroom. "I thought I asked you to hand out flowers outside!"

Something inside her snapped. 

Turning to her mother with glaring eyes, Saki tore her apron off and threw it at her. "I'm leaving!" She yelled, running out of the store in a hurry. She ignored the sound of her mom calling out for her, as well as the boy's surprised gasp, and ran and ran and ran.

She didn't stop running until she reached Yoyogi Park. Slowing to a stop, her chest heaved from the force of her short breaths. Her hands balled into fists, with her nails digging crescent marks into her palms. 

Taking a seat on a deserted bench, she curled up into a ball and tried to slow her sobs. "She just...doesn't understand a thing..!" Her arms trembled around her knees. "All she cares about is the shop, not me...I'm just a free worker...I hate it. I hate it. I hate her!" 

Why couldn't her mother just let her have a break? Why did she have to make her work every day at the flower shop with her? Couldn't she see how much her own daughter was suffering from not being able to do anything but work?

Ever since her mom started to make her work at the store, she had slowly lost all her friends because she didn't have time to hang out with them. She couldn't do anything; All her time was eaten up at the shop.

She was just harassed by some creepy guy and all her mother cared about was whether or not she had brought more customers to their flower shop.

"I wish..." Saki whispered, hot tears running down her face. "I wish I could be free. I want to be able to do something that isn't work...I want to be away from here..."

"Hirano Saki."

Saki lifted her head. "Who said that...?" She hesitantly asked, wiping away her tears. There was no one else around in this part of the park, so who could've-?

Her cellphone buzzed in her skirt pocket, and she took it out. Instead of a regular screen, it was filled with static. A strange circular symbol stared back at her.

"Hirano Saki. Your destiny awaits you. Will you take the risk to try to find your freedom?"

PRESS YES

PRESS NO

Saki furrowed her brow. "What the..? Is this some kind of joke?" Her phone sent her a voicemail message asking her about freedom just as she mentioned it herself? Was someone hacking the phone lines and sending spam?

The voice didn't speak out again, and the screen waited for her input. Both options stood out to her like a looming shadow. It wanted her decision, and it wanted it now.

She clenched her jaw. What did she have to lose at this point? If she went back now, her mother would ground her forever and make her work even more in the shop as punishment.

Saki pressed YES.

"Take the 5:45 train to Shibuya station."

She looked at the time on a nearby clock. 5:42 already. Wiping away the last of her tears, she bolted out of the park and toward the nearest station. She had to stop at a ticket machine and was about to insert a 100 yen coin, but the machine made a noise and spat out a special red ticket stub.

Stunned, Saki took it. Her destiny, huh?

Making it just in time for the train, she hopped on, out of breath. Her phone made a small jingle, as did several other phones on the train, and she realized belatedly that they were also getting the same message as she was. Another strange thing she noticed was that they were all kids, too. All 14 and under.

Saki furrowed her brow, anxious and worried. This wasn't some weird scam targeted to children, was it?

"Transfer to the 6 o'clock train at the Sub level of Shibuya Station."

This sounded sketchier by the minute...

The train soon stopped at Shibuya station, and she headed for the nearest elevator. Several other kids followed after her, and they all looked at each other, lost.

"Did...Did you guys all get a message, too?" One of them asked.

Everyone nodded.

The doors closed and soon they were heading down...and down...and down.

Saki stared through the windows with wide eyes. Since when did Shibuya go down so far underground?

After what seemed to be an eternity but was most likely only a few minutes, the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open, revealing a circular platform full of weirdly shaped and colored trains. Each train was unique; Some were lumpy, some were round, some had weird horns. They came in a variety of colors, too. Pink, blue, brown, red, green. 

The other kids stepped out and Saki slowly followed their lead, almost stumbling down the small steps. "What is this..?" She whispered.

"Your destiny lies before you. You will find the freedom you yearn for, and in time, you will bloom into your own person." 

She looked down at her phone and gulped nervously. "I-I hope so..." She clutched her device in both hands like a safety net and slowly approached the closest train. It was a faded shade of turquoise, somewhere between green and blue, and hesitantly stepped inside.

It had beautiful interior as far as trains went. It wasn't anything like the trains in Tokyo. Rather, it felt more classy, like a private coach. The interior was a warm brown with carpeted floors and velvet seating. No one else was on this train, or at least, in this carriage, and for the first time in her life, Saki felt alone.

Her mother wasn't bearing down at her at least, but she didn't have any friends or classmates with her, either. 

Letting out a quiet sigh, Saki took a seat and leaned back. "Well, this is freedom, isn't it?"

A whistle broke through the silence and the train rumbled underneath her. She turned around in her seat and watched with held breath as the train slowly pulled out of the station. She could see every other train do the same thing, all of them carrying other kids with them. 

Where was this train taking her..?

The train entered the tunnel and her vision of the other trains disappeared. She slowly turned back around and tried to get comfortable, but it just wasn't possible. The silence was stifling. The reality of being the only one on this train was quickly becoming a nightmare, and she fidgeted with her phone to try to distract herself. She had no one to talk to, anyway. There was no one else here, and she didn't have any service, either.

After who knows how many games of snake, Saki was suddenly jolted out of her seat and was sent careening to the floor. "Ow! What-?!" The lights dimmed, bathing the entire train in darkness, but as she pushed herself off the floor, she saw...something. For a moment, her hand wasn't her hand.

It was purple.

A glow of light and a whirring noise caught her attention and she saw her phone a few feet away, having fallen out of her grasp. It glowed so brightly that she had to squint, and all of a sudden, it wasn't a phone anymore. It was some sort of weird device in green and purple. 

Scrambling over to it, Saki picked it up and stared at it in a stupor. "What in the world..?" 

The same symbol from before stared back at her through the small screen on the top left corner.

"Welcome to the Digital World, Saki. This is your D-Tector."

Before Saki could question the voice, the entire carriage was filled with light as all of a sudden, the train rushed out of the tunnel and into the outside world again with a loud whistle. She blinked away the tears and rushed over to the window in awe. "The train is in the air?!"

She could see other tracks to the left and right of her train, all of them somehow suspended in the air without any support beams or anything. The sky was a beautiful blue with clouds so fluffy, she swore she could reach out and pluck them like cotton candy. 

It felt like she had left Tokyo and had entered Wonderland.

Small little blobs caught her eye and she looked up through the window. White blobby...creatures, were flying peacefully through the air, and came closer to the train. They had large black eyes and mouths, and looked more like cute plushies than any animal she had ever seen. 

Saki cautiously waved to one of them and to her surprise, one of them pressed up against the window like a ball of slime. A slightly hysterical giggle left her mouth. "H-Hi! L-Little guy..."

With a coo, the blob flew away with the rest of the flock, leaving her alone again. She slowly slumped down onto a seat. What kind of world had she ended up in?

The train let out another loud whistle and slowed to a stop. All the doors swung open, and Saki took her first step outside into the new world, her white tennis shoes meeting hard steel. The "digital" world. No one else was at this strange station, and hers was the only train that had pulled up here. 

"Maybe there's a conductor I can ask?" Saki whispered hopefully. 

The train moved behind her, almost comically, and the front turned back to look directly at her. "This is Flame Terminal, miss," It spoke to her. "I'm a trailmon, so I'm your train and your conductor."

Her mouth hung open. Her train talked? A train talked. IT TALKED. "I...H-Hello," She stammered. "I'm sorry, I don't know what a trailmon is. Um, where is Flame Terminal exactly?"

Its headlights blinked at her, acting as eyes. "I'm a train digimon, ya know. I may look like a train and act like a train, but I'm alive with feelings!"

"...Okay," Saki uttered. Because what else could she say.

"The Flame Terminal is home to a lot of fire digimon, but if you walk north of here, you'll find the forests that'll lead ya to Forest Terminal."

"Am I supposed to head there?" Saki questioned cautiously. 

The train shrugged. Somehow. It looked like a shrug to her, which was really weird. "Beats me, but I gotta jet. Good luck, miss!" And without missing a beat, it chugged backwards out of the station.

"Wait!" Saki reached out with one hand. "I still have so many questions!"

"You're not the only human here!" The trailmon yelled out as he left. "Find them or ask the locals or something!" And with that, he was gone.

Saki stared after it before turning to look at Flame Terminal. There was a flame lit everywhere she looked; on top of buildings, windows, and from chimneys. Even the buildings looked like they were sculpted clay ovens, except everything was made out of steel.

She took a deep breath, and slowly let it out, trying to fight against her rising panic. "Well...You got your freedom," She whispered to herself.

It was lonelier than she realized.

Chapter Text

"Okay, Saki..." She spoke to herself. "Let's try to find some people. Maybe they can tell you more than what the train did..."

Even though she said this, she couldn't move an inch. Looking down at her feet, she saw that her legs were trembling.

Saki hugged herself. There was no one else around, and she didn't know who she could trust here. What if the locals were like the creep who tried to touch her? What if they weren't nice? Would she starve to death, or worse? 

"I..." She gulped. "I...I'm here to find my destiny. My destiny. It means freedom..." She repeated to herself like some sort of mantra. If she said it enough, maybe she would finally feel brave.

Clenching her fists, she forced herself to move. Right foot first. It shook, and it felt like her knees would give out on her, but they held their strength. She took another step, left foot this time. Right. Left. Right. Left.

Soon enough, she had left the station and walked into the town proper. The steel ground beneath her clanked with every step, and she winced at how loud she was. Everywhere she looked, nothing stood out as familiar. Every surface was covered in a dark grey steel; cold and uninviting. At times, she could see small shadows in the corner of her eye, but by the time she turned to look, they were gone, and it didn't help her steadily rising panic.

There were no other footsteps she could hear, but a little farther away, she could hear faint giggling and conversation.

Saki perked up and walked faster. People? 

Turning around at one of the buildings, she froze when instead of the humanoid figures she was expecting, she was greeted with pink birds. These birds weren't regular sized birds, either, they were about the same size as a five year old. 

"...And then the Trailmons all left, saying they're going to pick up humans!" One of the birds finished their story.

The others gasped. "Really? There's going to be humans coming? Oh," A bird wrung their hand-like wings together. "Should we greet them?"

"We should! We should!" 

"Us Biyomon are the nicest digimon around, and we don't want any of the Pagumon or Gazimon to scare them away. We could ask Palmon for help, too!"

Biyomon? Pagumon? Poyomon? All these "mons" were making her head spin, but Saki really didn't have any choice but to approach them. "Um, excuse me?" Saki called out politely. The birds turned to her in surprise. "Hello, my name is Hirano Saki. Could you help me?" 

"Oh wow!" A Biyomon chirruped. "A human is already here!"

One of them came up to her and shook her hand. "Hello, Saki!" It greeted her happily with a lyrical voice. "Welcome to the Digital World! I'm sorry we haven't got a better welcome party for you, but I hope you enjoy your time here! We weren't expecting the humans to arrive for a while so you're a surprise to us all!" 

Saki stared at them with wide eyes, and smiled. "Th-Thank you. I'm uh, sorry. This is all a little strange for me..."

Another Biyomon came up and tugged at her skirt. It was a good thing she wore white leggings underneath. "We'll help you! We'll bring you to where the Palmon live. Flame Terminal isn't really a nice place for humans, I'm sure. You look like you'll burn easy!"

She laughed nervously at the thought. "Yeah, I don't do well near fire. Humans aren't very fireproof. What are Palmon?"

They began to tug her toward the direction of the far-off forests outside of the village. "Palmon are plant digimon!" One of the Biyos answered. "They live in the forest just outside!"

"And," Saki interrupted. "What are digimon? And the Digital World?"

"Digimon is short for digital monsters!" Biyomon answered happily. "We come in all shapes and sizes here in the Digital World. Our world is different from the human world, and we've never heard of humans coming here before!"

Saki blinked. "So...everything here is...digital?"

"Yup! We're all made up of data!"

Saki looked down at herself. If this world was fully digital, then was she also digital now that she had come here? There was a Japanese myth that if a human enters the spirit world, they can never leave. Did the same apply to her here?

"Okay, hang on tight!"

Before Saki could ask, two of the Biyomons flew up and lifted her with them by her shoulders using their yellow talons. "Whoa!" She yelped, her hands instinctively holding her dress down. "We-We're flying there?!"

"We have to! The land around Flame Terminal was digitized, so you can't walk there!"

Digitized?

Saki looked down and gasped at what she saw.

Where there used to be ground connecting the terminal to the rest of the land, it was now a gaping void. There was absolutely nothing that could be seen down below except a strange grey mist. It was all just a huge maw that seemed to extend down forever.

Twisting her head around, she saw that Flame Terminal was technically floating as well. Did all the lands "float" around the core of the earth here, held up by the mist?

The flight was short, and soon enough, she was gently let down on lush grass. "Thank you for the lift." She patted one of the Biyomons on the head. It blushed and nuzzled against her.

They walked the rest of the way deeper into the forest. It was a beautiful forest, too. The grass was bright green and shining with fresh dew. The trees grew tall and healthy, and the skies above promised sunny days.

It seemed like a paradise so far.

"This way, this way!" A Biyomon tugged her into the foliage.

They walked for a long while, so long that Saki was starting to get tired. She stood a lot at work but this pace was a little brutal on her poor legs, and tennis shoes weren't the best for long walks. They talked in the meanwhile, with Saki firing off all the questions that came to mind at the Biyomons.

Did they have males and females? No, but they can look masculine or feminine.

Did they have individual names or were they only referred to as their race? They have names but only when they're with their own kind. Otherwise, they're Biyomon to others.

How come they knew she was a human? Instinct, and her strange appearance gave her away.

Saki smiled brightly down at them while they chatted. It was nice to talk to people normally, even if they weren't the same species as her. Having friends again was so nice.

Finally, after walking for an hour or so, they reached a clearing in the forest. There were small homes carved into the trees, with vines holding everything together. Flowers sprouted everywhere she looked, in whites, greens, pinks, and yellows. The strangest thing were the walking and talking plants, the Palmons if Saki guessed correctly.

They looked like lily reds, except the stems were bipedal creatures with big bulbous black eyes, and the ends of their hands and feet had claws. Even though they were alien-looking, Saki found them to be quite adorable.

"Palmon!" A Biyomon greeted with a chirrup. "We brought a human!"

Suddenly, all activity within the little village stopped, and several pairs of large eyes turned to look at Saki. She froze under their gaze, and gave them a shy smile. The Biyomons said they were nice, but it didn't hurt to be polite, just in case. "H-Hello. My name is Hirano Saki, it's nice to meet all of you." She threw in a small bow as well, because why not.

The Palmon turned to each other, whispering, and then came up to her in smiling droves. "Welcome to our village!" They greeted her in unison. 

"Biyomon," A Palmon addressed one of her bird friends. "Is there a reason you brought a human here?"

"We knew that you guys can help her better than us!" Biyomon responded. "Flame Terminal isn't safe for a human right now, and she isn't fireproof at all. Can you help her?"

"Of course, leave it to us!" Palmon puffed up its chest and turned to the only human. "Here, Saki. You can rest at our great cherry blossom tree. The shade here is the best, especially next to the pond with the lotuses!" 

Saki perked up and nodded, following after the small plant-like digimon. It led her to the base of a large tree, larger than any others around. Its branches were filled to the brim with cherry blossom blooms, and several of the falling petals had been gathered on the ground to be used as a seat. In front of it and in the middle of the village was a pond, again, filled with flowers. There were lotuses, water lilies, hyacinths, all kinds of flowers imaginable. 

It was beautiful, and the sight of it took her breath away. "This is amazing..." Saki whispered, lowering herself into a pile of cherry blossom petals.

"It's our village's pride and joy!" Palmon grinned. "Legend has it that our ancestor fell asleep here, and the very forest grew these beautiful flowers to keep her company!" It gestured to the clearing of flora where other Palmons were going about their business to begin a feast. "It's said that our ancestor will wake up when the time is right."

"Wow..." Saki breathed out in awe, looking at the centuries old cherry blossom tree. "Is that her right there?" She pointed at a carving in the bark. It featured a six petaled flower with a feminine figure, and strange writing below it.

"That's her!" The Palmon confirmed. "Her name has been lost to time, but the writing underneath her describes her as a being who bloomed in heaven and only wants peace and prosperity for everyone."

Saki smiled softly. "She sounds really nice..." She wished she could be like that. 

Some Palmons came up and offered her fresh water as well as some roots for her to eat. It was really simple, but her growling stomach made sure she couldn't refuse and she ended up asking for seconds. The Biyomon stayed for a while, catching up with their fellow rookie level digimons. They made sure to include Saki in their discussions as well, even though she could barely keep up since she didn't know much about their world and their affairs. 

It had been such a long time since she could sit down and talk to people for fun, and she almost felt like crying from pure joy. It seemed like her D-Tector was right; this world did mean freedom. 

Suddenly, the ground underneath them rumbled faintly, and all the festivities stopped. Everyone turned to look in the direction of Flame Terminal, where the tremors originated from. A Biyomon flew high into the air for a few minutes and gasped. "Everyone! The land connecting the continent and Flame Terminal is back!"

Everyone jumped and shouted in joy. "Hurray!" A Palmon cheered.

"Someone must've defeated Cerberumon!" A Biyomon crowed. 

"Cerberumon?" Saki questioned, lost. "Is that a bad digimon?"

"Very bad!" A Biyomon nodded. "He's been terrorizing Flame Terminal for weeks, bullying all of us smaller digimon. Do you remember the gorge we had to fly you over? That was his doing! He was just plain bad news!"

Her eyes widened. A digimon could do that? 

"Someone must've come and sent him on his way!" The Biyomon continued with a happy expression. "Now we can have our fire festivals again!"

"Hurray!" Everyone cheered.

Saki frowned to herself. "Who would come to save the Terminal now, after all this time?"

"Maybe it's a legendary warrior!" The Palmon next to her suggested. "The legendary warriors disappeared a long time ago after they brought peace to the lands, but legend has it that they'll come back when the Digital World needs them! Our ancestor was a legendary warrior, too! Though..." It tapped its chin thoughtfully. "There was something about how her true nature was split to other forests..."

Legendary Warriors? They sounded so wonderful, but there was no way they would still be alive now. Then again, if everything was digital, then data could always be recovered, right..?

"Since our home is safe again, we'll be heading back now!" Biyomon informed her. "Are you okay staying here? The Palmons will take care of you!"

Saki smiled and nodded. "I'll be fine here, but I don't want to be a burden!" She held up two determined fists. "I work at a flower shop, so please let me help out with the gardening or something!"

Palmon nodded with a smile. "You don't have to work, only if you want to! You're welcome to stay however long you want!" 

Touched by its kindness, Saki knelt down and hugged the plant. "Thank you...You've all been so kind to me," She sniffed. "I'll be sure to repay you all."

Chapter Text

Her first night spent in the Digital World had been, astonishingly, peaceful.

When night time came, Saki was guided to a guest house in the Palmon village, but there was a problem.

The house was too small for a human like her.

The Palmon were visibly disappointed that they couldn't offer her a comfortable place to stay, so Saki shook her head and said she would sleep outside. It was a beautiful night, and in an unfamiliar world, the closest things she had to home were the flowers. 

Hearing her reasoning, the Palmon were quick to make some bedding in front of the ancestral tree for her, made of flower petals and large leaves. 

Plopping herself down with an oomph, Saki found it surprisingly comfortable and warm, and fell asleep quickly under the beautiful clear night sky above her.

A few hours later, she found herself waking up first, before anyone else, and so she tidied her bed and sat with her back against the ancestral tree, staring up at the rich green leaves.

So much had happened. 

She had had another horrible day at work, to the point where she stormed out like a child. Then, she received a strange message on her phone as soon as she said out loud that she didn't want to be here anymore.

It had such convenient timing, too. Had the voice been waiting for her? But then, there were so many other kids, her age and younger, that had gathered because a voice on their cellphone had told them to. What had happened to those other kids? Were they here, in a land full of strange creatures? Or did they go back home when the Trailmon left again?

Could she go home?

"Oh, good morning, Saki!" A Palmon greeted her as soon as it left its treehut. "You're up very early!"

Looking at her new friend, Saki wondered. Did she want to go home?

"Good morning, Palmon!" She waved back with a smile. "I'm used to getting ready for work at this time, that's why."

It tilted its head and blinked its large black eyes at her, confused. "You work? But I thought kids don't work in the human world?"

Saki looked away awkwardly. "They're not supposed to..." she answered vaguely, "but my mom makes me help around the shop."

It frowned. "That's not something a mom should do! Moms should look out and provide for their kids. At least, that's what I think."

'Think'? "Do digimon not have parents?" She asked.

It paused when it saw her confused face. "It's rare for digimon to have parents; most of us are born at the Village of Beginnings. Swanmon is like everyone's mom, and they always make sure we're all taken care of!" It lit up. "Maybe you should ask Swanmon to be your mom!"

Saki couldn't help but giggle. "Maybe I will," she replied, humoring her friend.

"Since you're awake, would you like to help me collect breakfast?" It offered.

She nodded. "Sure! Let me know what you want me to do."

It took her to the other end of the village, to the most natural and well-grown fruit garden she had ever seen; oranges, bananas, apples, pomegranates, grapes, lemons, and loads of other strange and exotic fruit that she had never seen before. There were even bunches of lettuce, spinach, sage, basil, everything that was edible. Despite the fact that a bunch of these trees shouldn't be blooming in the moderately temperate weather, they all bore a healthy harvest.

Amazed, Saki took initiative and began picking all kinds of fruits, making sure to pluck them at the stem without hurting the trees. Palmon followed suit, and as the morning began to stretch, more and more Palmons came to help.

Passing off a full basket for an empty one among everyone else like a well-oiled machine, Saki wondered if this was what belonging felt like.

This could be home...

After the lunch hour and another basket of delicious fruit and vegetables that tasted nothing like they should, Saki sat in front of the clear spring pond, relaxing in the warm sun.

She wasn't the only one, either. All the Palmon were laying on the grass with their hands and feet buried in the dirt. The large flowers on their heads were open wide in full bloom to absorb as much sunlight as possible, making Saki feel like she was surrounded by tropical blossoms. 

"This is nice..." she murmured with her eyes closed, content.

"Mmhmm!" A Palmon close by agreed with a satisfied nod. "We love the warmth of the sun and the cool soil underneath our feet. Why don't you try, Saki?"

"Sure," she readily agreed, and took off her tennis shoes.

With a slight moment of hesitation, she lightly placed her feet against the dirt. It was cool and moist, as they said, and it contrasted nicely with the warm light of the sun on her exposed arms and calves.

"This really is nice," she marveled. She had never really touched fresh soil like this in the shop.

It beamed at her. "I'm so glad! It's like you're really one of us!"

Her chest warmed at the words, and Saki gave it a wide smile. "Yeah!"

Suddenly, a loud buzzing could be heard throughout the village, and everyone stopped sunbathing for a moment and looked around in confusion. "What was that?" A Palmon asked.

"I'm not sure..." another Palmon replied, apprehensive.

With an explosion of leaves, a large bug-like digimon burst out from the forest with a loud wordless cry. 

Its wings were an eye-catching bright purple with strange golden marks on them, like all-seeing eyes. Its body was like a bee's, but its black and yellow exoskeleton was solid like armor, and the protruding purple stinger at its back end was horrifyingly large. Most scary of all was its head; it burst out with a plume of red petals, but its face was featureless except for its large black mandibles, open to show dripping saliva. 

"Oh no..!" A Palmon exclaimed with horror. "Flymon!"

Alarmed, Saki quickly put on her shoes and looked around desperately for an answer. "Flymon?"

A Palmon took her hand and tugged her to run. "Flymon is an insect digimon that cares about nothing except itself!" It explained in a hurry. "If it gets mad enough, it will--"

Before the Palmon could finish its sentence, the flymon opened its mandibles and let out a piercing shriek.

Unlike before where it was more of a sound of arrival, this one was eardrum-piercingly loud, to the point where hearing became impossible.

Covering her ears, Saki clenched her eyes in pain as the sound felt like it was reverberating straight into her brain. "Ow..!"

All the Palmon had also done the same, which meant no one had been able to run.

Once Flymon finally stopped screeching, it flew over their heads, knocking Saki onto the ground--and almost skimming some of the Palmon-- and headed straight for the harvest. Without waiting, it began to feast, regardless of the fact that it was trespassing and stealing. Instead of eating any of the fruit available, however, a strange stream of color began emitting from the plants, almost like a ribbon of film or a barcode.

"Hey!" A Palmon shouted at it, shocked. "That's our village's fractal code! Please stop eating it!"

Struggling to get up, Saki looked over at it with wide eyes. She had seen its mouth move, but she heard nothing come out. In fact, she couldn't hear anything. Not the loud buzzing from Flymon, the trees rustling from its powerful wings, or the Palmons shouting for it to stop eating their food.

Getting onto her bare feet, she took a step back, and another, until she found her back hitting the large trunk of the Ancestral Tree. Looking up at the massive tree that supposedly held the Palmon's powerful ancestor, Saki wrung her hands in her dress. 

Shouldn't she wake up?

Even though they were much smaller, several of the Palmon rushed up to the dangerous predator and lashed out with their hands. From their claws, long purple vines extended like whips and tried to buffet the Flymon, some of them trying to tie it down, but the large insect flapped its wings, causing a gust of dust that blew away the little plant digimon. 

They fell back with a pained whimper, curling up in the dirt for comfort, and the remaining Palmon all slowly took a step back, all of them scared and helpless.

Saki watched until her eyes blurred over with tears. She still couldn't hear a single thing from the earlier screech, but she wouldn't wish to. She didn't want to hear the sounds of all her new friends crying out in pain, watching helplessly as this horrible new creature ate their village's data. Even now, she could see some of the trees disappearing in a ribbon of code, and soon, it would move onto eat the rest of the village.

Her friends were being terrorized.

Their home was disappearing.

She clenched her hands. What could she do..? She was just a normal human. She didn't have any weird powers or any special armor. 

Turning to the Ancestral Tree again, she pounded her fists against the bark. "Wake up!" She shouted. She couldn't hear herself, but she knew by the strain in her throat that she was screaming as loud as she could. "You're supposed to wake up when the time is right, right?! The Palmon are in danger! Do something!"

The tree stayed silent.

Clenching her eyes shut, she bowed her head against the tree, helpless. Did this ancestor not want to help her people? Did she expect them to worship her without giving anything back to them? This ancestor was as terrible as her own mom. 

She wasn't going to stand for this.

Snapping her eyes open, she spun around and rushed in front of the Flymon, unable to hear two new male voices from the edge of the village calling out for her to stop. 

She stopped in front of the Flymon, with all the Palmon cowering behind her, and spread her arms out. "Stop!" She yelled determinedly. "I won't let you hurt my new friends!" 

The Flymon opened its mandibles wide open in an effort to intimidate her, but even though her legs shook from fear, she stood strong.

A Palmon hugged her leg. "Saki, no..!" It cried out. "You'll get hurt!"

Surprisingly, Saki was able to hear again. Only a little, and it was all muffled, but she was able to make out what it was saying to her.

"Yeah, we don't want to see you hurt, Saki!" Another Palmon chimed in, crying. "You're our dear friend!"

Saki shook her head. "I don't care if I get hurt. You guys are my first friends, and I won't let this jerk ruin your home!" She looked up at the Flymon with a glare. "It's my home too!" 

Her dress pocket began to feel warm, and something inside her pulsed.

"Hey, get away from it!" A voice called out from behind them.

Saki turned around in surprise, and saw a boy her age and a much younger boy run up with their D-Tectors in their hands. 

Wait. D-Tector!

She reached into the very same pocket that was near-burning her leg, and pulled out her own D-Tector. The green and purple device was glowing, and the screen showed a mysterious symbol. It looked familiar...

Whipping around to look at the Ancestral Tree, she saw the same symbol on the trunk, glowing just as brilliantly as her screen. The glow magnified and focused, showing a strange armor-like bust. It had white petals fanning out, and in the center was a yellow and purple bulb, guarded by two staffs.

The older boy stopped to gape. "No way. A legendary warrior?!"

"Wow!" The younger one marveled with an awed gaze.

"Ancestor!" The Palmon all exclaimed in joy.

Saki held up her D-Tector, hoping with all her heart, and pushed the button. "It is time for you to blossom," The feminine voice from before echoed.

The spirit was then absorbed into her D-Tector, and with a newfound resolution, she knew what to do.

Holding up her D-Tector against her left hand, a ribbon of code appeared. "Execute!" Saki yelled. "Spirit Evolution!"

Her body was then wrapped in ribbons of code, hiding her from the world. From within, she could feel herself peel away. Her skin, her muscles, her bones, until all that was left was the very essence of her being. Despite the alien feeling of shedding her physical self, there was no pain. It was more like...like being a new version of herself.

The armor appeared in front of her before expanding into a new body. Each piece attached to her; arms, legs, armor, cloth. Her helmet came last, covering the majority of her face, leaving only her mouth exposed, but her vision and breathing weren't affected at all.

Experimentally flexing her hands, she felt two staffs appear in them. One was of a white and black snake circling around each other underneath a pair of golden wings, like the symbol used at hospitals. The other was a multicolored lotus that seemed to shimmer with heavenly power; the same shape as her helmet, in fact.

Spinning around, she felt white petal-like drapes billowing as her sleeves and as her dress, while her front was somewhat covered by a purple brassiere armor the same shade as her new skin. Her new green beaded belt jangled at her hips, and her black pointed shoes tapped the ground elegantly when she landed.

"Lotosmon!" She introduced herself with a light-filled whirl, smiling underneath her purple and yellow lotus-shaped helmet. "The flower that blooms in heaven!"

The Palmon knelt before her with joyous tears in their eyes, while the two boys that had showed up were watching with amazement. The Flymon, however, hissed at the sudden light and curled to attack her with its stinger.

"You dare attack my friends?!" Lotosmon frowned in disapproval. "You dare come in and wreak havoc for your own selfish gain?!" She lifted the staff in her left hand. "Face your punishment! Serpent Ruin!"

She arched the staff and a whip made of black energy shot out, lashing the intruder. It cried out in pain, and its impenetrable armor finally featured a crack. It screeched in her direction and flapped its wings, blowing a gust of poisonous powder. 

Covering her face, Lotosmon winced as the toxic fumes reached her. It burned her throat and the parts of her skin that weren't covered. It hurt so much, she didn't want to move...

"Hey! We'll help out!" The older boy shouted in her direction, waving his black and red D-Tector.

"No!" Lotosmon yelled back, using her staff to fan away most of the poison. "I will show it what happens when it tries to mess with my friends!" 

Standing up, she held her right staff in the air.

Catching the sun's warm rays, the multi-colored lotus at the top of the staff began to glow, and it leaked out of the petals to shimmer in the air like an aurora borealis. "Seven's Fantasia!" 

The lights spread all throughout the village, leaving all its inhabitants with an overwhelming feeling of peace and calm. Everyone stared up at the colors with a jubilant smile, forgetting all their troubles and any violent thoughts. 

The Flymon buzzed in place, before slowly lowering to the ground in a curl. It growled, content, and a ring of code appeared from its body.

Taking advantage of its relaxed state, Lotosmon held up her D-Tector. Holding it tightly, she swiped it against the code. "Fractal code, digitized." 

The Flymon's body disappeared and the rest of its code flew off into the sky in the shape of an egg, and the code that it had extracted from the village all flew back to its rightful place. All the trees, fruits, and bushes showed up again, and the village regained its peaceful and bountiful atmosphere.

Slowly letting out a breath, Lotosmon turned to her audience and graced them with a smile. "Are you all right?"

She received silence in return. Everyone was too busy staring at her with their mouths open.

Seconds passed, and the Palmon all began to smile and cheer, and they rushed up to hug her legs. "Ancestor! Ancestor!" They proclaimed happily. "You've return to us!"

"Is Saki our Ancestor?"

"Our Ancestor must've chose her!"

"Hurray! Saki really is one of us!"

Feeling her heart warm at their words, Lotosmon knelt down and hugged them as much as she could. "I'm sorry I've taken so long to come back..." She wondered who was saying these words. Was it the Ancestor herself speaking through her? "I am not whole yet, and so am still weak. I will have to leave for a while longer, but I will be back."

"We understand, Ancestor!"

"Yeah! Our village will be safe now since all the fractal code has been returned! You can count on us!"

"That was awesome!" The older boy exclaimed with a large grin. "You did that so effortlessly, too!"

"Yeah!" The younger boy with a large orange hat chimed in. "That was amazing! You're so pretty, Lotosmon!"

Amused, Lotosmon smiled and bowed, before a stream of data appeared around her, leaving her as Saki once again. Taking a step forward, she stumbled from the sudden difference in height.

"Whoa, whoa!" Two firm hands grasped her shoulders, righting her. She looked up to see it was the older boy. "You okay?" He asked, worried.

He was a little tanner than her; probably from spending all his time outside playing sports. His unruly brown hair was stuffed under a greenish-yellow cap with large square goggles holding them on his head. He wore a red short-sleeved jacket on top of a yellow graphic t-shirt, cargo pants that ended after his calves, and obnoxious red and yellow sneakers. His hands that were still on her shoulders were covered with gloves in the same shade as his hat, and he gave her a grin full of boyish charm.

"Maybe she's tired?" The younger boy suggested. 

His large beige hat was the most eye-catching part of him. It ballooned around his head of brown hair, and he had to tilt his head back to show his young and innocent face. He was dressed in a plain white shirt with green trim, cargo pants with suspenders hanging off of them, and green and white sneakers.

"Oh, maybe!" The older boy ooh'ed, and guided her to a nearby leafy seat. "Here you go. Do you need anything? Water? Food?"

"We can get that!" The Palmon chimed in, and some of them hurried off to retrieve supplies.

Taking a seat, Saki held a hand to her fast beating chest and slowly breathed out. "That was...so strange," she whispered. Realizing that two pairs of eyes were still waiting for her to acknowledge them, she looked up and put on her customer service face. "Thank you very much for your help."

"Uh..." The older boy scratched the back of his head, confused. "No problem? I didn't really do anything...Oh, but hey!" He suddenly brightened and took out his D-Tector. "You're a legendary warrior, too, right?! Since you got that spirit!"

"Legendary warrior..." Saki repeated in wonder, looking down at her own D-Tector. The symbol showed up again, and she realized it was actually the kanji for wood. "Wood?"

"The legendary warrior of wood?" The younger boy surmised. "That's cool! I'm the legendary warrior of ice, and Takuya-nii here is the warrior of flame!"

Hearing the name, Saki gasped and shot up on her feet, surprising the two boys. "Oh, I'm sorry! I haven't introduced myself yet." She bowed with her hands clasped in front of her. "My name is Hirano Saki. It's nice to meet you two. Please let me know if I can do anything to help."

Baffled, the two boys slowly shared a look. "Uh, hi?" The older boy replied. "I'm Kanbara Takuya, but just call me Takuya. No suffixes, please."

"And I'm Himi Tomoki!" The younger boy introduced himself. "You can just call me Tommy, though!"

"Th-Then Saki for me..." she stumbled over her words with a shy smile.

Takuya gave her an odd look. "Uh, Saki. You don't have to talk to us so formally, you know?" He chuckled awkwardly. "I kinda feel like I'm being greeted by a conbini employee!"

Holding her hands over her mouth, Saki looked down, mortified. "I-I'm sorry, I'm not really, um...used to talking to people normally?"

Two Palmon came up to her, holding a bamboo cup of water, and another held a small basket of fruit. "For you, Saki!" They both said with large smiles.

"Thank you!" Saki bowed gratefully and took the offered food. "You guys are the best!"

"You are!" Palmon responded, giggling.

Tommy tilted his head, blinking innocently. "You seem fine talking to digimon, though," he pointed out.

Saki busied herself with an apple. "Well, they're not human, so I don't feel like I have to treat them like customers..." she explained awkwardly. 

Takuya laced his hands behind his head and raised a brow. "Like customers? You work?" He took a closer look at her. "But you look like you're the same age as me."

"I'm fourteen," Saki informed him.

"Exactly!" He exclaimed. "I didn't know kids our age could get a work permit! But hey..." He gave her a kind grin. "You don't have to treat us like customers. You're a legendary warrior, just like us! We're friends!"

Saki blinked. "Friends?" Already? They barely knew each other. The only thing that connected them was that they were human, and they had D-Tectors with spirits in them.

Takuya nodded and held out his hand to her. "Friends."

Slowly looking down at the outstretched hand, and Tommy's encouraging grin, Saki hesitantly reached out with her own hand.

Before it reach his, he brought both hands up, enclosing hers between them, and shook it energetically. "All right!" Takuya cheered. "We got another warrior with us!" He tugged her toward the edge of the forest. "You gotta meet the others!"

Her eyes widened. "Others? There are more warriors?"

"More friends!" Tommy corrected. "We split away from them for a while and found this place, but since there's no train tracks this way, we hafta go back!"

"Wha- wait-" Saki stammered, digging her heels into the ground. "You...want me to go with you?"

Takuya gave her an odd look, slowing to a stop. "Uh, yeah? Were you planning on staying here?"

"I..." Biting her lip, Saki looked back toward the village. This village had taken her in without hesitation, housed her, fed her, and welcomed her as one of their own. It was a paradise compared to the busy city of Tokyo. All the healthy flowers, clean water, and fresh air. 

And the Palmon.

They all had stopped celebrating for a moment and gazed at her with sad faces. She felt a stab of guilt at leaving. Maybe she should stay...

A Palmon stepped up with a watery smile. "It's okay, Saki! Our Ancestor already told us she had to leave for a while, which means you would have to leave, too. There's a lot of places out there in the Digital World that needs her heavenly light. Plus!" It brightened. "You'll always have a place here! This is your home, too! Here." It held out a beautiful azalea blossom. "For good luck from us! It'll never fade away, either, just like our love for you!"

Tearing up, Saki bent down and hugged it close to her, letting it place the flower in her hair. "Thank you so- so much..." she hiccuped. "You've all been so nice to me."

All the Palmon rushed up to hug her as well, creating a whole crowd of crying and hugging plants. "We'll miss you, Saki!"

"Come back soon!"

"Stay safe out there!"

She really didn't want to leave, but she knew she was holding things up, and it would only be more painful the longer she stayed.

Wiping her eyes, Saki smiled as hard as she could as one last goodbye, and turned to Takuya and Tommy with a more subdued expression. "Should we go..?"

Nodding uneasily, the two male warriors waved to the Palmon and began walking out of the village, toward the forest. Saki made to follow them, and when she heard the Palmon shout their farewells behind her, she couldn't help the tears that rolled down her face.

A small hand tugged at hers, and she slowly looked to see Tommy giving her a worried frown. A larger hand was placed on her back, and she looked to her right to see Takuya giving her a similar expression.

"It'll be all right," he said sympathetically. "I know it sucks to leave-- it did look real nice there-- but us warriors have to stick together. Don't worry!" He gave her a confident grin. "If any trouble comes by us, I'll protect us!"

Tommy giggled. "I don't know if Saki-nee needs protecting. Did you see how cool she was earlier as Lotosmon?! She could calm everyone down, no problem!"

Takuya playfully scoffed. "Yeah? Well, I can burn away all my enemies with a pyro tornado, so don't underestimate me, buddy!"

"Yeah!" Tommy waved his hands in the air. "Takuya-nii is the strongest!"

"And don't you forget it!" Takuya preened, puffing his chest out.

Unable to help it, Saki burst out in watery giggles, wiping away her tears. "You two are pretty funny." A smile slowly appeared. "I think...it'll be fun to travel with you guys."

Takuya lit up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "For sure!"

Blushing at the close contact, Saki bit her lip and tried to run ahead. "Let's go!"

"H-Hey! Wait up! You don't even know which direction you're going!"

Laughing, Saki kept going, hearing the other two behind her try to catch up.

She felt...freer.