To the Digimon it felt as though the battle betwen the DigiDestined and the evil Digimon Emperor had been going on for centuries; when in reality it had been a mere two years. Two very long years. Years filled with both triumphs and follies on both sides.

Many of the Digimon in the Digital Word had already begun to give up what little hope which still remained, that the Digimon Emperor would ever really be defeated. Much of the Digital World had already been enslaved by the young tyrant that had once been known as Ken Ichijouchi, the child prodigy, or so he was called long ago. But now his true nature had been revealed, and how cold it was.

But still the DigiDestined refused to give up hope. Refused to admit defeat. Through the years that passed much changed in the younger Digidestined. Davis Motomiya had become respected as the unspoken, unquestioned leader. Cody's advice was listened to more often, and T.K. and Kari still played the same roles they'd always played. Always there to help anyone or anything that had fallen and renew hope.

Some Digimon belived that the Digidestined could not defeat the Ken because they were missing one very important element in the fight. One child that had been stolen from them in the beginning of their fight. The Child Of Love.

Many still speak of the lovely young girl who had appeared in the Digital World with the old warrior DigiDestined, Yamato Ishida, the Child of Friendship. Ken had spotted an opportunity to attack, and he took it. Only Matt had escaped. Noone really knew what had happened to the lavender haired girl who had been so full of life... and love.

Some said the Digimon Emperor had killed her. Some said she had died escaping. No one really knows. Maybe it was better if no one knew the truth. Maybe it eases the pain. Maybe. But whatever anyone belived happen to the young girl, all knew that without her, without the Child Of Love, the Digidestined where fighting a losing battle....

Deep in the heart of a secret cavern, lying weightlessly on a sliver altar was the Child Of Love. Her now waist-length lavender hair flowing carelessly around her heart-shaped face. Her once bright golden brown eyes closed in eternal slumber.

She was dressed simply in a pair of tiny dark pink shorts and a crimson blouse which had the crest of Love emblazoned below her cleavage and long flared sleeves that fell down to her ankles. Suddenly her eyes flashed open revaling clear soft, russet orbs to the world. Blinking rapidly she coughed and leaned over on her side. Her breath coming in short uneven bursts. Forcing herself to calm down she noticed first her knew gear and that she was no longer in Ken's fortress.

Confusion marred her angelic features, she swung her legs over the table. Licking her lips she stepped off the altar. Her legs felt stiff and ill-used. Grimmacing slightly, she walked toward the light that shone ahead.

She cringed as she reached the opening. Bright golden sunlight rained down upon her. Shielding her eyes she glanced around herself. The cave had small steps near the mouth leading down to the ground below. As far as her eyes could see, there was an ocean of green trees. Swallowing hoarselyy she looked around uncomfortably.

"Where am I?" Yolei murmured softly.

All at once, it came rushing back. Being sucked into the computer with Matt, being a Digidestined, being attacked by the Digimon Emperour... everything. If she was still in the Digital World... then where was she exactly? The last thing she could even remember was being in Ken- the Digimon Emperor's fortress then, that light... then... then... what?

She sighed as she looked around again. Her eyes becoming drawn suddenly to a large black pillar. What had Matt called them? Ah yes, Control Spires. They marked the spots where the Digimon Emperor was in control. Supposedly if one was there, then that meant that all the Digimon in that area were under his control.

She shifted her weight nervously. If this area was under his control then it was probably a dangerous place to be. "Well I just can't stay here." She sighed, taking slight comfort in hearing her own voice. "Well... might as well start walking. Hopefully I won't run into Ken. If I do... well, I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it."

Taking a deep breath, Yolei Inoue began to walk down the small steps on the side of the cliff. Her destination one the she herself did not know.

Davis Motomiya sat bored in his chair as his deep cocoa eyes stared itently at the clock. 'Come on... Come on! Ring already!' He thought as he watched the clock tick very, very slowly.

Why was it taking so long?! It was the last period of the day and only a minute left of class. But then, its always seemed that when you want time to speed up all it does is slow to a crawl. Davis' eyes flicked over to the girl across from him. Kari Kamiya. Beautiful, kind, and the Child of Light.

And also the one Davis cherished more then life itself. He loved her, but then who didn't? She was everything a sane man would want. But after a while of fawning over her, all time Davis had begun to realize he wasn't going to win Kari that way. And he began to see the true feelings she held for T.K., the Child of Hope.

So, Davis had given up on her. Not that he didn't still love her, he did. He just wasn't as obvious about it. If Kari loved someone else, then he wasn't going to stand in her way. Doing so would most likely cause her to hate him and not really want him as a friend. Besides, if he really loved her then he would let her go. So he did. Even if he hadn't really wanted to. You cannot force someone to love you.

Davis was snapped from his trek down memory lane as the bell rang. Slamming his textbook shut, he grabbed his binder and rocketed out of class. Quickly he entered the computer room to see that he hadn't been the first to make it.

Cody Hida stood solemnly at the window. His expression one that is only gained through long years experience, of one who had seen much. Davis along with others knew the reason for it, even if the subject was never brought to light. Even though it had been two years since the disappearance of Yolei Inoue, Cody still hadn't quite recovered. Though, that was expected.

Yolei had been his closest friend. He'd known everything about her, and she of him. They were like brother and sister. They where always their for eachother. Though Davis hadn't known Yolei that well and they had never really got along; he found he missed her as well. Missed the little spats he and she had occasionally.

When they had found out from Matt that she was actually a Digidestined, like them. It had all come as a shock. I mean, they hadn't thought that there was another to their small group. But there was, and she had been under their noses the entire time. Once they knew she hadn't returned with Matt from the Digital World, the Digidestined new and old had went there to find her.

They found out from some free Digimon that she had been taken hostage by the Digimon Emperor. From there they had hunted down his fortress and stormed it in search of her Yolei but came up empty. They had all nearly been captured themselves when they had rushed into the foress. They hadn't come out of it unscathed.

Since Ken had been the last one to see her, and he was their enemy, they'd all assumed that he'd probbly locked her away in the Digital World. Or that perhaps she'd tried to escape and gotten lost or maybe he'd killed her. Most of them believed that the latter was the truth.

This was one of the main reasons of fighting him. Especially for Cody, who after learning from what limited information they had, had made it his primary goal to defeat Ken and avenge his best friend's death. When the other DigiDestined had told him what they believed to be the truth they had to hold him back before he could rush into the Digital World and most likely kill Ken for what he had done.

"Hi Cody." Davis said as he walked over next to the stoic boy. "How long you been here?"

Davis nodded. Back to square one. Davis leaned uncomfortably against the wall. He always felt slightly out of place around the young boy whose repose was beyond his years. Not that Davis didn't like Cody or anything. On the contrary, he counted Cody as one of his closest friends. And if he ever needed help, he would gladly turn to him. But still, next to Cody Hida, he always had that uneasy feeling....

"Hi Davis, Cody." A sweet voice rang through the room.

Davis turned, his face lit up into a smile. Kari. Sweet, innocent Kari

"Hello, Kari." He said, in a cool tone, that could only rival Matt's. Behind Kari walked in T.K, who's hand she immediately took. Matt, Izzy and Tai walked in behind T.K." Hey guys! Now that where all here, let's get to the Digital World and show that evil genious what's what!"

With that he pressed his D3 against the screen as the others did the same.

"For Yolei." Cody said, his voice determined.

"Yeah for Yolei." Kari said softly.

"Yeah, this is for you Yolei!" Davise responded his dark eyes flashing at the thought of Yolei's alleged demise. "Digiport Open!"

With that they where all sucked into the computer. Little did they know that fate had a small suprise in store for them.

The Digimon Emperor, sat silently in his large chair. His hands poised over the dark keys and his eyes surveying the screen with amusment. All the Digital World was at his command. With the exception of 2 areas that the pesky DigiDestined had destroyed a couple of his Control Spires. Not that it mattered. Within a day those areas would be back in his hands.

Inwardly he had to admit that the DigiDestined he called pathetic where really formidable opponents. He knew that they could never really defeat him unless they where at full power, and even then he was sure that he would outwit them. He was a genius and superior to those petty Digifools.

His thoughts still drifted though to the lavender haired girl that had disappeared without a trace from his fortress 2 years before. She hadn't gone back to the real world, that much he knew. He'd personally done some checking to see if she'd returned to the real world, but she hadn't. He'd searched the entire Digital World and come up with nothing. She'd simply disappeared. He'd rationalized his interest in where the girl had gone with a: 'She's my hostage, and weapon against the DigiDestined', though deep in his mind he wondered if such a thought was a lie.

He knew that the Digidestined believed he'd killed her. He'd been sligthly shocked when they'd said that, but then he'd told himself to let them believe what they wanted. They were inferior to him.

They didn't matter. So he let them believe their little illusion. Suddenly he herd his Dark D3 beep. Angrily he clutched it in his hand.

"Damn, its those meddling kids!" He growled out pressing a few buttons to bring out his personal army of Digimon.

Yolei walked carefully through the forest. The sun caressing her skin. And despite the seemingly sunny surroudings, she could feel danger around her. Everything seemed far too quiet. So... empty.

She shook her head slightly. She licked her chafing lips thirstily. Maybe there was a stream or something around here....?

On cue the sound of running water was heard in the distance. Yolei felt a smile creep onto her face. 'Ask and ye shall receive', she thought as she hurried toward the sound. She felt her smile widen as she stared at the small pond that connected to a stream running south. Happiness surged through her as she ran over to it and kneeled down infront of the glistening, clear pond.

She reached down with her hands and cupped as much water as she could and greedily drank the fresh liquid.

She reached down to get some more only to freeze in shock. The face she saw reflecting back at her. Looked like her, yet not. She looked older. Her features had curved and strengthed. She touched her now pale cheek. What was going on? How long had she been here in the Digital World?

Suddenly she thought she heard the sound of explosions farther ahead. What was going on? Hurriedly she stood and, crazy as it seems, she ran toward the sounds of battle instead of away. Then again, Yolei had never been one to run and hide. She had always been the first to take action. When she arrived at the battleground she was shocked at what she saw.

Digimon pitted against Digimon. She winced at the sickening sound of the Digimon's attacks striking the other's flesh. Suddenly she saw a familiar figure standing on a hill. She recognized his dark shirt and blue jeans and that near shoulder-length 'too cool' hair. Matt. She switched her gaze to the others and she was suprised to see how much older they looked. Davis looked taller and with more finely carved dark features. Kari was taller with shoulder length brown hair and still as pretty as before. T.K. had reamained mostly the same. Suddenly she saw Tai. Same old Tai from before. Then she saw him. Her closest friend, Cody. He hadn't changed really. Same serious face, cropped short hair, and dark green eyes. He was much taller though.

She had to scream out to them. But... what if they didn't remember her? What if they hadn't cared that she was gone. She wanted more than anything to run down to them. Hug her closest Cody...but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Suddenly she heard laughter. The very sound of itturned Yolei's blood cold.

"Ken...." she Murmured.

Her breathing became uneven she turned and ran away from the sound. Though it seemed to follow her, no matter how far she would run....

Matt Ishida stared angrily at the figure of the Emperor. Images of Yolei from two years ago popping into his mind. She'd been so young and unsure. Yet at the same time so strong. But she was gone now.

All because of him! She'd barely just found out what she had been and she was killed.

It all seemed so wrong. So unreal to him, even now. Suddenly something caught his eye to the left. He thought he saw a dark red shirt and someone with long lavender hair

She was gone. That couldn't have been her... could it have been?

After a long arduous battle, the DigiDestined were forced to call a retreat. Dirty, bruised, and defeated the DigiDestined barely made it out of the Emperor's clutches alive. As they returned to the real world, no one could take their minds of their obvious defeat. Inside they all felt as though they had failed in Yolei's memory. Failed in getting the revenge she so rightly deserved.

They all muttered goodbyes and went their seperate ways. Later on that night, Matt lay silently on his bed. He'd skipped dinner with his father, due to the fact he wasn't hungry. Was it possible? That lavender hair? Could it have been...?

"No!" He hissed. "It couldn't have been her! She's gone...."

Still that thought remained. What if? Finally he threw off the covers and pulled on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. Grabbing his Digivice he walked over to his computer and opened the portal. "Only one way to be sure......."

Matt Ishida transferred himself to Digi World.