The airport was noisy and bustling with people, some from all over the globe coming for vacation or natives returning to their home country. Rosa was one such person, stepping off the airplane along with the crowd of travelers riding the same airline. Coronamon was nowhere in sight, safely tucked away in his Digivice that was clipped to the front of the young girl's denim jacket. What little luggage she was able to bring on board with her was being held in one hand as she stepped down from the ramp. Her next destination was the luggage drop off area, and as she approached the conveyor belt her suitcase was spotted.

Grabbing it and pulling it off the belt with a bit of a grunt because of its weight, Rosa headed to where her family would be meeting up with her. All the while making quiet conversation with her partner to cure his boredom.

"Are you excited to see them again, Rosa?" Coronamon spoke up after quite a while of silence between them. Even he couldn't take it at that point, and he'd grown bored of just sitting around in his Digivice for an extended period of time. Once they were home, he'd be allowed to roam around the house freely. Everyone in Rosa's family knew about Digimon and about her own partner, so Coronamon being around them was perfectly safe.

"Yeah. I am. It's been a year since I left to go help out at the different branches of DATS." Rosa's response was more positive and cheery compared to how she usually acted.

"I'm glad to hear you sounding so happy for once." Coronamon chuckled a bit, imagining the annoyed expression Rosa was no doubt showing on her face right now. He'd be right.

"What're you talking about? I'm always happy." She huffed as she walked out of the airport. In the distance she could clearly see a family of three holding up a sign with her name on it.

It read Welcome Home, Rosa! in big letters drawn on with a red marker. Her mother and father both had big smiles on their faces as she approached. Clara, her mother, ran over and threw her arms around the teenager with tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"We missed you so much!! It's so good to have you home again." The mother was a woman in her late 20's, and had long brown hair with a reddish tint and violet eyes. Much like Rosa's, her skin tone was on the tanner side, as was the same for the father and her brother.

Rosa broke out into a smile and put her luggage down to return her mother's embrace. "I missed you guys too." She promised herself she wasn't going to cry, but could already feel herself getting misty eyed.

Her father, Zack, was a tall man in his early 30's with dark slicked back hair and brown eyes. Her twelve year old brother, Leon, was the spitting image of his father. The two siblings looked nothing alike, in fact, Rosa didn't look like anyone in her family.

"Rosa! Look at you, you're growing up right before my eyes!" Her father laughed as he pulled his wife and daughter into a big hug. Leon stayed rooted to where he was standing, looking depressed and deep in thought. "Leon, come here and give your sister a hug!" His father urged him, and the prepubescent boy quietly walked over to join the group hug.

Rosa was immediately alarmed by her brother's unusual behavior. He had always been so happy and playful, so why did he appear to look so depressed? His brown eyes, once so bright and full of light, looked dull and distant. She wanted to chalk it up to the fact he was starting to hit puberty, but...this seemed way too unusual.

"I missed you big sis..." Leon spoke up, and even his voice sounded unenthusiastic and monotone.

"...I missed you too, Leon." Rosa responded, confusion and concern laced in her tone as she turned her surprised gaze to her parents. They gave her a look that clearly told her that she'd get an explanation later. They led Rosa over to the car and helped get her things into the trunk. Rosa sat in the backseat with her brother, who just stared out the window blankly as the family began driving away from the airport.

"So how are things in Japan? Make any friends?" Her father questioned, his eyes very briefly glancing up at Rosa in the rearview mirror. She sat with one leg crossed over the other and her arms folded over her chest.

"Sort of. There's this girl a year older than me named Tohru that I don't mind. Yoshino I don't care for..." She puffed her cheeks out, eyebrows furrowed in a glare. "Always bossing everyone around..." Well, she was the oldest one so it made sense. Rosa wasn't as mature as she liked people to believe she was.

Her father laughed a bit at her pouty tone. "Who's Yoshino?"

"She's the oldest one on our team..."

"So then doesn't that give her the authority over you?" She could detect the smile in his tone and scoffed at his logic. He was right but...well, Rosa was kind of stubborn.

"Then there's Masaru. He's an idiot but Tohru likes him, so I put up with his stupidity." A hint of a smile played on her lips as her parents chuckled. "So that's about it. I don't really have any friends at the school I go to, but it's not like that matters. I won't be in Japan forever." Once she was needed in another branch of DATS she would be transferred to different part of the world.

That meant leaving behind the few friends she's made  already, but it was just part of the job. It meant that when the time came, she might not see Tohma again. He usually got transferred around a lot too, so if they ever were to start dating it could complicate things.

Rosa glanced out the car window, watching the buildings, people and cars pass her by. The sky had turned gray and dreary as rain clouds began rolling in. It was going to pour tonight, she could tell. How fitting it was considering where she would be going later.

Every year that she went to visit their graves, the skies would weep for her. She was actually quite thankful for that, as nobody would be able to tell that she was crying. Rosa hated crying in front of other people.

And yet every year, she couldn't stop herself from crying in front of the graves of her real parents. The only one who has seen her cry was Coronamon.

- - -

The day her parents were buried, Rosa had an expression made of stone it would seem. She didn't cry or anything, and when the adults tried to talk to her she wouldn't speak. All the little girl did was stare at the graves of her mother and father. She stood by herself, never budging. She was alone now, that's what her mind was telling her. Rosa forced herself to remain cold and indifferent while people were around.

They found it strange that a little girl who had just lost her parents in an awful car crash didn't cry. It wasn't that Rosa didn't care about their deaths. She wanted to drop to her knees and scream, she wanted to pound her fists into the ground and cry until she couldn't anymore. She believed she would have no one now, and this little girl had just closed off her heart to the entire world.

She did this to avoid getting attached to someone and then hurt again when they left her alone. Rosa was still young and couldn't accept death. She wanted them back, but no matter how much she willed for them to she would never see them again. At the dinner her relatives prepared, Rosa hid behind the house and curled up into a ball. Only then did she start to cry. She buried her face in her knees, her little shoulders shaking as her body was racked with sobs. She didn't care that it was dark outside, or that someone might be searching for her. It's not like any of her relatives would want to take her in. They had their own families to take care of, and she'd just be a burden on them.

A small noise could be heard in the darkness, making Rosa stop her sobs to listen closely. Slowly the girl lifted her head, cheeks soaked and eyes red and puffy. She listened for the noise and once again, heard someone talking..to her.

"Don't cry, Rosa."

The voice sounded small and a bit frail, as if a child was talking to her. From the darkness came a small creature that looked like a tiny orange sun with a bright flame burning from the top of it. It hopped closer to her, its flame feeling warm and inviting.

"Please don't cry, Rosa!"

"H-How do you know who I am? What are you?" Rosa asked through sniffles, lifting her hands to wipe at her tears. She thought she'd been alone, but now someone had seen her crying.

"I'm Sunmon! I'm a Digimon and your partner! I came because you need me, Rosa. We were meant to meet today!" Sunmon chirped as he happily bounced up and down with a cute little smile.

"Digimon...? Partner?" Rosa was clearly confused, so Sunmon had to explain it all to her. Being a child, she believed every word of it. The existence of Digimon and an entirely separate world from her own full of his own kind. "So I won't be alone?"

"No! You'll never be alone, Rosa! I'm your friend now!"

Her eyes, which had been empty and devoid of any hope, lit up as an unfamiliar feeling swelled in her chest. Friend. She couldn't really say that she had anyone to call a friend. Acquaintances, sure, but the only people she was really close to were her parents. Even her relatives she didn't get to see very often enough to consider them close with her. She had kids to she interacted with at school, but no one she could really call her friends. Even back then, Rosa had been a lone wolf.

"My friend...?" She couldn't help but say that word as if it were some foreign concept to her. Hope sparked in her big chocolate brown eyes again. Today was the day her life would be changed forever.

Sunmon nodded and nuzzled against her cheek. She flinched, expecting the flame on his head to burn her...but it didn't. Instead, it felt warm against her skin. Her tears disappeared as a small smile etched its way onto her face.

That night, Coronamon warmed his way into Rosa's heart and melted her icy exterior.

- - -

Pulling into the driveway of their rather large property, Rosa and her parents got out of the car to start carrying her luggage inside. Their home was also quite large, probably not to the point of being considered a mansion but it was spacious enough and had many different rooms. It was easy to see that her family was quite wealthy, which is why she could afford to live in Japan on her own. They sent her money every month, enough to pay for rent and buy whatever she needed for herself and Coronamon.

Leon quietly got out of the car last, his eyes still staring at the ground even as he walked into the house by himself. Rosa watched him sulking before turning to her parents, concern written all over her face. There had to be some reason for why her once cheerful brother would suddenly be acting this way.

"Okay, what's going on with him? Is it puberty or something??"

And there was the question they were sure she would ask them. Giving each other worried glances, then turning back to their daughter. "Well, ever since you left for Japan, Leon has been feeling lonely I guess. He just started 6th grade so he is going through that time in his life where puberty will start setting in..." Her father explained, though he seemed hesitant to go into further detail. "He's..."

"He's been getting into fights at school." Claudia chimed in and Rosa froze, brown eyes noticeably wider. "Or rather, I should say that some boys at the middle school nearby have been beating him up. We tried to have talks with their parents but...they don't seem to believe their kids have done anything wrong."

So they were those kinds of parents.

"That's...that's just messed up! Isn't there anything we can do about it?" Rosa questioned, her hands balling up into tight, angry fists. "Where are those punks?! I'll handle them myself!" Before she could do anything irrational, her parents placed their hands on her shoulders, shaking their heads.

"I wouldn't go getting yourself into trouble, Rosa. We will take care of it. If you take matters into your own hands, it might actually make things worse for Leon." Zack warned his daughter. She seemed to relax after a moment, her anger levels decreasing as she thought about the situation. He was right. What if she just made the problem worse for her brother?

But still...if Leon was being bullied, wasn't there anything she could do to help him? She was reminded of when Tohma was mean to Tohru, and how she'd done nothing to help. Sure, she gave the blond male a good slap across the face afterwards but...the guilt was still there. She didn't want to just stand back and do nothing again.

"What can I do then?" She finally asked, giving them a serious, hard look.

"Spend some time with him while you're here. Do some things with him that he likes. That might cheer Leon up. He doesn't have a whole lot of friends he can play with all the time." Her mother suggested with a small, saddened smile.

"Yeah. Okay. I can do that." Rosa nodded her head and grabbed her things, running ahead inside with a smile on her face. She was gonna make sure Leon wasn't lonely during her stay. She felt bad that she couldn't take him to Japan with her, but it was for the best that he stay away from all the danger. Not that it wasn't possible for Digimon to appear in other parts of the world—there is a Spanish branch of DATS—but most of, if not all the recent activity has been mainly in Japan where she was living.

She got her things up to her old room, which they'd kept untouched except for the usual cleaning. Everything was where it should be, including her stuffed teddy bear rested on her neatly made bed. She swore that she was too old for stuffed animals, and yet every time she came to visit she had to sleep with it clutched to her chest. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of it, as it was the last gift she ever got from her real parents. Rosa began unpacking her clothes and everything else she'd brought along. Her digivice was clipped onto her denim jacket and she let Coronamon come out and stretch his legs.

"I hate being in there for so long..." He sulked, stretching his arms over his head.

"I know, but it'd be bad if people found out about Digimon. I'd get in trouble and then they'd all have to have their memories erased." Rosa reminded him, though Coronamon was well aware of the consequences of ordinary people realizing the existence of Digimon. "Well, as a reward for being so good my mom and I will make you something special for dessert. How about apple pie? My mom makes the best pies."

Although he didn't immediately answer, his eyes lit up in a way that basically told her that he liked the idea. Rosa giggled and pet his head as she continued unpacking her things. "I'll let mom know!" But before that, she wanted to go see how Leon was doing. Quietly, she approached his bedroom, the door shut. Reaching out to grab the doorknob, she carefully twisted her wrist and pushed it open. Inside was Leon, laying on his messy bed with a portable game console in his hands. He held it above his head as he was playing one of her old games.

It was a game where you played as a kid who goes around catching different creatures and training them to become stronger, as well as going to different building called gyms and earning badges by defeating the gym leaders. Once you collected eight badges, you could enter the league and face off against the elite four and the champion, who turns out to be your rival. The creatures always reminded her of Digimon, but they were also completely different.

"Leon? Can we talk?" The young boy looked over at her, his eyes still blank and seemingly devoid of all emotion. He sat up and put his game down, turning to face her as she sat next to him. The bed shifted under her weight. "Mom and Dad said you were having problems in school...and that you might be lonely without me here."

He didn't answer, but nodded his head. Rosa sighed, reaching up to play with his dark hair.

"I'm sorry. If it weren't so dangerous, I'd take you to Japan with me. But...you're safer here with mom and dad. So while I'm here, we're gonna spend a lot of time together! Just you, me and Coronamon. How does that sound? I'll take you to your favorite places, get you whatever treats you want in town. I'll play whatever you want to play, even if I don't like it." Rosa promised, smiling at her brother reassuringly. He only nodded in response, not a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. Had he really been going through that hard of a time at school?

The way he looked right now reminded her of Tohru, and that only made her want to help him more. Rosa pulled her brother into a warm hug and Coronamon joined in. They stayed like that for a few moments before she pulled away and ruffled his hair a bit. "Try and cheer up, okay? Things'll get better, I promise. The bullying at school doesn't last forever." She wasn't sure if what she was saying to him was even getting through, or if it was having any effect on him at all. She was just trying to be comforting, but Rosa wasn't always the best at consoling people.

Awkwardly, she got up and left him to go back to his game and headed downstairs into the kitchen. Her mom was already hard at work preparing dinner. "Mom, can we make apple pie tonight? I want Coronamon to try some."

Her mother stopped and looked down at Coronamon, who avoided her gaze bashfully. A wide smile stretched across her lips and she bobbed her head up and down in a vigorous nod. "Of course! I haven't made that in so long! How about you make it while I'm preparing dinner and I'll supervise?" Claudia had already gotten out the recipe and was taking out bowls and ingredients to make the pie. When it came to cooking, no one got more into it than she did.

Rosa was smiling so much her cheeks almost started to hurt. Frowning all the time could really do that to someone. "Yeah! I'll make it!" She grabbed an apron, tying it around herself and washing her hands before getting to work. "Wanna help, Coronamon?" Her partner nodded his head as his eyes lit up again.

Rosa missed doing this. Just spending time with her family. They may not have been her biological family, but that never mattered. To her, this man and woman who adopted her are her real parents and Leon is her real brother. She felt sad remembering she'd have to go back to Japan, but while she's here she would make new memories with them.

- - -

That night, after enjoying a home cooked meal and delicious apple pie, the family drove down to the cemetery. It had started to rain, just as Rosa had thought. They parked their car by the curb and got out, the rain immediately starting to soak Rosa's long wavy hair to the point where it was starting to stick to her face. Coronamon was safe inside his digivice to avoid getting wet. He hated the rain, and baths for that matter. Getting him to take one took a lot of convincing. They walked in silence, the sun having started to go down as evening set in.

They found the tombstone with ease, and Rosa stepped forward and knelt down in front of it. In her hands was a pot of beautiful red roses. Her mother's favorite flower. She placed it down in front of the stone. For a moment, she gently touched it and gently dragged her fingers along the smooth surface. She traced her fingers over the words engraved in it before standing up, her eyes focused on the ground. They stood there for quite some time, their hands folded together and fingers interlacing as they prayed in silence.

Everyone except for Leon, who was staring off into the distance at what seemed like nothing in particular. It was getting late and darkness began to envelope the town. The family of four made their way to the car and drove back home. Rosa headed up to her room and changed into her night clothes, plopping down on her bed. She felt physically and emotionally exhausted, but she was excited to spend the day with Leon tomorrow. Coronamon climbed into the bed and laid beside his partner as she got under the covers. Rosa couldn't really fall asleep right away, her mind too busy coming up with things she and her brother could do. She knew the one thing she wanted to do was take him to the arcade.

Brown eyes began to slide closed as she continued to think of a game plan for the next day. She just hoped that he would want to spend the day with her. Sleep began to take over and Rosa drifted off into a deep, but pleasant slumber.

- - -

The sound of glass breaking and loud crashes rang out through the night. A small cackle proceeded, belonging to a small creature carrying two metal baseball bats in his hands. He had the appearance of a round ball with arms and legs, red eyes hidden under a Banchou hat and wearing a long black jacket that flowed behind him. His hands adorned with red brass knuckles and chains hung from the metal bracelets on his wrists. He disappeared into the night just as people began to wake up in their beds, wondering what all the noise was. Houses had windows broken, cars smashed and dented, and mailboxes on the ground.

But only a few select houses had been targeted in the town. The police was called and they began inspecting the damage. Along with the police, another car with sirens pulled up to each vandalized house. The Spanish branch of DATS had gotten a Digimon signal in the middle of the night, but by the time they arrived at any of the coordinate points, the Digimon was already long gone.

However, they deduced from the signals that a Digimon was behind the vandalized houses, not some regular criminal like everyone else thought.

Banchou Mamemon smirked as he stealthily hid in the shadows of the night. His fun wasn't over yet, not by a long shot. "Heh...I'm glad I found that young boy...he's got a lot of fun ideas. I'm sure you'll love what I have in store next...

...right, Leon?"