Digimon Adventure: Secret Police

Chapter Fifty: How Far We've Come

Ayame finished brushing her hair and set down the brush on the counter of the girl's bathroom. She met her eyes in the mirror and sighed. Ayame didn't think she had ever taken this much time to look so good. She grinned and walked outside.

Ayame saw everybody sitting on or near the fountain. She found Falcomon (who hadn't been allowed to enter the girls' bathroom with her) and sat next to him. Charlie, Lopmon, Tay, and Gatomon sat nearby.

"What do you think this is about?" Charlie asked.

Tay shrugged. "Clueless. But Gennai told us all to freshen up and come out here. If we had to 'freshen up'-which I will say now means get rid of Digimon fight sweat stink-then it must be important."

"I think it's important too, but what could be so important?" Gatomon asked.

"That I wouldn't know," Lopmon said.

"I wish I knew so I could answer that question," Falcomon frowned.

"Looks like we're about to find out," Ayame hissed, nudging Falcomon's wing/arm.

Gennai walked up in front of the crowd of students. "Now that the Shadow Reigners have been defeated, we can finally have the initiation ceremony," he announced.

"'Initiation ceremony?'" Tay asked. Ayame shrugged.

"I have been thinking about this for a while, so today I'm going to announce what I've been working on in my office," Gennai said. "You see, the old DigiDestined are going to continue their regular lives. I recruited you for a different reason: to form the Digimon Secret Police, where you keep Digimon in check when the original DigiDestined are unable to."

Whispers erupted across the area. Charlie turned around. "This will be just like the spy movies!" she whispered to Ayame.

The purplette nodded in excitement. "This will be awesome!"

Gennai cleared his throat, getting the attention of the buzzing students. "I am proud to give you all badges that will put you into the Digimon Secret Police. If anybody objects to this, speak now or forever hold your peace."

"What is this, a wedding?" Gatomon asked.

"Sure sounds like it," Tay replied quietly.

Nobody said a word about now wanting to be part of the Digimon Secret Police. "Good," Gennai said. "I will call you up in the order your Digimon digivolved to ultimate level."

---

After nine initiations had gone on before her, it was Ayame's turn. She gulped and gripped Falcomon's wing. Ayame had never liked spontaneous things, so this had naturally made her rather nervous. The fact that she could get stage fright at times didn't help her much either.

"Iris 'Ayame' Ayasato?" Gennai asked.

Ayame nodded and stood. Falcomon flew next to her. The two walked up so that they faced Gennai.

"Do you accept your position as part of the Digimon Secret Police?" Gennai questioned.

"I do," Ayame said. Tay was right; this did sound like a wedding. A wedding between kids and badges of certification.

"Will you defend those who can't defend themselves in times of need?"

Ayame nodded. "I do," she repeated.

"Do you have any intentions on going back on this promise?"

Ayame shook her head. "I do not."

Gennai gave her a small golden badge. Ayame closed her fingers around it. A smile spread across her face. "You are officially part of the Digimon Secret Police," Gennai announced. Claps rose up from the crowd.

Ayame had heard those words nine times in the past hour, and she had seen blushing and happy faces of the recipients just as many times, but it felt different when it was said to her. Ayame felt her cheeks warm and knew they had turned pink, but she didn't care. She was too happy to be bothered by a little blushing. Ayame tightened her grip on her badge and smiled further. The badge was smooth and cool to the touch, and it felt wonderful. She walked back to her spot, unable to contain her happiness. Charlie and Tay squealed in front of her in joy.

"You go, girl!" Tay grinned.

Charlie smiled. "I'm so happy for you!"

Ayame blushed more. "Th-thank you."

---

When the initiation ceremony was over, Ayame, Charlie, and Tay all got some cake. Hibiki was right. There was cake. It was in honor of becoming part of the Secret Police instead of just for motivation, but it was still there.

Ayame crossed her legs and watched Charlie and Tay each take a seat at the table they sat at. "I'm really happy that the Shadow Reigners are done and gone," she admitted.

"Shh!" Tay hissed.

"Why do I need to be quiet?" Ayame asked in confusion.

"The Shadow Reigners brought us nothing but torture, so we aren't going to talk to you anymore," Charlie explained.

"That reminds me of a Fall Out Boy song," Tay observed.

"'Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great!'" the girls sang. They laughed after finishing the line. It was the only one that was currently important.

"Sure, this hasn't been the easiest battle ever," Ayame began, "but I'm glad I met some great friends at the end of it."

Charlie grinned. "We can be the three best friends who are together until the end!"

"We have twelve other friends too," Tay reminded her. "I'm kind of happy we have a crew to hang out with now. We don't have to worry about blabbing to non-DigiDestined about things they won't understand her."

Ayame cracked a grin. "I can imagine already how hard it will be to gather all of our friends together in one house for a party, though. With fifteen of us, the best place to hang is the school."

"You mean the epic and large place filled with all our favorite stuff that we can access anytime?! Dude, this is the best fort I've ever seen!" Tay exclaimed.

"'Fort?'" Gatomon asked.

"This is better than a pillow fort by a hundred times, though," Falcomon pointed out.

Ayame smiled for the thousandth time that day. It had been tough, but in the end, it was all worth it.

----------------

A/N

*cries* ITSSSSSSSSSSSS OVVVVVVVVVVVER!!

Oh wait, there's an epilogue.

See you guys then, I guess.

Digital out!

-digital