Homeward Bound

The Tamers depart for Earth, but the ark's progress is hindered first by stragglers, then by the D-Reaper.

Synopsis
The Tamers start to board the Ark, but Takato is reluctant to leave because Rika still had not shown up. Rika is holding Impmon while riding Kyuubimon as they head towards the Ark. Rika slashes a Speed Plug-In card, hoping to give an extra boost in speed. Meanwhile, the Ark begins to move, so Ryo and Cyberdramon go out to look for Rika as Takato rushes to get on board. Takato trips, so Guilmon tries to convince the Ark to stop. Everyone forms a chain to try and pull up Takato, but he and Calumon wind up falling. Guilmon yells at the Ark, commanding it to stop, and surprisingly it does. Rika, Kyuubimon, Ryo, and Cyberdramon arrive, and enter the Ark after Rika grabs Takato and Calumon. Both Kyuubimon and Cyberdramon de-digivolve to their rookie forms as they jump in. Despite this, the Ark is comically crowded. Kenta hears something, and notices that MarineAngemon snuck into his pocket, and is pushing out a Digivice, meaning that MarineAngemon and him are now partners. With everyone on board, the Ark seals itself and resumes moving. A pale and clearly-not-herself Jeri remains still, causing everyone that glances at her to worry. Suddenly, the Ark stops again; the D-Reaper was attacking. The path of light that carried the Ark vanishes, and the Ark starts falling. Takato starts begging for the Ark to get them home. Hearing his plea, the Ark connects to the PDA in his hand and spells out "OK". The Ark rushes towards the Real World, but the ride is quite shaky. Before breaking apart, the Ark makes it to the Real World. Yamaki, the Tamers' relatives, and rescue workers pull up to the spot where the Ark Bio-emerges.

The children all step out of the Digital Field to see their relatives waiting for them. Kenta tearfully hugs his parents. Kazu is scolded by his father for only leaving a note. Ryo's father stoically disproves of him for leaving for so long. Henry is relieved to be reunited with his family. Rika restrains herself from hugging her mother. Finally, Takato is simply extremely happy to be reunited with his parents. Impmon wanders off, seeing that no one was waiting for him. Riley informs Yamaki that Jeri's father stated, "if the ungrateful daughter wanted to, she could return home alone". Concerned, Takato asks his parents if he could accompany Jeri on her way home. With a bit of persuasion, they agree. The Ark suddenly sinks back into the Digital World in a burst of light.

Later, at the train station, Guilmon is waiting for Takato to bring back snacks for their trip with Jeri. Barely making it onto the train, Takato crashes into a train attendant, dropping the boxes of snacks. Seeing Guilmon, the attendant becomes afraid, and hysterically calls Guilmon a monster. Guilmon's stomach rumbles, which calms the train attendant down, seeing that Guilmon was innocent. He apologetically picks up the dropped snack boxes and hands them back to Takato. Takato sits down in the empty seat facing Jeri. He, very nervously, admits his feelings to Jeri. Due to her lack of reaction, heartbroken, Takato sits in the next seat over, believing that the reason Jeri is behaving oddly is due to the pain she was feeling due to the loss of her partner, and crying over not being able to help her. Her only reaction to his sentiments is to monotonously read the ingredients on the snackbox in her lap.

When the train arrives in the district that Jeri's parents are residing in, Takato brings Jeri to her father, who is waiting for them outside the station with a taxi cab. After thanking Takato, Jeri's father forcefully pulls her into the car, Calumon following her in, unnoticed. Eventually, they arrive at Jeri's house and meet her stepmom and half-brother, and Jeri hugs her while giving a very disturbing smile. Meanwhile, Takato and Guilmon are waiting for a train back, when Takato notices that, to his horror, the TV is showing the D-Reaper who appears to have followed them to the Real World.

Digimon Analyser
No Digimon were analyzed in this episode.

Other notes
Jens Eltern sind weg