***Disclaimer: Digimon and all it's char.'s belong to Bandai and Saban, none of them are mine, they never will be, and I give full credit for their creation to Bandai and Saban, bla, bla, bla….
***I got a new e-mail address so I had to make a new account and repost my work. To everyone who's already R&R'd this, thanks sooooooo much! I saved all of your reviews cuz I loved 'em so much. This takes place in between Season 1 and Season 2. Even though according to Season 2, the old Digidestined couldn't open the digiport, they can in this. It kinda has 4 genre's, Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, and Romance. Anyway, here it is, enjoy!
Can't Take Nothing For Granted Part 1It had been almost two years since they had seen their friends the Digimon, but it seemed a lot longer than that. Matt Ishida sat in his room, remembering the time he'd spent with Gabumon, Sora, and all of their friends in the Digiworld. Sometimes it made him sad when he thought of watching Gabumon vanish into the horizon as the trolley car flew back to the real world. It almost seemed like a dream now. Things had been so crazy and hectic then, always having to go help someone, or save one world or another, and now, he had time to spare. He couldn't decide if things were peaceful, or just plain boring.
He stood up at the sound of the phone ringing and expected to hear his dad's voice, telling him he was going to be late and asking him to make dinner, but was pleasantly surprised to hear Sora's voice on the other end.
"Hi, Matt!" she said happily. "Do you want to go to the movies with me this afternoon?"
"Really?!" Matt was so excited about the offer he didn't know what to say. "Um, yeah, I guess that would be fun," he said, trying to sound more cool and less desperate. "What time?"
"How about 3:00 o'clock, so we can all stop and get something to eat first?"
"All?" he asked, having no trouble containing his excitement now.
"Yeah. You, me, Tai, and Izzy. I asked Mimi too, but she's getting ready for a trip to America to check out houses with her parents."
"Oh, ok", he replied, hoping he didn't sound too disappointed.
"Great! We can all meet at Tai's. See ya then!"
"See ya," he said, hanging up the phone.
He walked back to his room and flopped onto his bed with a sigh. He had been alone with Sora once since they'd come home, and that was by accident. They had just happened to run into each other while out running errands. They weren't together long, they just took a walk in the park, but that one short time was all it took. She was so easy to talk to, not to mention cute, funny, smart, and one of the nicest, most loving people he knew. He could go on for hours listing all her positive attributes, but needed not even a minute for her faults.
Despite having just talked to Sora, he couldn't help but feel a little depressed and angry. Tai always seemed to one-up him. He wasn't sure if Sora liked him or not, but he was pretty sure Tai liked her. Tai was his friend, one of his best friends, but he still drove Matt nuts sometimes. Matt knew he shouldn't be mad at him, after all, Tai didn't even know what he was doing to him. Maybe it wasn't even Tai who was in the wrong here; maybe it was him. If he were a good friend, he'd back off, and wait and see if anything happened between Sora and Tai. Of course, he couldn't really back off until he had made a move, which was something he just wasn't ready to do.
He picked up his new guitar to practice. He had started learning to play it just after they came back from the Digiworld, and it always relaxed him. He still liked his harmonica, but it just didn't have the sound he was looking for any more. He was even beginning to try to write his own music and dreamed of putting his own band together.
As he played the sheet music in front of him, he thought about how much he had changed recently. He used to be so withdrawn, and cold. He never showed his true feelings, and while he appeared happy and friendly, he always felt loneliness inside. Then Gabumon came into his life, and all of his new friends, and he was suddenly with T.K. again. It was strange at first, but he soon found he liked being with these people. Gabumon made him see things he never would have on his own, and things couldn't be going better for him.
But now life was getting a little awkward again. He was feeling things for Sora he never felt before, he didn't get to see T.K. very often, and there was this whole thing with Tai. He knew if Gabumon were here, he'd help him figure things out. He found himself missing Gabumon more everyday. He didn't show Gabumon how much he cared about him as much as he should have. He really kind of took him for granted.
Matt put down his guitar when he realized it was already 2:45. He quickly wrote a note to let his dad know where he was going, grabbed his money, and ran out the door for Tai's house.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Matt walked into the darkness of his apartment. His dad still wasn't home. Surprise, surprise he thought sarcastically. He knew his dad's job was time consuming, but he just wished he were around more often. Sometimes he wished he had a closer relationship with his dad, so he could talk to him about the whole Tai, Sora thing. Maybe he could give him some advice. He knew he needed it, he just didn't understand girls. Sora would flirt a little, and act like she was interested, but then go and do the same thing with Tai. Was she trying to keep the identity of the one she really liked a secret? Or maybe she didn't like either of them as more than just friends and she was flirty by nature.
Either way, he wasn't going to think about it now. He had had a great time tonight, and he wanted that good feeling to last. He always felt happy like this after being with Sora, even when Tai was around. He didn't want to ruin his mood by over analyzing the situation. She was almost like some kind of muse for him. After being with her, he often felt inspired to try to write a song, but he still had a long way to go before he wrote anything that even came close to describing the emotions he was feeling.
He sat down at his computer to check his e-mail. As he scrolled down the mailbox deleting all of the spam and junk mail, he thought about e-mailing Sora, but that thought was quickly put out of his mind when he saw an e-mail from Joe with a subject reading "Emergency". He double-clicked it and saw it had been sent to all of the Digidestined and wondered if they had read it yet.
His jaw dropped when he read the message in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't understand how it was possible. Was it a joke? No, it must be true; Joe would never joke around about something like this.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Gomamon swam through the river as quickly as he could, trying to reach the others. He didn't dare stay where he was a second longer, not with the evil he could feel looming. He had called Joe mentally and hoped the message would reach him through the internet. Just when he thought he couldn't swim any more, he saw Tentomon sitting in a nearby tree. He swam to the edge of the river and collapsed on the bank.
"Tentomon, come here, hurry!," Gomamon called in a panicked voice.
Tentomon flew down to where Gomamon lay. "Gomamon, what happened?"
"Tentomon, we're in big trouble! You have to fly and get the others, and bring them back here as fast as you can."
"Do I have to? That's a lot of flying. What's so important that I have to do all that?"
"I'll explain when we're all together. Now go, you have to hurry!"
Tentomon could hear the urgency in Gomamon's voice, and that was all it took send him on his way. Gomamon watched him fly out of sight as he crawled to the shelter of the nearby tree.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Matt followed Joe through the door into his family's apartment. He looked around to see that Tai, Izzy, Sora, and Kari were already there. Conveniently enough for him, there just happened to be room to sit beside Sora. He sat down happily at first, but then mentally scolded himself for thinking of that at a time like this.
Everybody turned their attention to Joe as he began to talk. "Does anybody know where Mimi and T.K. are?"
"T.K. didn't have a way to get over here tonight, but he's staying with me and my dad this weekend, so we'll be able to fill him in then," Matt informed them. He wondered if he was the only one who noticed the subtle look of disappointment on Kari's face.
"And Mimi is leaving to go house hunting in New York City with her parents, but she's only supposed to be gone a few days," Sora chimed in.
"Ok, then I guess we'll just have to figure this out without them," Joe continued. "My Digivice was activated today, I'm assuming by Gomamon, but I didn't know how to reach him. Luckily, though, he knew how to contact me, and he somehow e-mailed me and told me that Devimon was back, but meaner and more powerful than ever. Gabumon also thinks he's digivolved."
Everyone's face wore an expression of mixed anger, fear, and confusion. Though they had all read the e-mail before coming, and somewhat knew the situation they were in, they were still affected by Joe's words. Although they already knew, it was almost as if it wasn't real until someone finally spoke the words they were all dreading to hear. It felt like if nobody said it, it wouldn't be a real threat, but it was a real threat, and a very dangerous one.
Tai looked at Joe earnestly and asked, "We defeated Devimon, is he sure it's the same digimon. We could be dealing with an entirely new enemy.
"Whether he's a new digimon we haven't encountered or not, we're still going to have to go back and defeat him.", Sora said determinedly.
"But Geni told us we wouldn't be able to go back to the Digiworld. How are we supposed to go help our digimon if we can't even get to them?," Kari asked, with obvious concern in her voice.
Izzy, always the one able to conquer any technological problem, answered her query. "That's a good question Kari, one that I've already been thinking of myself. I've been running a few experiments and I think I can use our Digivices to open a gate to the Digiworld through the internet. I've been pondering this a lot since we've returned, and I think the internet has a direct connection to the Digital World."
"Well, now that we have that figured out, the next obvious thing to do is to go the Digiworld," Tai said, eager to take action.
Sora, ever the voice of reason, objected, "We need to have some kind of plan first, and we have to wait for Mimi and T.K."
"And besides," Joe added, "what about our parents? Time now flows at the same speed in both worlds, we can't just go off without telling them."
"Well, they already know about the Digimon, and how important a responsibility this is. Maybe if we just explain to them what's going on, they'll understand and let us go. They did before," Matt reminded them.
"I think that's a good idea Matt," Joe said. "Honesty is the best policy. I think we should just talk to our parents, wait for Mimi and T.K., go to the Digiworld and figure it out from there. We can't really make any definite plans of action until we talk to the digimon and find out exactly what's going on. At least this time we'll have more time to get prepared and bring supplies. So everybody get ready for what could possibly be a long trip and we'll meet back at Izzy's house Monday."
They all agreed and left Joe's house quietly, none of them in the same carefree mood they were in earlier. They thought they had saved the world, but apparently their job wasn't over yet, and they had no idea what they were about to face.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The eight Digidestined Digimon listened to Gomamon in silent shock. They couldn't believe the first enemy they ever had to fight was actually back. Unlike his partner Joe, Gomamon was known to have a sense of humor, but they could all tell by the grave expression on his face that this was no joke. What were they going to do? How could they beat him when they haven't even been able to digivolve since their partners left?
"Gomamon," Palmon asked, "Do Mimi and the others know about this?"
"I contacted Joe, so all we can do now is hope they get the message and find a way to come help us."
Agumon, assuming the role as leader, suggested, "Until we hear from them we should watch for Devimon, and find out as much as we can about how he's changed and what's he's up to, and help protect the digimon that can't defend themselves against him."
"What about us? We can't even defend ourselves if we can't digivolve. How do u expect us to help others?" Tentomon asked.
"True," Biyomon agreed, "but even so, it's our duty as the Digidestined Digimon to protect the Digital World."
"I agree with Biyomon and Agumon", Patamon added. "We have to do whatever we can to help."
"Yes, and we'll probably be safest if we're not alone," Gabumon said. "We should split up into groups of two to investigate. "Patamon, I'll go with you.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Agumon thought aloud. "I'll go with you Gatomon, and Palmon you go with Gomamon, and Tentomon, you with Biyomon. If everyone's okay with that, I think we should split up and start investigating!"
"Right!" they all shouted in unison. They all walked off into opposite directions with their partners, hoping this wouldn't be the last time they'd see each other.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Finally, it's Friday, Matt thought, as he gazed out the window at the fading light of the afternoon sun. As soon as T.K. gets here we'll be able to get to the Digiworld. The rest of that week had seemed to creep by for all of them. They had talked to their parents, and although incredibly reluctant, they realized the severity of the situation and would allow their children to go help their friends. Mimi came home from the United States early so they decided to leave on Friday instead. All they had to do now was wait for T.K. to come over.
Matt stood up as his mom's car pulled up to the sidewalk. He wasn't sure if T.K. told her where he was really going or not, but from the lack of worry on her face, he assumed he hadn't. Maybe it was better that way though. Matt didn't' want to put her through more stressful days and sleepless nights.
He rode the elevator down to the first floor of his building to meet T.K. as he came through the door. He was growing so fast, and didn't need Matt as much as he used to. Matt wasn't sure if he felt relief, or like he was being cast aside. He still had difficulty seeing T.K. as a growing boy becoming more and more independent; he still looked at him as his kid brother that needed protection and guidance.
"Hey, T.K.. Are you ready to go?" Matt asked, waving out the window to their mom as she pulled away from the curb.
Already pressing the elevator button, T.K. replied, "Yeah! I can't wait to see Patamon! Are we leaving soon?"
"T.K., this isn't a social visit. Do you know how dangerous this is going to be?" They boarded the elevator and Matt pressed the button for their floor.
"Yeah, I know, but Patamon beat that old Devimon before, he can do it again. I know he can."
"This isn't the same Devimon we faced before though. He's bigger and stronger now."
"I have faith in our digimon, and you should too!"
They walked off the elevator and into the apartment. "I do, it's just that I don't think you should be taking this so lightly."
T.K. followed Matt into his room. "Aw Matt, you worry too much, now lets go say bye to Dad and get to Izzy's."
At least he's not afraid to go, Matt thought, as they walked into the living room where Matt's dad was watching T.V.. "Um, Dad. We're leaving now for Izzy's house, we might not be back for a little while."
Mr. Ishida didn't answer at first. He didn't even respond. After an awkward silence, he turned around to face his sons. "Part of me is saying I shouldn't let you go, it's too dangerous, but I know how important this is. Boys, I'm counting on both of you to look out for each other. It wasn't so bad when the problems were here, in Odaiba, at least then I could help and keep an eye out for the two of you. I won't you both to promise that you'll be careful, and T.K., try to do what your brother says," He then glanced at Matt and continued, "as long as it's within reason."
"We promise," they said in unison." With that, their father hugged them and they said their goodbyes. Matt didn't like this; they were acting like it was final and it made him feel a little uneasy. Dismissing the feeling, he led T.K. out the door and they were on their way to Izzy's apartment.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Can I offer any of you something to eat or drink?," Mrs. Izzumi asked.
"No Mom, but thanks anyway," Izzy replied.
"Oh Izzy, do you have to go?" she asked, not even trying to hide her worry.
"Yes Mom, I do. We've already talked about this, and you know I have to. But don't worry, we'll be back, I promise."
"I know, and I know you'll come back, safe and sound, but I can't help worrying."
The looks on the faces of the other seven kids revealed that they were all thinking of their families, and the risk that they might not see them again. They all knew Izzy couldn't guarantee the promise he'd just made, but things like that were necessary to ensure their being allowed to go. "I think we should say our goodbyes now, Mom. I don't know how stable this portal will be, or how much longer I'll be here. I'll be right back you guys." They all watched as Izzy walked out of his bedroom with his mom.
Matt risked a glance at Sora, and was surprised to see she was looking at him. He looked away, blushing.
It was another one of those awkward silences while they waited for Izzy to return. They were excited, scared, happy, and sad all at once, but nobody knew what to say to each other.
It was Mimi who finally said something. "Hey, you guys, Izzy's computer is glowing, look at the screen." They all followed Mimi's gaze to the monitor and saw a white light radiating from it.
"Izzy, get in here!" Tai called. "I think it's time to go!" Izzy came running through the door just as they were all enveloped in the brilliant light.
Mrs. Izzumi watched with shock as the light faded and the children were gone.
* * * * * * * * * * *
***Well, that's the end of Chapter One. I hope you liked it. What will the Digidestined find when they reach the Digiworld, will they be able to save it yet again? Pleeeaaawe, R&R sometime during one the chap.'s that r up. Constructive criticism(emphasis on constructive) is more than welcome. Thanks!