Hello everyone! This is going to be one of my first Digimon fanfictions in a long time. I wish I wouldn't have deleted all of my old ones from the site though; it would be interesting to see how my writing style for these characters has changed. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, and please remember to read and review! It helps me out a lot with my writing style to get comments back from my readers.
Warnings: Semi-AU (digimon don't become common knowledge for the world, so instead of being a 'digimon doctor' Jou is just a regular doctor, etc.), violence, abuse, being mean to one of my favorite characters, major angst, yaoi couples, etc. but nothing absurdly graphic. Also, I can't write Michael as a nice person. I always try, but I just can't. Sorry, Michael lovers!
Pairings: Michael/Mimi, Sorato, Jou/OC, Daikari, Kenyako, Koushirou/Iori, and Taichi and Takeru are happenin' bachelors. For now. Some of these will change.
Ages: I fudged the timeline slightly. Jou is 27. Yamato, Sora, Taichi, Koushirou are 26. Michael is 25. Mimi and Ken are 24. Miyako is 23. Takeru, Daisuke, and Hikari are 21. Iori is 20.
Anyway, on with the story!
.oO***Oo.
Forward Motion
Flutterby Ashes
Prologue
Mimi tapped her pen nervously on her desk, impatiently waiting for her lunch break to start. Her eyes drifted out the large window beside her, and for a moment she calmed herself by looking out along the New York City skyline. Why was it that today, of all days, she had to have her slowest morning in months? Suddenly bored of the skyline, he eyes roved around her desk, taking in the multitude of pens, pencils, and books before finally settling on her computer. Sighing to herself, she decided to try and do a little more work before it was time to leave. If she could focus on it, of course.
She pulled up one of the files on her most recent client and studied the photographs carefully. Then, she opened the attached food diary for the woman and crinkled her nose in disgust. "Four fast food cheeseburgers, with extra bacon and fries doused in ranch dressing three days in one week? No wonder you weigh over four hundred pounds," she muttered. Sometimes, her job could really get to her. She much rather preferred counseling people with diabetes or gluten allergies, and creating specialized diets for them, as opposed to trying to work miracles on people who have never thought of eating something that isn't deep fried or smothered in butter. She sighed again, and looked at the weight loss goals for the woman in question and resisted the urge to laugh outright. "Two hundred pounds in six months?" Groaning, she was already beginning to dread meeting with this woman next week to discuss her goals.
It happened a lot in her line of work, she had realized in the past two years since she had finished university. People see the word 'nutritionist' and mistakenly think that she would be able to fix all of their problems. There was no worse feeling than realizing the health and exercise plan that she spent hours fine-tuning to meet someone's specific needs would eventually get thrown into a pile full of Atkins diet books and Slim-Fast cans. That was something that she was starting to hate about America - too many people were more interested in taking the easy way out, through liposuction or crash diets, and when Mimi tried to tell them otherwise, all of her hard work would blow up in her face.
Focusing on her computer, she started to detail a dietary plan that would limit this gargantuan woman's diet without causing her to starve. Focusing on her work, she had almost forgotten about the phone call she had received this morning. Michael had been out of town for nearly two months now, following in his father's footsteps of becoming a movie star. Mimi hadn't minded too much, at least not until last week, when she had inexplicably become sick, suffering from hot flashes and nausea, and occasionally her stomach would cramp so badly that she could barely walk. Oddly enough, the feeling would pass when she ate, and it almost always came in the middle of the night, so she hadn't had to miss work for it. She had been to the doctor's a few days before and they had been stumped as well, so they took blood samples and decided to run a few tests before making a diagnosis. This morning, she had received a phone call from her doctor, telling her that her test results had come in and that she needed to make an appointment as soon as possible to speak with him.
Her mind had been swirling around a thousand different scenarios all morning long. Her thoughts constantly drifted to her mother, who had passed away shortly before her twentieth birthday. She had suffered from similar symptoms before finally being diagnosed with stomach cancer and passing away only weeks later. The whole time they had thought it couldn't be anything more than a hefty bought of stomach flu. Mimi had hoped all morning that she wasn't about to receive similar news.
Her fingers stilled over the keyboard as she paused in her typing and her thoughts moved past her mother and on to her father. She wondered where he was now. Shortly after she had started high school, she and her mother discovered the reason why he had suddenly uprooted the family to move from Japan to New York. He had another family, a woman that he had been seeing since before he and her mother had been married and her four children, all fathered by him. Two were older than Mimi and two were younger. Uncovering this made her grow to detest her father immensely and caused her to reject many things that she valued because of him. She no longer had her love of the color pink, because he was the one who bought her all of the pink things he could find. She lost her passion for designer clothes and shopping, because it was her father who bought her first fashion magazine that captivated her. She began to detest make-up and straightening her hair and her weekly manicures because those were all things he made her think were important. The only thing she kept of his was her last name, and she only kept that because it was how her friends always knew her.
She laughed to herself, remembering the spoiled brat her father had made her in to. It was so much nicer to not worry about keeping up with the fashion trends or waking up three hours early to perfect her hair and make-up and select the perfect outfit for the day. Her mother had supported her through all of her changes, and in turn she had supported her mother through their divorce. They had become nearly inseparable during those changes, and she missed her mother more than she ever cared to admit.
Her work all but forgotten, her thoughts continued to drift to her friends that her father had forced her to leave behind in Japan. Sora was her best friend, and even through all of the changes and distance between them, they had never missed a 'Monday Night Phone Call' to each other and had stayed close. They had even been the bridesmaids at each other's weddings, hers to Michael and Sora's to Yamato. It was also Mimi that Sora called first when she learned she was expecting the couple's first child, a beautiful baby girl named Etsuko. Takeru was another one of her closest friends, and she wasn't really sure how that had worked out. It had started just after Hikari had practically broken his heart, choosing Daisuke over him in a move that shocked all of their friends. He had turned to her while Yamato was out of town and she had been there for him, despite being ten thousand miles away. He had just finished university and was currently working as a freelance writer for an online blog.
Yamato had gotten deeper into music, and although his band didn't manage to stay together after high school, he had gotten an exciting job for a publicist firm that specialized in music sales, that he loved immensely, and Sora loved the fact that he would be coming home every night instead of going off on tour. Jou finally lived up to his father's dream and had become a doctor along with both of his older brothers. He recently finished up his internship at the hospital in Tokyo and had started his residency shortly after Mimi and Michael had gotten married the year before. Hikari and Daisuke were still together and doing nicely. Daisuke recently proposed to the girl after their university graduation, and the young girl was all aflutter with wedding plans and ideas. Hikari began work as a physical therapist at the same hospital as Jou, and Daisuke was currently working as a contract administrator for a prominent managing firm in Tokyo. Koushirou and Iori were currently dating, much to the surprise of the others. Koushirou was working for a bio-robotics laboratory, trying to design the world smartest robot, while Iori was finishing up his time at university and preparing to enter law school. Miyako and Ken had married just before Mimi and Michael. A few weeks after they returned from their honeymoon, Miyako discovered that she was pregnant and decided to devote all of her time and effort into the baby. Their first child, a daughter named Manami, was born about six months ago. Ken was working as a detective for the Odaiba Police Department, which of course worried Miyako immensely. Finally, Taichi was enjoying the life of a 'permanent bachelor,' as he liked to call it, while working as an assistant for Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations at his office in Tokyo. He was frequently gone on travel around the world, accompanying the Ambassador on various mission trips around the world.
Mimi's eyes drifted to the lone framed picture situated on her desk. It was her favorite picture of the twelve of them, and it had been taken at her wedding nearly a year and a half ago. Everyone had been able to make the trip to New York, much to Mimi's delight, and they were all smiling and laughing and happy to be around one another once again. It was the first time she had seen all of them in nearly two years, and Yamato and Sora's wedding. She had unfortunately had to miss Miyako and Ken's wedding due to a Nutritionist's conference she had to attend for work. She studied each of their faces and wondered how they all might have changed in that time. Miyako was sure to sport some grey hairs, due to her constant worry about Ken and the baby. She wondered if Takeru had finally gotten out of his apartment and gotten a tan, instead of sitting inside and working all day as he was prone to. Had Yamato's face softened at seeing his daughters first steps and hearing her first words? She mused that Jou would still be awkward and shy, and thought that his bedside manner must be terrible. She smiled to herself.
Her cell phone began to beep incessantly, shocking her and nearly causing her to start out of her chair. Looking at it, she noticed that the alarm was going off, signaling that it was time to take her lunch break and get to the doctor's office. The momentary calm she had gathered while thinking of her friends seemed to dissipate immediately and she began to get nervous about what she would have to tell Sora next week on the phone, hoping that it wasn't too serious. She dreaded having to call Michael and give him bad news when he was half-way across the country and she was nervous to have to spend the night on her own. Resolving herself to her fate, she gathered her belongings and left her small office, locking the door behind her. She smiled and appeared carefree to all of her coworkers that she passed as she walked, carefully disguising her concern. The elevator didn't move fast enough, and she decided that a taxi would feel the same way, so she walked six blocks in her heels to the doctor's. In what seemed like no time at all, she was standing before the frosted glass door, and for a moment she could not bring herself to open it.
'Ugh,' she chided herself, 'You're being ridiculous! Stop acting like it's the end of the world and get in there.' Pushing open the door, she signed in and seated herself on one of the plush cushions, busying herself with a fitness magazine and tapping her foot.
"Miss Tachikawa?" the receptionist called. She hadn't changed her last name to Michael's something that they had both agreed on. Michael may have wanted to be famous, but Mimi most certainly didn't, and the farther out of the spotlight she could stay, the more she preferred it. Plus, Mimi McGeiger did not have a nice ring to it at all.
She stood and straightened her skirt before heading into the hallway and following the receptionist. Instead of being led into a blindingly white examination room, she was directed to a smaller lounge area, with two large chairs and a warm brown paint color on the walls. There were a few potted plants and a nice rug, along with a very large window that looked out onto the city. Mimi carefully sat in one of the chairs, pulling her purse into her lap. The receptionist left, telling her that the doctor would be with her in just a minute and to make herself comfortable.
Mimi's nerves redoubled. She had only been in a room like this once before, and it was when the doctor had told her mother that she was likely going to die. She began to nervously fidget with her fingers, play with her purse strap, and pop her shoe on and off, doing anything that she could possibly think of to try and stop thinking about what was about to happen. 'He's going to come in here and tell me that I'm going to die; I know it,' she thought to herself. The creaky opening of the door nearly scared her senseless.
"Well, well, good afternoon, Miss Tachikawa!" he greeted cheerfully. Mimi managed a quiet "Hello" in reply. He sat down in the chair across from her, a blue manila folder in his hands. He peered up at her through his wire-rimmed glasses. "Have you still been having those same symptoms?" Mimi swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes," she replied, "But they haven't been as strong as they were before. I don't even have to eat to make it go away now. Sometime a soak in the tub or some tea helps too." She was impressed at how well she kept her voice from shaking. "Still vomiting daily?" he asked, a kind expression on his face, and Mimi wrinkled her nose. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, chuckling lightly and making a few more notes in her chart.
Finally, he sent the chart down in his lap and looked at her, still smiling softly. His demeanor had calmed her down greatly, but she was still afraid to hear what he had to say. "Well, Mimi," he began, "I wouldn't look for those symptoms to go away for another few weeks or so, but they should get weaker and weaker." Mimi nodded, still not understanding what was going. "So then, Dr. Culligan," she started, keeping her voice remarkably calm, "What exactly is wrong with me?"
His visage broke into a full smile then, the skin around his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Miss Tachikawa, there's not a thing wrong with you; in fact you're one of the healthiest patients that I have!" Mimi looked at him, completely confused. If she was so healthy then why did she feel so horrible half the time? Noticing her confusion, he reached across and squeezed her hand, his expression still kind and calm.
"There's absolutely nothing wrong, Miss Tachikawa. Your body is doing everything it's supposed to in this situation."
A light clicked on in Mimi's head. Dr. Culligan smiled, and said the words that were sure to change her life forever.
"You're pregnant!"
.oO***Oo.
Alright, I hope you all enjoyed this little entry to the story. I wanted to get a bit of everyone's background in there and establish the couples and occupations and what not, so I know it drags a little bit in the middle. Chapter One is already half done because I originally wasn't going to split them, but it was getting very long and way too full of background, so I moved most of that stuff here. Please review, even if you didn't like it, but I would appreciate constructive criticism instead of flames. Simply saying "you suck!" does not help me improve.
Thanks! 3, Ashes