Digimon Adventure 05

by YukiraKing

Three years after 04 and the Digidestined are in for more drama and mayhem than ever before! Each of them is faced with a trial that tests their personal limits and pulls on their last nerves as the story around them unfolds to learn more about the mulitverse they had been chosen to protect. -Accidentally deleted this, so I'm just putting it back up now. Oops :P-

1. New Beginnings

Y/N: This is it: Digimon Adventure 05. We're in for another long, winding story, and we hope you're up for the ride. I've had a lot of fun writing arc one of this story, and we're about half-way through arc two right now. So we'll be working like crazy to get this story done, so we won't be too far behind on updating, like last time.

Just a quick reminder, I am Taichi, Koushiro, Mimi, Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, and Ken. I am also going to be Rei, Jun, Momoe, Natsuni, Yoshie, and Kae. And, I'm also two new characters, but I won't give away their names just yet. It's part of the mystery. This chapter has cute moments, and sad moments and happy moments. It's a mini-rollercoaster of its own. Please enjoy, and review to let us know what you think of our opening act!

U/N: Kay, so I rewatched season 1 and 2 of digimon now, and I have to say... my views on a lot of the characters have changed. I figure I'll just run it down so you know why I've done certain things if i do them... Izzy, and Tai are the bane of the Digital Universe. Sora is super boring... Matt and Jou are wonderful, Tk, Kari and Mimi are all amazing but annoying... Yolei, Cody, and Davis and even Ken all have no real... place in my rankings. They change so often.

But I finally think I might be on the road to shipping Sorato. I ship Miyako with Daisuke, and Jyoumi which you should all already know. So in my chapters there will be those three shipped together as friends, but not necessarily romantic, so just don't get ideas off the bat if they have cute moments... :P

-Koumi is nothing. There are no Koumi scenes ever, and in 02 he even says "Hey, doesn't Mimi live in America?" He doesn't even know where she is! Just... I can't handle them, so if I ignore their relationship (which I haven't so far) they're not going through drama, I'm just not in the mood.

Anyway, 05 is rather dramatic and exciting, but more importantly it's so packed with story lines for all the Digidestined and even their digimon ! :D Except Veemon... well, he will, we just haven't thought of one yet...

Once more...

I'm Yamato, Sora, Jou, Takeru, Hikari, Willis, Michael, Kurayami, Yuuko, Natuko, Satoe, Isao, Hiroaki, Tatum, Kurayami's dad and Willis' friend who you don't know yet.

I hope this lives up the the expectations and waiting... so enjoy, and review :D

Title: Digimon Adventure 05

By: Yukira and Urazamay King

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.

Part 1: Targets Unknown

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Ken:

As a group, we weren't seeing each other as much as we'd have liked. Life kept getting in the way. Our various schools had us being pulled in so many different directions, putting us in different cities. It wasn't as convenient to meet as it was when we were younger.

And this was not the way I'd expected our next group meeting to go.

Everyone was dressed in black, trying to convey our support and strength for Iori as he struggled passed this unfortunate development.

We were standing in the snow, but we wouldn't let the cold, bitter wind affect us. We couldn't complain about the trivialness of it all. We were here for a more important reason. I could see my breath as I stood at attention, my wife at my side. Everyone was silent, except for the occasional sobbing, and the words of the minister.

I hated funerals.

I also had a hard time crying at them. I'd been to quite a few, and the only one I'd ever shed a tear at was my first, my brother's. Personally, I thought I'd blocked the memories of that day from my mind, holding onto the guilt for so long, that I just wasn't able to cry at them, I made myself numb instead. It didn't make me feel any less awful that I couldn't show that emotion. I didn't want Iori to think I didn't care. Because I did. I cared a lot. I'd spent a lot of time around that man while I was growing up. He taught me a lot without having to say anything to me. Mr Hida was a brilliant man, and I could only feel as though I'd not done enough for him, not spent enough time learning from him to make myself a better man.

I couldn't do that anymore. I'd run out of time. He wouldn't be passing on any more of that wisdom to me. I could only imagine how hard Iori was taking this.

His grandfather was his source of wisdom, the reason he was such an outstandingly moral being. He didn't lie, he didn't cheat, he never broke a promise… I was sure it was because of Mr Hida. You could justfeel when he was disappointed by you, simply from the feel of his glance. He never even glared—I wasn't sure where Iori picked up that nasty habit from—just looked at you, and you felt like you'd just kicked a puppy or something equally unforgiveable.

I'd done that once…kicked a puppy. So I knew what it felt like.

Iori was standing tall though. I could see he was straining himself, forcing himself to do so. He didn't want to look weak, for his mother's sake. She was falling to pieces beside him. But he didn't reach out to her, didn't comfort her. He couldn't. His hands were in fists by his side, shaking with the emotion he was desperately trying to repress. His little brother—who had reverted back to his rookie form some time after hearing the news—Meiyomon was on his other side, sitting on the ground openly sobbing as his grandfather's casket was lowered into the ground. Kotemon, Mr Hida's own digimon partner was silent. He had one hand crossed over his chest, a sign of respect for his fallen partner. I felt horrible for the poor digimon, who'd spent most of his existence waiting for Mr Hida to come along, only to have him taken from him after such a short time. Armadillomon was next to him, looking to Iori, desperate to help him, but didn't know how. A pair of Numemon was also present. It seemed as if they cared a great deal for the old man, despite only meeting him once.

We—as Iori's friends—were standing behind them. Miyako, my beautiful wife, was at my side, sniffling as she tried to be strong for Iori. Mimi and Koushiro were to my other side, and beyond Miyako stood Hikari, Kurayami—who'd gone above and beyond to help Iori during his grandfather's stay in the hospital—Daisuke and Takeru. Both boys opted to remove their headwear for the occasion. Jou wasn't far either, but he was standing alone, as Momoe had to take Emiko away. She'd been too confused, kept asking questions in her own gibberish way, and they didn't want her to disrupt the ceremony. She was too young to understand.

My in-laws were there as well, as Mr Hida had been such a dedicated customer for so many years. Iori's friend, Natsuni, was opposite to Iori. Her cheeks were stained with tears as well, but she held her head high, not looking away from Iori, determined to hold strong for him.

And then it was over.

Mr Hida was gone, his casket was in the ground, and the first of the dirt was thrown down on top of it. The guests threw roses in as they departed, sending their last wishes with Mr Hida, and holding on to their memories of him.

I reached down to take my wife's hand, but she pulled away quickly. She pulled on her sleeves, and held her own rose tightly to her chest. I sighed. She'd been doing that a lot lately. I didn't dwell on it then, however. I had to pay my respects to Mr Hida. Instead, I put my arm around her shoulders, letting her lean into me as she cried.

"We should go after Iori," Miyako whispered as she threw her rose into the grave.

"He's over there," I motioned, pointing to Iori, who seemed to be deflecting any and all of the guests who went over to greet him.

"Come on then," Miyako said firmly, stalking away from me. I sighed but followed after her.

"I have to go home now, Iori," Natsuni was telling him. "I want to stay, really I do. But Mother is being insistent. I can't miss my lessons even for something as important as this."

"I understand, I'll be fine," Iori murmured. "Just…"

"I'll call you later," she promised, knowing what he was trying to say. "Good-bye Iori."

She nodded to us as she passed by. Miyako reached out to Iori's shoulder. He jumped and turned around immediately. She snatched her arm away again, cradling it to her chest.

"Iori," Miyako started.

"Hello," he said stiffly. He didn't meet our eyes. He was still trying to hide his emotions. I could understand that. I nodded my greeting to him.

"I wanted to know if there was anything we could do," Miyako asked hesitantly.

"Not really," he said dully. "There's nothing to be done. Everything's been taken care of."

"Not you," she insisted.

"I'm fine," he said, but shook his head. He couldn't lie and he knew it. "I will be fine. I just have to get there."

He looked around and found something that caught his eye.

"I can't believe her," he groaned. I turned to see his mother being comforted by her friends…while Meiyomon—her adopted digi-son—still sat on the ground in tears. "I have to go help Meiyomon. He's taking harder than me even. He doesn't understand why he's not coming back. He's a digimon, it's confusing him."

"Do you want us to try and talk to him?" I asked.

"No," he said. "I have to do it."

"Okay," Miyako said. "Call us if you think of anything. I don't want you to feel alone. I'll be right over day or night."

He finally met her eye. "Thanks."

"I promise," Miyako whispered.

I heard him mutter to Meiyomon. "Do you…want to go to the, uh, dojo Meiyomon?"

"Grandpa called me Meiyo," he whimpered.

"Do you, err, want me to call you that too?" Iori asked awkwardly.

"Uh-huh," Meiyomon said crying. "I miss him."

"I miss him too," Iori told him. "I always will. But he's with Dad now. He's still watching over us. He will always watch over us, so we're never alone. He's with his son. He's missed his son for a very long time. It will be good for him to see him again. Someday, I'll be able to meet him again too. But that won't be for a very long time."

"But I won't," Meiyomon cried.

"But you will keep his memory alive forever," Iori told him softly. "Through your actions for the Digital World. Be the best digimon you can be, because he's watching you, and I know you'll make him proud."

"How do you know?" Meiyomon asked.

"Because Grandpa told me the same thing about my dad when he died," Iori said, his voice wavering a little bit. "And then he took me to the dojo. So that's what I'm going to do. Go find Kotemon, he's wandered off somewhere. We're going to bring him with us, and do something that Grandpa loved to do, okay?"

"Okay," Meiyomon said, his tears lessening. "I'll get Armadillomon and Huh and Yuck too."

"He's going to be okay, right?" Miyako questioned at my side, clearly having seen the same scene I did.

"He will be," a woman said from behind us. She wore a black skirt and blazer, but the light green blouse revealed her identity to me. She was the Queen, the Fairy Queen that Iori had saved. "He simply needs time to land on his feet again. I had hoped I would not see him in the same position again so soon. But he has grown so much. He knows not to fear death, but to see it as a natural transition. He is not angered by this death as he was his father's. He is wounded, yes, but he's forgiven his Grandfather for leaving him. He's grown into a fine man."

"He has, hasn't he," I agreed, looking at Iori as he pulled Meiyomon into his arms and carried him out of the cemetery, with Kotemon following behind him. He cast one distained look in his mother's direction, before going.

I looked to the Queen again, but found that she'd vanished. I sighed. "What do you want to do now?"

"Can we go home?" Miyako asked in a small, defeated voice.

"Of course we can," I told her, leading her to our car, preparing for the long ride back to our little apartment.

Takeru:

I was standing in the cold, on the verge of shivering as the moon and stars shone above me. I slowly raised my hand to knock on the wooden door in front of me, but I stopped myself. Was I really ready to go see him? I looked up slowly to the name plate on the door.

'Michel Takaishi'

I hadn't seen him in years... and I was fairly certain he didn't overly like me anyway. I mean, just after I was born he'd moved here. To France. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried again to knock, but found myself unable to. I spun around and fell into a sitting position in the snow that had piled up on his doorstep. I threw my hands over my head and bit my lip. I couldn't just walk in there... he didn't even know I was coming—what if he wasn't home? Well he was. His light was on. I could see it. Perhaps Mom called him—she'd been pretty excited to hear the news that I wanted to visit him...

Maybe she just wanted me out of the house... Which I knew wasn't true at all. She wouldn't want me gone because then she'd probably assume I'd left her—just like Yamato had. But he hadn't just picked up and left—she just saw it that way... I think. I mean he was avoiding her all the time, and never coming home from school on holidays, and now that he'd gotten his Master's in whatever it is, he'd been spending all his time becoming a certified jet pilot. I figured the reason he wasn't coming home even now was because he wanted to stop focussing so much on Sora, and instead pay attention to the rest of his life, which I understood, I wanted to pick up and leave too—just to get away from Hikari for a bit... I'd been so sure I was over her, but I was wrong—anyway, I'd tell Mom that Yamato was just busy, and that he sends his love—even though he'd never actually said anything... I wondered why that was for sure, but I figured I'd just stick with my Sora theory.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and turned to look back at the sign on the door. I'd have to do it eventually. It wasn't such a big deal—I'd lived with the man for two years for goodness sakes! And as Patamon had told me just before my flight left, "He's your Grandfather Takeru. He loves you." All I had to do... was knock on the door...

"Takeru?"

I turned around quickly, losing my footing on the ice built up on the step. I caught my balance on the metal railing and felt my face turn red at the sight of the giggling girl at the bottom of the stairs. Her long blonde hair fell in spiralling curls, draping over her shoulders. She wore a green dress covered by a red woollen coat. In her hands, clamped under her heavy mittens was a leash which lead to a small furry dog.

"C-Catherine?" I stuttered as she smiled up at me with her big blue eyes. She nodded and waved lightly. "What are you doing here?" I asked her with a smile on my face, steadying myself, using the railing and hurrying down the steps to greet her. As I stepped onto the pavement I lost my footing once more and found myself falling into a pile of snow. Catherine began to laugh again as the wet snow soaked through my pants. I smiled with her as she reached to help me up.

"Well what are you doing down zere?" She asked me with her thick French accent. I laughed with her for a moment. "I'm just walking my dog, Pétales." She said with a wink toward her dog who sat very still panting excitedly about the walk. "What are you doing 'ere?" She asked me.

"I came to visit my Grandfather." I told her with a smile.

"Oh zat is very sweet of you," She said. She smiled brightly at me revealing her perfectly in line shining white teeth which had previously been covered by her full red lips. Her skin was perfect too... so pale, and smooth. "Takeru?" I jumped at the sound of my name and smiled sheepishly. She smiled with me again, "Would you like to come on our walk with us? It will be fun!"

"Sure—yeah." I nodded foolishly, literally stunned by how pretty she was. She nodded and quickly set off down the sidewalk as she had started walking already.

"So what makes you want to visit your Grandfather?" She asked simply as she walked with a little skip in her step.

"Well..." I trailed off for a moment before coming back to reality. "You see... My friend's Grandfather died recently—last week actually and... And the only words I managed to get him to tell me were pretty... sad to say the least. 'I will never see him again. Honestly... I regret not spending more time with him.' Which I thought was pretty strange due to the fact that he spent almost all of his free time with him... But it made me want to see my own Grandpa."

Catherine nodded slowly. "I am very sorry to 'ear about your friend's Grandfather. Please send 'im my regards."

"And his funeral was on Christmas Eve, of all days..."

"Zat is 'orrible!" Catherine said quickly, her face falling into a beautiful pout, as her eyebrows raised and her eyes filled with sadness, "I'm so sorry to 'ear zat." I nodded and then the two of us walked in silence for a bit. I thought about Iori, and how I had gone to talk to him, noticing him sitting by himself a few days after the funeral. He'd practically screamed at me... he could be pretty scary if he wanted to... and apparently he did want that... "So where is Patamon?" Catherine asked, her sudden smile pushing away all bad thoughts.

"That's a long story." I told her slowly. And it was, but I figured she wouldn't want to listen to me rant about every detail to the battle against Fanglongmon... "When the Digital World and the Human world combined a few years back—"

"Zat was you who did zat?" She squeaked with excitement, "You got me my Floramon back! Thank you Takeru!" She was suddenly hugging me tightly, as Petals... or however she pronounced it, grew slightly more impatient.

"Well it wasn't exactly me..." I told her, "It was kind of an accident... but you're welcome all the same." She smiled anyway and we started walking again, "Anyway, when we forced the worlds to split up again one of the requirements was that we'd have to keep a perfect balance. And that means that Patamon can't come out of the Digital World for long periods of time—or the balance will be shifted again. We'd had a close call a year ago with Daisuke and Veemon and it's really funny—but you probably don't want to hear about that." I let my mood fall quickly but Catherine was still smiling.

"No, please!" She said, egging me on, waiting for the story. My mood practically inflated and I found myself actually smiling—something I hadn't done in a long time as I told her the whole story about how Daisuke and Veemon were playing hide and seek together, but Veemon had fallen asleep and the sun was nearly setting. And when Daisuke finally found him he practically had to throw him back into the digital world... it was funny that we'd almost upset the balance of all the worlds with hide and seek... Catherine laughed and seemed genuinely interested the whole conversation, and I couldn't help but feel... happy.

Soon Catherine and I had found a quiet place, and sat down on a bench as she let Petals run free in the park.

"It sounds like you and your friends 'ave lot's of fun with your digimon." Catherine said with a smile, "I wish for other Chosen Children to live around 'ere."

"You should come visit us sometimes!" I said suddenly, plucking the idea from somewhere I hadn't located yet, "Through the digital world of course, it saves a lot of money on travelling." I laughed a little and she nodded.

"I could do zat?" She asked, "You would all like that?"

"I think we would all like that very much." I told her. "Though you'd have to be careful. And not just of the imminent danger that seems to be waiting around every turn for the group of us, but carful of my brother. He's searching the world for a new girlfriend—you might be his next victim." Catherine laughed and again I finally felt as if someone was actually caring about what I said. I guess that's what I got for hanging out with a bunch of couples. Everyone was happily paired up lately... Yamato had been with a new girl every week getting over Sora, Koushiro and Mimi had been dating for three years now—I was pretty sure Jou and Momoe were talking about marriage—Ken and Miyako were married, Daisuke and Kurayami were in a relationship, and even Iori had managed to get a girlfriend before me. Of course there was Hikari and Willis too—but I didn't hang out with them much, or like to think about that couple. I mean I always hung out with Hikari—I couldn't let a chance escape me, she was my best friend after all. But for eighteen months and twelve days they'd been on and off, having broken up six times, and gotten back together, unfortunately, the same amount of times.

"So what do you do now that you're not in school—or are you in school?" She asked, quickly taking her statement back, afraid I'd failed or something.

I shook my head, "I'm taking some creative writing courses at a college near my parents house, and I'm thinking about switching over to some sort of teaching classes because I already know how to write—I don't need classes for it. I've actually written a book. The problem is that I don't know how to publish it."

"You've written a book?" Catherine asked excitedly, "May I read it?"

"I don't actually... have it on me." I told her with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, right..." She blushed slightly but then turned to me, "My father's friend works at a novel publishing company. Perhaps I could show 'im your book and hope for him to publish it?"

"That would be amazing!" I smiled at her, "I could just... send it to you through email?"

"Or I could come visit like you say." She said, "And you could give me the writings zere?"

"Oui!" I felt my face turn red as I nodded, "I'd like that a lot." She smiled at me before turning to find her dog.

"Oh non..." She said, jumping to her feet "Merde..." The way she said it made me sure that it wasn't a very nice word. I stood up quickly and looked around for Petals, but he was completely out of sight. "Zis is why I always bring Floramon on walks with Petals—'e is such a 'appy puppy and she is so good at catching 'im."

"Where is Floramon?" I asked her.

"Baking cookies." She said as if it were a rather amusing statement. I chuckled a little as I thought of Patamon baking, realizing where the humour was.

"I'll find Petals." I told her with a smile.

"Pétales," She corrected with a wink, "Would you do that?"

"Absolutely!" I told her with a grin. And so I set off quickly in search of her puppy. The concept wasn't hard—it was nearing upon the end of December and the ground was covered in snow so the dog left footprints. The problem was that I was following them in circles which Catherine found to be very funny. Eventually though, I found that the footprints led under the playground set, so I fell to my hands and knees and found that he was right there, his butt held high in the air, his tail wagging excitedly. I reached forward slowly, "Here Petals..." I said in a whisper, my hand over top of the dog ready to retrieve it. Petals barked playfully and then set off at run under the playground. I groaned and started crawling after him as fast as I could as he ran in circles around me. I ducked quickly, almost hitting my head on a support beam. Finally though I had chased him out of the playground and was able to run on two feet, but the puppy was faster than me, even though it had to jump with each step because of the snow was so deep.

"Petals!" I shouted with slight frustration, trying to corner him. Petals ran straight through my legs and toward Catherine, leaping into her arms. I rolled my eyes and hurried over to her. She laughed at me, and helped wipe the snow off of me.

"Thank you very much," Catherine said as she locked eyes with me. We stared for a moment before she turned, motioning for me to follow her, "Shall we go 'ome then?" I nodded as she set Petals on the ground, and clipping his leash back onto his collar. We walked in silence for most of the way, both of us smiling as I took glances over toward her, catching her doing the same at least three times. Eventually though she spoke up. "Are you enjoying your stay at your Grandfather's?"

"I actually haven't... gone into his house yet." I admitted. "I'm a little nervous. I don't know... if he wants me there."

"Vous ne saves jamais si vous essayez." She said quickly. She looked at me with a grin, clear that she knew I had no clue what she had said, "It is what my Grandmother always says. You never know unless you try." She translated.

I nodded. "You're right..." I said slowly as we slowed to a stop in front of my Grandfather's house. I looked nervously to the door.

"'Ow long are you staying?" She questioned, looking away, pretending she didn't care too much about the answer.

"As long as I'd like." I said, "Well, until school starts up again anyway." She turned to me with a small smile and nodded. "Perhaps we could see each other again?"

"Oui!" She said with a clap of her hands. "I would like that!"

I turned from her giving her one last smile and hurried up the stairs, using the railing to be sure I wasn't falling.

"Adieu Takeru," She said to me, "Bonne Chance!"

"B-bye..." I told her over my shoulder before turning back to the door and knocking quickly. Soon the door was pulled open by a very tired looking elderly man whose face lit up at the sight of me, relief washing over me. He reached forward and pulled me toward him to hug me. "Grandpa!" I gasped as he hugged me surprisingly tight.

"Takeru! What are you doing here?" He asked me.

"I'm here to visit you," I told him as he released me from his grip.

"Where are your things?" He asked me, looking around me in confusion.

"Oh Patamon's watching them in the digital world because I didn't want to drag them through France." I told him. "I'll go get them soon."

"Wonderful!" He said while smiling, his face wrinkling, "Come in boy, come in!" He quickly ushered me inside making me feel completely foolish for having thought that he wouldn't want to see me. I'd have to make a habit of coming here more often. If not for my Grandfather... then for Catherine.

Jou:

"So we're just waiting on Michael," Taichi said, standing on a chair and counting heads, "Typical. He's always so much later than everyone else."

"He lives in a different country Taichi." Sora pointed out. "And stop treating this like one of your meetings. Because it isn't one."

Taichi had declared that once a week we would all gather in whatever place would hold us all and we'd talk about not only our lives, but the fate of the worlds. It was getting fairly repetitive as of late due to the fact that nothing crucial was happening anywhere. But this wasn't one of those meetings, this was a party. We were standing in a building that I'd been in a lot lately—one that I'd been helping Mimi fix up to prepare for opening. Her new restaurant that she'd be opening at the start of the new year. So, tomorrow. The floor was tiled with white and black tiles, there were six red seated stools by the wooden counter and the walls were all made of wood. There were many tables scattered across the floor, and the one where I knew we would all be sitting a lot was a large corner seated bench. It looked fairly legitimate to me, and I was really proud of Mimi for getting it started. If only she had a menu...

Taichi hopped off the chair and patted Sora on the head, "I like my meetings."

"I like them too," Sora nodded, though it was clear that she was lying. The two of them moved to sit next to Koushiro and Mimi who were adorably whispering to one another. Rei was there too, in her wheelchair. Taichi had invited her, and I thought that was nice, though I didn't really know her well. She wheeled closer to Taichi and stopped at the table.

Willis was sitting with Miyako, the two of them were talking quietly as well, though it was not nearly as adorable as Koushiro and Mimi, likely because they weren't together and weren't trying to make it adorable. Ken was sitting nearby, but not making any effort to join the conversation.

Iori was also there, but sitting away from everyone else with Natsuni and Goblimon, none of them were talking, but instead just sitting, and I knew Iori was thinking of his Grandfather. Momoe was standing next to me, her hand wrapped around mine as she leaned against me slightly, and our baby... Emiko—she was the life of the party. She was standing on a nearby table, dancing a little as she showed her new friends how she could do the itsy-bitsy spider routine. Bearmon was right there watching her, he could never get away—he was her teddy bear. Momoe read that kids her age needed a blanket or a teddy bear to give them comfort to get used to new situations. So apparently that was normal.

Daisuke, Hikari, Takeru, Kurayami were all sitting around her and clapping and laughing with her as she showed them her tricks. She was so cute. I was pretty sure no one else had ever been as cute as her. Ever. Her thin brown hair was tied into two pigtails using blue ribbons, and she was wearing a bright pink dress that Mimi had been so kind to purchase for her.

"You didn't do that right." Daisuke said flatly. Everyone stopped clapping and talking and turned to him as he pointed to Emiko, "I mean, I think. It's hard to tell I can't really understand you..."

Emiko's face screwed up as she began to smack Daisuke's head repetitively. At first I found myself forcing back laughter but I ran forward quickly and scooped her off of the table and into my arms.

"Emiko, do you think that was nice?" I asked her. She shook her head, "What do you think you could have done instead?"

"Not hit him." She said, a little upset.

"That's right." I told her, "Now apologize okay?"

"Why?"

I groaned, not this again, "Because it's the polite thing to do."

"What?"

"Polite means that you do the right thing." I explained.

"Why?"

"Because that's what it means." I said.

"How?"

I gritted my teeth slightly and exhaled deeply. "Emiko sweetheart, when we do something that's mean we apologize. That's how we make sure we're doing what's right, and becoming a good person."

"Okay." She said with a smile, looking up at me with her big brown eyes. "Sorry Daddy."

"To Daisuke." I told her with a wink. She giggled and turned to Daisuke and bowed her head slightly as she apologized.

"It's okay," Daisuke said smiling.

"See?" I prodded, "He's happy! That must mean you're doing something right."

I set her down swiftly where she hurried over to her table. Momoe placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled at me as the door flung open dramatically.

"We're here!" Michael said, his arms flinging out in a pose as Tatum hurried in behind him, smiling foolishly. "Bet you all missed us right?"

"Obviously," Tatum answered, "They love us! I'm smart. And you..."

"I keep it real. And I'm hilarious." Michael laughed as he leapt into the room, flipping his scarf over his shoulder.

"Now that we're all here let's start my meeting." Taichi said loudly.

"Taichi," Mimi groaned exuding the same emotion I was sure that everyone felt.

"Way to kill the mood." Michael said.

"It's important." Taichi begged, "Please! I'll just take like... seven minutes. Then we can go back to celebrating the New Year."

Everyone looked to one another as Koushiro and I shrugged to one another. "Fine." A group of us said as one.

Momoe sighed next to me, "Tell me when it's overy, okay?" She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek before heading off to get Emiko. Tatum followed her quickly as the three girls sat near Natsuni who patted Iori on the shoulder gently, prompting him to stand up and walk toward us all, sliding his feet across the ground the whole way. He fell into a seat near me, so I sat next to him, smiling at him.

"So what's so important, oh brilliant Taichi?" Yamato joked receiving a glare from Taichi himself.

"Well if you don't want to hear it, then fine." Taichi pouted, crossing his arms.

"Great!" Daisuke grinned, "Then let's party!"

"No!" Taichi shot quickly, "I wasn't actually giving you an option—just listen." There was a moment of silence as Taichi built up the suspense, walking out in front of us all. "I need your help. Usually when something goes... what's that word you use all the time Koushiro?"

"Prodigious?" Mimi asked.

"Awry." Koushiro filled in quickly, causing Mimi's face to flush quickly.

"When something goes awry," Taichi said pointing to Koushiro, thanking him for the help, "Me and my elite team of awesome go in and save the day." Taichi really wasted no time informing us all that he was the Ambassador of the Digital World. He not only stood as a representative for the Digital World, but apparently he stood as the leader of some team of... Digi-Police kind of. "But I've promised them that until I know any more about the 'terrorists' as we've taken to calling them, that I won't do anything rash."

"So you want... us to do the rash thinking?" Hikari asked raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

"That sounds like Taichi." Takeru said laughing at Taichi who twisted his face slightly.

"Not exactly." Taichi said, "That would be dangerous—I want you all to do something much less dangerous. I just want you to find out more information about the Terrorists so that I can once again do the rash actions."

"Of course," Hikari said sarcastically, "How could I not have seen that?" Everyone laughed with her.

"Laugh all you want." Taichi groaned, "But I'm serious, although I don't really have any leads. I just want you to keep your eyes open."

"If you don't have any leads, then what are we keeping our eyes open for?" Ken asked. "How do you even know there are terrorists?"

"Digimon have been acting out of the ordinary all over the Digital World." Koushiro explained, drawing everyone's attention away from Taichi.

"How do you know that?" I asked him.

"That's a long story." Koushiro said, hiding his face as Taichi laughed, but neither explained. It sort of bothered me because the reason we were having these meetings at all was because Willis had complained about not knowing anything because no one shared anything—and now, in the meeting for sharing knowledge they were keeping things from us.

"Out of the ordinary?" Willis asked, still sitting next to Miyako, "How so?"

"Kind digimon are destroying things." Koushiro said.

"It's similar to the black gears from Devimon."

"Or the Dark Spirals from—" Hikari started before freezing and staring toward Ken.

"Me." He said slowly, creating a moment of silence.

"So, you're going to go beat some digimon butt?" Rei asked.

"No!" Taichi said very seriously. "Leave the digimon to me. One of my coworkers have made an antidote of sorts that can put the evil to sleep, so they can return to normal life. I just want you all to help me find some evidence. Who is doing this? Why are they doing this?"

"Okay, we promise." Sora said. Taichi flashed her a smile which caused her face to turn red and forced Yamato to move uncomfortably in his seat.

"Good." Taichi said, sitting back down between Sora and Rei. "So does anyone have anything interesting coming up?"

No one spoke up for a bit, but Momoe looked to me from across the room and I knew she was eavesdropping as Natsuni and Tatum talked in whispers. I knew she what she was hoping for, what she wanted me to say... but I wasn't ready. Marriage was a big step, and even though we had a daughter, I could honestly say that I wasn't ready to get married. Not to say that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with Momoe...

"Sora's got something big coming up." Yamato spoke up suddenly.

"W-what?" Sora stuttered.

"Your one year anniversary!" Mimi prodded, poking Sora's shoulder with a grin.

"With Neo Saiba?" Koushiro laughed as if Sora had forgotten. Sora's face turned red as Taichi, Rei and Yamato all rolled their eyes in discomfort. Neo Saiba was a man that Sora had been dating for nearly a year, obviously. He was pretty nice the only time I'd ever met him, and was Taichi's friend Rei's brother, and I honestly didn't see a problem with her dating him other than Taichi and Yamato both being incredulously upset by this. But neither could really be upset—both of them walked away from her.

"It's been a year already?" Hikari asked excitedly.

"And he's not even evil yet." Taichi joked. Sora glared at him as he laughed at his long running joke of Sora turning all of her boyfriends evil. Starting with Taichi treating Hikari poorly, and then Yamato who joined the dark-side and then Kiyoshi, turning from a very nice boy to someone who would cheat on her.

"I'm going to go get food from the kitchen!" Mimi said suddenly preventing an argument from occurring, and rushing off, dragging Sora with her to help her carry the food.

I turned to Iori who was fidgeting next to me. I patted him on the shoulder and he looked up to me in surprise. I smiled as comfortingly toward him as I could, but he just stared for a moment before letting his head fall again.

"Did Meiyomon not want to come?" I asked him, trying to get his mind off of his Grandfather.

But I failed. "Meiyomon can't stop crying." Iori said flatly before standing and walking off.

"Iori!" I called after him, but he didn't stop. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Momoe.

"There's nothing you can do Jou," She said to me quietly, "Natsuni says he just needs time, and I think she's right. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Are you telling him not to try?" Miyako shot, suddenly standing at our table, "Iori needs people to be there for him. He always has—ever since he was a little boy. And I'm going to be there for him. He's like a brother to me. Or a nephew."

"Why can't you be there for Emiko then too?" Momoe asked as nicely as possible. "Just babysit her?"

"No." Miyako said flatly. I knew she was still upset with Momoe, and I wasn't one hundred percent sure about the reasoning behind it all, but I knew that Miyako wasn't referring to this argument with the simplicity of her answer. She was scared.

"Why not?" Momoe asked, clearly not seeing the same emotions in her sister as I had.

"I just can't!" Miyako said loudly, slamming her fist down onto the table revealing her to be wearing a black glove.

"Miyako?" Momoe asked slowly causing Miyako to turn and run after Iori. "Miyako..." Momoe said under her breathe.

Hikari:

"So how was France?" I asked Takeru as the others began to talk and stir again after Taichi's meeting.

"It was great." Takeru said quickly, spinning toward me with a giant grin on his face, "I had a really great time!"

"You didn't stay for too long," I pointed out, seeing clearly that he wasn't telling me all there was to know.

"I'm going back after tonight until school starts up again." He said quickly, his excitement rising even more.

"What's so great about France?" I asked.

"Catherine." Takeru said without hesitation. "She's a Chosen Child and she's really nice. I brought Patamon out for a bit the other day and he and Floramon really got along, I really think Patamon likes France even more than Japan."

"That's great!" I smiled at him, though for some reason I was fairly certain I didn't believe myself.

"So what's your New Year's resolution?" Takeru said.

"I don't know yet," I told him honestly. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I just can't seem to pick anything specific. My life is pretty good as of right now."

"Glad to hear it."

I turned to see Willis sitting down next to me with a smile on his face. I smiled back at him. "What about you two?" I asked.

"I've decided that I'm going to find happiness this year." Takeru replied simply, "Why? Because I'm sick of putting up with being sad all the time."

"You're sad all the time?" I asked quickly, "I hadn't... noticed—Takeru I'm so sorry... I should've... I should have known."

"Hikari... It's fine." Takeru said, "I haven't told anyone."

I still wasn't happy with his response, but I could tell he didn't want to talk about it yet, so I didn't push. But I would. I would bring it up casually until he was ready to tell me...

"I think I want to stop living life for granted." Willis said, "I mean... I just want to do more to help out... I don't know. It's confusing... but it makes sense in my head." I laughed with him as Mimi slid to a stop in front of us with a bowl of chips.

"My resolution is to stop eating anything fried." Mimi winked, setting the bowl on the table.

"But that ruins French Fry-day!" Sora said as she followed Mimi, a pout on her face.

"Uh-huh, yup." Mimi laughed as her and Sora hurried off.

"You should stop eating fried foods too." Willis said.

I spun quickly and shot a glare at him. I felt my nostrils flare for a moment. "Are you saying that I'm fat?"

"N-no!" Willis said quickly, waving his hands in surrender, "I just meant that it's not healthy and that you're quite susceptible to being sick."

"Nice save." Takeru said, patting Willis on the shoulder before jumping to his feet and finding Sora who was now dancing to some music that Michael and Tatum had begun playing. Sora's face lit up at the sight of Takeru and she began dancing with him quickly.

Willis stood suddenly and walked toward them. He paused turned to me and held his hand out to see if I wanted to come but I shook my head and grabbed a couple chips from the bowl in front of me.

"I'm good with my fried food." I winked to him. He smiled at me before running toward the group of dancers. I noticed Emiko was dancing with them again—she was such a cute little girl, but she seemed to be getting tired. And no wonder! As I looked at the clock I saw that it was nearing eleven o'clock.

As I started eating the chips, three people sat around me in unison and stared at me for a moment. One was Kurayami, who had let her hair grow out a little in the past two and a half years, and it was now in two spiky pigtails on the side of her head. She'd also stopped dressing too perfect, and was currently wearing a blue skirt with a purple shirt covered in a black sweater, but as always, she wore something white. In this case, it was her necklace. Apparently, "the appearance of a princess" didn't match her sarcastic persona, but she still wanted to tone down the thick black cloak look. Next to her sat Daisuke, who was proudly wearing the goggles atop his messy head of hair, and next to me was Taichi.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked them.

"We just came to ask you if you're happy." Kurayami said quickly as both Taichi and Daisuke reached for the bowl of chips.

"Do I seem... un-happy?" I asked. "I mean, I am sad for Iori, and I'm sad that he won't let anyone near him, or to help him, but—"

"With Willis." Taichi said quickly, "Are you happy, with Willis?"

"You two argue a lot." Daisuke said, "And your relationship has been on the rocks practically since it started, so we were just wondering."

"Of course I'm happy with Willis." I said in finality. And they all knew it, this was not an open discussion. I was happy with Willis, and anyone who thought otherwise was just... probably concerned for me and my well being. I wanted to apologize for acting so harshly, but Daisuke had already spoken.

"If you say so."

"We just wanted to be sure." Taichi explained, "I always want you to be happy."

"That's so cute." Kurayami said quickly.

I smiled at her as I turned to Taichi, "And what about you? Are you happy with your current relationship status?"

"And what status might that be?" He asked me.

"In love with someone who clearly has feelings for you but is in love with someone else and is dating him." I said.

"You just... And just—but I..." Taichi trailed off, embarrassed, "You just described Takeru!" He said, standing up and storming off. He still wouldn't admit that he had any feelings for Sora, but I knew the truth. I knew he did... as did everyone else I was sure. Except perhaps Sora...

"Someone she shouldn't be dating." Daisuke said.

"You can say that again."

Again, I turned to find someone else. This time it was Yamato who was standing behind me.

"Neo sucks." Yamato grunted. "He's mean to everyone except Sora, which I suppose is at least good that he's not mean to her, but he just... sucks. And I wish she'd see it."

"Neo isn't that bad guys." I said, quickly defending Sora's boyfriend, "He's actually a really nice guy."

"Of course you'd say that." Yamato said, rolling his eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I argued.

"Yeah what does that mean?" Daisuke asked.

"It means that Hikari, and everyone, is on Sora's side!" Yamato said, upset, "Why can't anyone be on my side?"

"I didn't pick a side." I said quickly.

"Really? Because you've had lunch with Sora and Neo multiple times, and I'm about ninety percent sure this is our second conversation ever. And I'm your brother's best friend—and you're my brother's best friend!"

"Okay, true, we don't talk, but it's because you kind of scare me." I told him honestly standing up and turning to him, "You're a rock star punk who used to be all emo-esque and always in my house. It was scary."

Daisuke snorted as I realized how mean that statement must have sounded. I tried to cover it up, but it was too late, "So you're not scared of Kurayami, but you're scared of me?" Yamato asked sharply.

"I can relate to Kura," I said.

"But not me."

"Well if you ask me I'm sure I'd be happy to eat lunch with you too. We can find a way to relate there." I told him.

"Okay, Hikari," Yamato said loudly over the music, "Will you come eat lunch with me this Friday?"

Everything was quiet for a moment, as the music had just ended. Everyone was staring toward the two of us, practically nose to nose arguing.

"Did you just ask out my girlfriend?" Willis asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Wait, what?" Sora asked, looking like she'd just walked into an invisible wall.

"You did what?" Takeru asked sharply, his eyebrows furrowing and his nostrils flaring.

"Someone needs to explain, right now." Taichi said.

"It's just lunch!" Both Yamato and I said together before laughing, "Not a date." He clarified.

Almost everyone seemed content, but Sora, Takeru and Willis all still seemed fairly concerned, but there was literally no need for it. Yamato looked to me and nodded before stepping back and then spinning on his heels, retreating toward Taichi.

"Hikari..." I turned to the sound of Sora's whispers as she pulled me away from Daisuke and Kura who were talking to each other now. "What was that about?"

"Oh, Yamato is mad because you're dating Neo, I said Neo isn't so bad and he got mad that I was on your side, so I'm going to eat lunch with him to prove that I didn't pick a side." I told her quickly.

"Wait, you're not on my side?" Sora gasped.

"Sora, I'm not on anyone's side." I told her, "Though I am on your side about Neo, just not about the breakup. I'm not getting into that."

Sora nodded, "Okay, just as long as—" We both turned to the sound of the door opening.

In the doorway stood a tall boy wearing white pants and white shoes with red designs on them. His shirt was black and he wore a long grey scarf. His eyes were daring, and blue, and his hair was meticulously placed and white. It was Neo Saiba.

He spotted Sora and I and flashed a smile toward us.

He hurried toward us and wrapped his arms around Sora in a hug before turning to me and smiling at me before hugging me too.

"What is he doing here?" Yamato shot quickly.

"Ishida, if you have a problem with me then it's with me. You want to fight?" Neo said quickly, his voice elegant as he barked at Yamato.

"Yamato... grow up." Sora sighed.

"Neo," Rei said, wheeling toward her brother, "Don't cause an argument—try not to fight."

"If he's staying here, then we're fighting." Yamato said flatly.

"Then we're not staying." Sora said, wrapping her hands with Neo's and dragging him toward the door. "I'm sure we can find a more romantic setting anyway."

"I'll come with you!" I said quickly, rushing after her and grabbing my coat and hat by the door. As I stepped toward the door Willis stepped in front of me and held it open.

"Can I come?" He asked.

"I'd love if you did." I smiled at him. He let me out before running back and grabbing his coat and then following us out the door, leaving the others behind.

Daisuke:

Well, New Years wasn't turning out to be the amazing party I'd hoped it would. My head was spinning as I tried to make heads or tails of all of the different romantic interests of my friends, and I still wasn't convinced that Hikari was actually happy with Willis. Maybe she just thought she should be, and therefore declared she was. What if she was actually the least happy person in the world, and I just took her word that she was happy when she was really trying to convince me in a subtle way to save her from her unhappy relationship. I didn't really understand girls all that much, and I kind of understood relationships a little less than that—you know, despite being in a relationship with a girl and all—but could I really have missed Hikari's plea for help?

I was fairly certain missing such a plea made me both a moron, and a terrible brother. I'd probably have to talk to Taichi about this all later.

And Taichi! I understood less about his current interests than I did about girls and relationships combined. I was only about twenty-eight percent sure that Hikari was even talking about Sora earlier, and totally made my comment about 'a guy she shouldn't be dating' to be supportive of Taichi, you know, because she shouldn't be dating any guy other than him and all, but Yamato apparently is convinced that Taichi also likes Sora. I of course got confused after that point, because that meant they were both after the same girl, and they were still friendly about it, but in the past, wasn't Yamato the reason Taichi stopped dating her?

And what about Rei? I thought the only reason she was around so much was because Taichi liked her too. Or maybe she liked him… Where was Kurayami when you needed her? She was better at this stuff than I was. She wasn't amazing at it, but she understood a good deal more than I did. She was a girl, of course, so that had to give her an advantage right there.

Yamato needed to get over Sora. And fast. It'd been too long already, and Sora had moved on like right away. Neo was her second boyfriend since Yamato. She wasn't about to regress in this. She wasn't interested in him anymore. Well…maybe… Sora was the single most confusing female I'd ever met. I figured she didn't even know what she wanted half of the time—though that conclusion may have been made for the sole purpose of making me feel better about not getting it—but Neo was probably her current answer. She loved him. And he loved her. And it had been a year and he totally hadn't turned into a major jerk-wad, so her curse wasn't even working on him. It seemed like a good fit to me.

Takeru was totally still into my "little sister". He was so obvious about it. But I didn't really talk to him too much, because I was always busy with my noodle-cart, and he wouldn't come over if Willis was going to be there. And then you take Hikari's school into account—she went to a school over in America because she felt bad about always making Willis come to Japan—and I just don't see much of Takeru. But even Takeru, who has been in love with Hikari for maybe as long as I've known him, is not as bad as Yamato.

Seriously Yamato, get a life.

Iori was still standing in the corner. He hadn't moved since his little dispute with Jou. Natusni—bless her heart—had run over to him, but she wasn't talking. She just stood beside him, not even touching him. He seemed to have relaxed a little bit now that she was there anyway. If Iori ever got over his failure of a date with Noriko, he totally had the perfect girl waiting for him. He couldn't see it of course, and I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to tell him—that kid is terrifying sometimes—but he had it made right there.

"Playing matchmaker in your head again?" Kurayami asked in a murmur as she slipped into the booth beside me.

"Maybe…" I admitted with a grin. I didn't lie to her. I took that from Iori's book. It worked well over the last three years. I'm sure a little white-lie ever now and then would be acceptable, but I didn't do those either. And as a compromise, Kurayami never asked me if a pair of jeans made her look fat, just so I couldn't put my foot in my mouth and screw it up. She's thoughtful like that.

"Then why focus on the hardest of the lot?" she asked. "Jou and Momoe are destined to get married. You can tell by looking at them. They need a push though."

"I don't want to get involved with Mom and Dad," I joked.

"Well, Miyako and Ken—" she started.

"Are already married," I interjected.

"I was going to say that," she said with a sly smile. "And Michael and Tatum are completely made for each other. No one else can stomach so much Michael at one time." I had to snort there. It was true! "And Koushiro and Mimi live together now, so it can't be them either."

"With Sora," I said. "Which I still don't understand. Why move in with your girlfriend…and your best friend?"

"Because they can afford the mortgage better that way," Kurayami told me.

"When did we get so grown up?" I asked. "Mortgage, marriage, children, where did soccer-camp and birthday parties and sleepovers go?"

"As human beings, it is our job to grow and pave the way for our future generations," Kurayami said all philosophically. "If we didn't take on responsibilities and leave childish games behind, our children would never get a chance to take their turn."

"Our children eh?" I said waggling my eyebrows.

"You know what I meant," she said playfully shoving my shoulder.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh. "But I can't help but wish it didn't have to happen."

"You wouldn't want to have children with me?" she asked sounding affronted.

"I meant growing up," I said quickly.

"I know," she said with a smile. "I just enjoy making you squirm."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"You know," she said after a moment of silence. "You could always make Taichi your matchmaking project."

"What makes you say that?" I asked. She pointed towards Taichi, who was dancing in his seat, next to Rei who was doing the same. She was laughing and smiling and looked really happy. And Taichi…he looked relaxed, like he wasn't trying to balance friend time with the fate of the Digital World.

"It doesn't have to be Rei either," Kurayami said. "But Hikari and I both think it's time for him to move on. He can't get over Sora if he doesn't try."

"He's scared," I said.

"Yamato should be too," Takeru said, sitting across from us in the booth. "Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about, but it was a good spot to jump in. You can continue if you want."

"We're good," I said. "Mad at Yamato I take it?"

"He chased them away! Of course I'm mad at him," Takeru declared. "I know he's not over Sora and all, but seriously, shut up Yamato. I don't want him to chase Sora away all the time. She's still a sister to me, even if they aren't going to get married any time soon—probably ever—to make it official. And Hikari… What did she do that made Yamato want to chase her away?"

"Nothing," Kurayami said. "She's just caught in a trap right now. Sora and Yamato both want her to pick a side of their breakup. She hasn't done that yet. And since she's the only one that hasn't, Yamato is going to try and get her to pick him. No one else really had. Even you. His brother."

"If he wasn't such a moron, and didn't ruin it all by himself," Takeru said. "I might've chose his side. But Sora is right."

"Yamato is lonely," I decided. "And I think this is about a little more than the breakup. This is just about Hikari leaving isn't it?"

"What?" Takeru asked in fake surprise. "No. I don't know what you're talking about."

"So you haven't been pinning after Hikari for years, I did not know that," Kurayami said wryly.

"I met a girl," Takeru said. "Well, re-met a girl. Her name is Catherine, and she's fantastic. I'm just mad that my best friend and big sister can't be here to celebrate New Years with us. I mean, who am I suppose to hug or whatever when midnight strikes?"

"Traditionally, one is supposed to share a kiss with their significant other," Kurayami said. "Perhaps you should text Catherine at that time?"

"Yeah," Takeru said with a smile. "I can do that. Then Catherine will totally know I'm interested. Thanks." He slid out of the booth much happier than when he came in. It was as if he didn't know he completely shattered my perspective of his dating life. So he wasn't into Hikari anymore? Did that mean I had to stop giving him the stink-eye and ease up on the 'I'm her big brother and you better have only the best intentions for her' persona?

Damn. I really enjoyed getting to play that part.

Willis just didn't make it any fun. He was kind of too cool with it, and spent most of his time on the other side of the world.

"You just played matchmaker," I commented.

"Did I?" she asked sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."

"Maybe I should try to focus on Yamato," I said. "He really needs it."

"What about your sister?"

"She's living with her boyfriend," I reminded her. "And they've only been dating steadily for like ten years or so. I'm surprised he hasn't popped the question."

"He's waiting for the right time," Kurayami assured me. "What I'd like to know, is what's gotten into you lately. You never wanted to be a matchmaker before."

"I've never been so happy before," I said planting a kiss on her cheek. "I'd like to be able to spread the happiness."

"So long as the only kiss you get at midnight is mine," she said. "Then you can have at it."

"Do I have to wait until midnight?" I asked with a pout.

"I used to be inherently evil," she said dryly. "The pout won't work on me."

I knew that of course, but I couldn't help but try. Someday, it will work, and then I will be the master of the wounded-puppy look.

Not that great of an achievement once said aloud, but it would so be worth the teasing to win the title. Seriously, it would.

"And yes," she added. "You only have like, a minute or two to wait now."

"It's that late already?" I asked confused. I looked around for a clock, but realized Mimi's restaurant did not have one. She might want to look into that.

"Yes," she said with a laugh. "Come on. Let's dance in the new year."

"I was hoping for a little more kissing and a little less dancing," I complained.

"There is a two and a half year old present," she chastised.

Emiko. How had I forgotten the precious little girl that tried to beat my head in? I looked around for her but couldn't spot her through the dancing couples. Ken and Miyako were dancing, and she was actually smiling, but she was still wearing her gloves and sweater. There was no way she was that cold. Mimi was swinging Koushiro around, insistent that they dance and let loose. Taichi was still dancing with Rei, but she'd dragged him out to the floor instead of dancing in a chair. Momoe and Jou weren't dancing. They were looking around frantically. Jou was actually crawling on the floor.

They couldn't find Emiko either.

"TEN!" Takeru shouted, calling everyone's attention to the radio that was now counting down the seconds to the New Year.

"Nine!" Taichi yelled with Rei.

"Eight!" Mimi called joyously while Koushiro rolled his eyes—the smile took away from his so-called annoyance.

"Seven!" Ken and Miyako declared.

"Six!" Tatum and Michael cheered.

"Where is Emiko?" Jou asked Momoe loudly while Yamato called out "Five!"

That's when I noticed her. She was standing at Iori's feet, pulling on his pant-leg insistently.

"Four!" I shouted with Kurayami.

"Three!" Natsuni hollered from Iori's side.

"Jou," I shouted as she did so, and pointed out his daughter. He visibly relaxed.

"Two!" he cried out.

"ONE!" everyone screamed. "Happy New Year!"

I wasted no time in kissing my beautiful—if not slightly intimidating—girlfriend.

"Happy New Year baby," I whispered in her ear over the cheering.

"Happy New Year," she repeated with a laugh.

And as I watched Iori sigh and reach down for Emiko, picking her up off the ground, I knew that this year was going to be better than the last month or so. Because he let her lick his cheek—my guess was that it was supposed to be a kiss—and actually let himself laugh about it.

Yes, the last year ended with a horrible tragedy, but this year was going to be better, even with Taichi's new Digital World development. Iori was already healing, I had a mission to help my friends find further happiness, and I had the perfect girlfriend. Things were definitely looking up.

Next on Digimon Adventure 05: Taichi struggles somewhat with his new position as ambassador and council leader, and he his hands are tied. How can he figure out the problem if he's not allowed to look?