WARNING: If you do not like OCs paired with characters from the show, please don't read this!
I do not own anything to do with Digimon, any of it's characters or plot lines. I also don't own any brand names or songs and anything of the like in this story.
Digimon Adventure 02 – Summer in Alaska
Day One
"Skyy! Get up! You'll have to leave soon!"
Skyy's dad's voice rang from across the small apartment and into Skyy's bedroom. Skyy groaned and rolled over in her bed. She rubbed her eyes awake and gazed at the cream ceiling, her eyes rolled over to her fan in the middle of the ceiling. It was turning and making a low humming noise. She watched for a couple seconds before she pulled herself up and swung her legs over the side of the bed so they met the cool wooden floor. She wandered off into the bathroom as Umimon and Oomomon yawned over from their makeshift bed.
Umimon liked to curl up in a blanket on Skyy's pink, plastic computer chair. It was an odd place for a bed, but Umimon insisted it was hers because it was the place she first slept in when she had met Skyy for the first time a couple of years ago. Oomomon just slept with her because he insisted it looked more comfortable then having to sleep on the floor (he refused to sleep with Skyy).
Umimon, usually in the form of Pleomon, was Skyy's partner digimon. Unlike the other digidestined, Skyy had only found out she was a chosen child when she moved back to Tokyo a couple of years ago. Izzy had tracked her down and wouldn't give up until she finally agreed to join the team. That and having a weird white and orange digimon follow you around also made Skyy give in. At first she had shunned Pleomon, but eventually became best friends with her digimon. In the real world, Pleomon usually took the form of her In-Training level, which was Umimon, but Skyy always called her "Pleo" no matter what level her partner was at. Umimon always liked it that way.
Oomomon usually in the form of Kotamamon, was Skyy's sister, Yuki's, digimon. Since Yuki had passed away many years ago Oomomon sometimes visited Skyy in the real world. He never visited as much as Umimon did though. He was a little touchy around Skyy because she looked exactly like her twin Yuki, despite having longer hair. Even though Skyy knew of his uneasiness around her, that didn't stop her from acting like he was a close friend. She always called him "Kota" no matter what form he was in. He would always snap back his real name angrily and say she was troublesome for giving him silly nick-names. Skyy would usually just ignore him and keep calling him "Kota".
Skyy glanced at the clock in the hall as she made her way to the bathroom. It read 7:13. Tai was supposed to come pick her up around 8:00. She still had plenty of time to get ready and pack the last minuet essentials into her suitcase.
Skyy was going on a cruise with 5 other of her digidestined friends. It was for Mimi's 17th birthday. Mimi had been given 6 tickets for an Alaskan cruise for her birthday from her parents saying she could invite whoever she wanted. It took a while to decide but she ended up inviting Skyy, Tai, Sora, Matt, and Izzy.
Mimi was completely torn on who she was going to invite, not wanting to make others feel bad if they were not invited. But it all ended well because TK was considered too young to be going out of the country without parent supervision. Kari had her first job as a camp counsellor and refused to take time off of her job. Davis refused to go if Kari wasn't going. Joe was doing an apprenticeship program at a Hospital linked with the University he was attending. This was a big opportunity for him so he did not want to miss any of it. Ken and Yolie were going to China to meet Ken's extended family (new girlfriend and all…). Apparently with Ken his whole family needs to meet his girlfriend, even the ones he hadn't seen since he was 3. And finally, Cody was also considered too young to go by his mother and grandfather.
This left Mimi with exactly five who could go, which was perfect. It was a little sudden actually. Since Mimi lived in New York, Skyy didn't know why she'd invite her friends from Japan. But they were supposed to meet the pink-haired beauty in Seattle, where the ship was departing from.
After Skyy had freshened up she got dressed in a green tank top with a frilly short white skirt and black knee leggings underneath. She let her blonde hair fall down around her face, not bothering to do anything special with it. After Skyy packed the last few things into her suitcase Umimon was completely awake and bounced on top of the suitcase.
"I'm gonna miss you Skyy!" Umimon said sadly. Skyy ruffled the top of Umimon's head. She smiled.
"Don't worry, it's only for a week, plus I don't think we'd get away with bringing digimon through customs at the airport," Skyy sighed. Umimon's lower lip jutted out.
"Jeez, I can't wait for her to leave, she's so bothersome…" Oomomon muttered from the window. He liked to stare out of Skyy's glass sliding doors a lot. Umimon glared at Oomomon and stuck her tongue out at his back.
The both of them were to go back to the Digital World whilst Skyy was on vacation. Usually all the digimon stayed in the Digital World because it was their home, but Umimon was attached to Skyy so much she often stayed in the real world for long amounts of time. Oomomon didn't care about going back, in fact he probably enjoyed leaving Skyy more than going to visit her. But he was always drawn to her because of her connection with Yuki which made him visit in the first place.
"I'll bring my digivice anyway, just in case," Skyy said ignoring Oomomon and showing Umimon her small white digivice. All of the original digisdestined had this model, except for Kari and TK. Skyy's had fallen from the sky along with all the others that day at camp so many years ago. But because she had moved, going to camp was cancelled. Her digivice had shown up, but she wasn't there to claim it. Izzy had taken it and had used it to find her ever since. Until finally she had moved back and he gave it to her after realizing she was the missing original. Skyy gazed at the small digivice, her mind flooding with memories. She was the crest of Life. Her crest had saved her when she had been in the hospital with her leukemia. Izzy was there, Tai, Sora, and everyone had supported her. She had been in remission for 3 years now, one more year and she was officially cured. The whole fiasco three years prior seemed so long ago now.
DING DONG
Skyy shook her head to get rid of the memories. It was 8:00 and Tai was right on time, for once. She rushed over to her computer, turned it on and opened a gate to the digital world for Umimon. She grabbed her camera which was in its case and clipped it on the other side of her belt. Skyy was just as crazy with her camera as Kari was with hers. She would take pictures of everything and always seemed to have it with her so if a picture opportunity came along, she could take it. Skyy had a least 6 photo albums filled to the brim with photos she had started taking 3 years ago. Since she was going on vacation with only her friends, she knew this would be one of the golden times for taking stupid and silly pictures.
Skyy heard her dad open the front door and Tai's cheery voice ringing out.
"Hi, Mr. Tsutsumi! Is Skyy ready to go?" but before Skyy's dad could reply Skyy yelled:
"I'm ready! Tai be a man and help me carry this thing!" Skyy heard Tai's shuffling feet as he excused himself and made his way over to her bedroom. She poked her head out just as Tai rounded the corner into her bedroom.
"Hey what's up? Big suitcase much?" Tai asked once he got a look at her luggage. Tai grabbed the handle of her suitcase and lifted it up. Skyy rolled her eyes.
"puh-leez! I'm a girl and this is pretty light for me," Skyy said shrugging, she clipped her digivice, which was still in her hand, to her belt and gave Umimon a quick hug goodbye before she disappeared into the computer with Oomomon. Skyy slung her brown bag over her shoulder and the hordes of key chains linked on all rattled around. It was a simple over the shoulder bag and Skyy had decorated it with millions of key chains she had collected over the years. She didn't have much inside it though. Tai grunted a little has he carried the suitcase to the front door, where he then lifted the handle and began rolling it instead.
"Thanks so much dude!" Skyy said and patted Tai on the back. Skyy slid out her camera just in time to take a quick picture of Tai grinning and sticking out his tongue at her. He chuckled as Skyy put her camera back in its case after admiring her latest picture memory.
"C'mon! My mom is waiting downstairs," Tai said. Skyy kissed her parents goodbye and they wished her well. She rushed out of the apartment to follow Tai down the hall. Tai lived only a few apartments down from her on the same floor. It was decided Tai would take her to the airport because Skyy's parents didn't have a car and he lived the closest. They were going to meet the others at the airport.
Once they got to the elevator they rode down to the parking lot and met Tai's mom in her car. The car ride wasn't really that long; after all, Tokyo airport wasn't that far away. The teens talked part of the way, then sleep got the best of them and they dozed off in the back seat. Before Skyy knew it Tai was shaking her awake.
"Hey! Wake up sleeping beauty, man you are hard to wake up! You're like a friggen android" Tai teased. Skyy grumbled at the disturbance and muttered a low "shut up" to Tai's comment. Nonetheless she got out of the car and took out her suitcase from the trunk. Once Tai's mom said her goodbye's and drove away, they started looking for their friends. Skyy immediately saw Sora's flaming red hair and pointed in her direction.
"There's fire!" she exclaimed. Tai turned to the direction her finger was pointing.
"Where! Wh— Sora!" Tai ran for the doors towards Sora who was inside. Skyy grinned and followed after. She glanced around Sora, noticing Matt was with her, but not seeing Izzy anywhere. Tai practically attacked Sora and Matt with hugs like he hadn't seen them in a billion years. Skyy walked up behind him and Sora's face lit up.
"Skyy! Finally you're here!" Sora squealed, giving Skyy a friendly hug. Skyy laughed. She grabbed her digital camera in a split second and held it up.
"Say cheese you two!" Skyy clicked the camera just as Matt and Sora quickly got in a picture pose. Sora sighed.
"Oh noo! You're bringing your camera?"
"Of course I am!" Skyy said grinning. Sora rolled her eyes.
"This means your going to be taking pictures of absolutely everything isn't it?"
Skyy grinned evilly, "Everything!" Sora sighed and shook her head. Skyy glanced around again as she turned off her camera.
"Yeah, hey Sora...so um…isn't Izzy here yet?" Skyy asked, trying not to sound eager. Sora raised her eyebrows and Tai nudged Skyy's side lightly, grinning from ear to ear.
"No, not yet," she answered.
"He said he was going to be a little late," Matt said, his fingertips were lightly touching the small of Sora's back.
"Oh, ok…" Skyy shrugged it off, hiding her disappointment.
"Aww, too bad Skyy, I bet you were really looking forward to— ouch!" Tai yelped as Skyy dug her heel into his foot. Matt and Sora gave them odd looks.
"Izzy said to go on ahead to the gate" Sora said, Skyy nodded after giving Tai a warning glare. The four of them checked in their suitcases, got their tickets and headed for customs. Skyy and Sora spotted a good looking police officer as they were going through customs. Skyy decided to walk over ask him if she could take his picture because she thought he was hot. He laughed and said O.K. after Skyy walked back, Sora told her to give her a copy of the picture. Both girls giggled and received odd looks from Tai and Matt who didn't realize what just happened. They went through the rest of the customs very smoothly and quickly, though some old man showed an interest in Skyy's digivice and didn't believe her when she said it was just an MP3 player. She quickly said she was late for her plane and high-tailed it away from him. On their way they passed a Cheesecake Factory in the shopping area. Skyy's eyes lingered on the people eating inside.
"Ohh…cheesecaaaake," Skyy sighed.
"Maaan…you read my mind," Tai said beside her. Sora, who was walking in front of them, looked back.
"What? You guys want cheesecake? It's still morning!" Sora chuckled. Skyy pouted.
"But we want soooome, you know you want it tooo," Skyy urged. Sora smiled.
"Fine, when Izzy gets here we'll go out for some cheesecake before the plane leaves," Sora said winking and turning back around. Tai and Skyy had stars in their eyes and they cheered loudly, causing some people to give them weird looks.
"What time does the plane leave?" Skyy asked anyone who would answer. Tai was the one who answered, glancing at his ticket.
"Uhhh, 10:35"
"Oh yay! That means we still have plenty of time!" Skyy cheered again, "we get cheesecake, we get cheesecake!"
Tai high-fived her and Matt and Sora chuckled in front of them. When the four finally found the gate they quickly grabbed some seats to wait for their late friend.
Skyy hadn't brought much to entertain herself, mostly relying on chatting with her friends. She only brought her I-pod, a sketchbook and pencils for drawing.
Skyy took out her I-pod and set it to shuffle. It stopped on 'Supermassive Black Hole' by an American band called Muse. She may have been Japanese, but she loved American music. Also, since she had lived in Canada for 3 years, she could understand the words in the songs. Skyy and Mimi were the only ones who knew English; Izzy knew a little bit too but hardly enough to carry a good conversation. Her other friends only knew the odd phrase or word that they'd throw into their own conversations sometimes, It was up to the two girls to do most of the translating for them during the cruise.
Skyy slouched in the airport chair and started humming subconsciously to the song. Her brown eyes kept scanning the gates and large hallway for a certain maroon-haired shorty. Actually, that wasn't quite right. Sure Izzy was shorter for his age, but he had gone through a little growth spurt and was at least 2 or 3 inches taller then Skyy now. A good five foot seven. He also had nice long arms and the bony hands that all guys had.
A couple songs later Skyy started to get bored. She was ignoring her friend's conversations and started to play solitaire on her I-pod. Jeez. How long was Izzy going to take? She started tapping her foot repeatedly.
Just then, as Skyy was scanning the gates for the billionth time, her favorite song came on, Magic by B.o.B., and her eyes fell on a certain someone that made her face break out into a smile. He grinned back when he saw her eyes land on him.
Izzy was wearing a long sleeved black and weight shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The shirt was baggy, but hugged his figure in all the right places. He had a red sweater hung over his arm with decorative black, yellow, and white paint splatters on it. He also had on some-what baggy jeans and red sneakers. His hair was its usual messy spiked style and he had his trademark yellow pineapple computer bag with his laptop inside slung over his shoulder. Skyy's stomach fluttered lightly and with her favorite song in the background, she was ready to swoon from his good looks. Her favorite song, with her favorite person. She took out her camera and took a picture of him. Izzy raised his eyebrows.
"Jeez, at least inform me when you take your pictures!" he said as he got within hearing range. Skyy smiled slyly.
"What's the fun it that?" she said innocently. Matt was the first to stand up.
"Izzy! Finally dude! We were waiting!" Matt slapped Izzy's back when he reached the small group. The slap cause Izzy to stumbled forward a little.
"Yeah, sorry, my mom was completing some errands on the way," Izzy explained, shrugging his shoulders. Skyy stood up and gave him a friendly hug, which he returned enthusiastically.
"Now that you're here we can go get some food!" Skyy broke the hug but noticed that Izzy's hand still lingered on her waist.
"You guys were waiting for me?" Izzy asked, a worried look appearing on his face. "Why didn't you just go if you were hungry?"
"We want to go to the Cheesecake Factory so we couldn't go in without you because it's a full out restaurant," Sora shrugged her shoulders.
"Yaay! Cheesecake!" Skyy and Tai cheered at the same time. Izzy grinned at the two food lovers. The five teens then got up and headed to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant they had passed earlier. Once they arrived they were seated and began scanning the menus. They all decided to just have some cake instead of a full meal because the portion sizes were all really big. The waitress finally came and took their orders and left quickly. Izzy was sitting across from Skyy, and Tai was beside her. When the cakes came in Tai greedily dug in.
"Ahh! This is soo good!" Tai said through a mouthful of some double fudgy chocolaty cheesecake.
"You pig!" Skyy teased, Tai just snorted and continued eating.
"What kind did you get?" Izzy asked from across the table. Skyy looked over to him after putting a forkful of vanilla cake in her mouth. She quickly swallowed the lump of cake, thumping her chest with her fist to make it go down faster.
"Vanilla!" she said happily after the lump had safely gone down her throat.
"Can I try some?" Izzy asked. Skyy raised her eyebrows.
"Uh, sure," she answered. She cut off a small piece of her cake and held it up for him. He took the fork, keeping his hand over hers, and brought the cake up to his mouth.
"Mmm, that's good," Izzy said after a while of chewing. Skyy smiled and looked down at his cake.
"What did you get?" she asked.
"Something with lemon citrus."
"Can I try some?" Skyy asked slyly. Izzy shrugged.
"Sure" he cut off a piece of his cake and held it up for her to take. "Here comes the traaaaiin!" Izzy said in a baby voice, grinning. She frowned.
"Oh come off it!" Skyy snapped. She did the same thing as him taking the fork and keeping her hand over his. The cake was actually really good, with a sweet-sour taste to it and a light mix of cheese cake flavor. Izzy laughed at her short temper but all Skyy was thinking was 'Eee! Indirect kiss with Izzy! Woot woot!'
Skyy took out her camera again and took pictures of the cakes she liked. She took a couple pictures of her friends and the restaurant. Also some other pictures which included Tai, chocolate cake, napkins, and plenty of laughs. After, they fell back into a light conversation.
"So we're going to stay a day in Seattle tomorrow?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, we're staying in Seattle all day and boarding the ship on Saturday," Izzy said.
"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Matt inquired. Izzy shrugged.
"Anything. I hear there's a chocolate factory and a lot of retail establishments, maybe we can go shopping?" he said.
"Yeah! Sounds fun!" Sora squealed.
"To you maybe," Skyy cut in, rolling her eyes.
"Oh please! Don't tell me you wouldn't at least want to go shopping in Seattle! I mean it's Seattle!" Sora replied.
"Meh, I don't want to go shopping," Skyy said shrugging and scrapping the remnants of her cake off of her plate. Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"You don't like shopping? Don't girls usually like that?" he asked.
"It's ok I guess…" Skyy muttered. Sora leaned closer towards them.
"Oh please Skyy! She goes in a store and gets bored within five seconds! I have to shop for her!" Sora said dramatically.
"Hey! I don't get bored that easily!" Skyy pouted. Izzy laughed.
"Yeah right Skyy! We know you better than that! You get bored sooo easily!" Matt exclaimed pointing a finger at her.
"Well whatever! I don't do girly things," Skyy scrunched her nose a waved one of her hands. Tai smirked at her.
"That's our Skyy! What a tomboy!" Tai said wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing them. Izzy looked at them a little uncomfortably, shifting in his seat. Skyy didn't notice this.
"Like I care!" Skyy snorted. Izzy quickly changed the subject.
"So! What do you think the cruise is going to be like Skyy?" Izzy asked leaning a little closer to her. Tai's arm was still lazily hanging around Skyy's shoulders but his body was turned in another conversation with Matt and Sora.
"Well I don't know, cold I guess? I've never been on a cruise before," Skyy said. Izzy turned and took out his yellow and white pineapple laptop.
"See look here, I saved some photographs of the ship we're going to be traveling on!" Izzy said, bringing up a page of pictures as soon as his laptop powered up. Skyy leaned in closer to get a better look which caused Tai's arm to slide off.
"Oh wow! It's so big!" Skyy gasped. Izzy grinned.
"Would you be surprised if I told you there were vessels more prodigious?" Izzy asked. Skyy raised her eyebrows.
"Bigger? Bigger than that?"
"Yeah, here are some other ships," Izzy brought up another cruise line's website, Royal Caribbean, and showed her some of their ships. Skyy was amazed, how could ships be this big? And with theatre's, ice rinks, pools, movie theatre's, and promenades all packed on one boat, it would be hard not to get lost. As Izzy talked more about the types of ships and the cruises and attractions they provided, Skyy decided to get up and just sit next to him so she could see better because she was practically laying across the table to see the pictures on the computer screen. Izzy blushed as she sat right up next to him, with her thigh touching his. Skyy could feel Izzy's arm slowly snaking around her waist in a casual way. She tried not to show any excitement in her face and actions because his touch was making her heart do the conga. Izzy showed her all the ships and even plans for future ships that were currently still under construction. This all made Skyy even more excited for the trip.
After the five teens finished the cake they headed back to their gate. With their bellies full they all were in a cheery mood. As soon as they got back to their gate people were already starting to board the plane. They quickly rushed over and got their tickets approved. Only as they were walking down the ramp did Skyy actually ask where everyone was sitting. It worked out that Tai would sit next to Skyy, with Izzy on her other side. Then Matt and Sora would sit together in front of them. Tai was a little disappointed at this but Skyy scolded him saying it was just a plane ride and it didn't matter. Though secretly, she was super happy to sit beside Izzy. Skyy suddenly got really hyper as she was seated and began playing with all the buttons and modules around her seat. The plane they were on had little TV screens on the back of every seat and Skyy kept pushing buttons and changing the volume or brightness in the screen.
Skyy loved being on planes. She had only been in one two times in her life, which was when she moved to Canada, then moved back to Japan. She loved the smell of the fresh pillows, she loved the little in-flight meals, and the cute little touch screen TVs. She loved the round widows and their slide covers, and she loved the feeling of being in the air and looking down as the world got smaller and smaller beneath her. She never knew why she liked all these things, she just did.
As the captain said his welcoming announcement over the intercom, the flight attendants began their safety instructions and the plane's engines rumbled to life. The plane started moving at a slow pace, and then got faster and faster. Soon the plane lifted from the run way and Skyy said a little mental goodbye to Japan. Izzy let her lean over him so she could take pictures of the shrinking Japan below them as they got higher and higher in the air. Her stomach kept fluttering because Izzy's arm kept brushing against hers. Skyy also took a couple quick pictures of her friends in their seats. Soon the flight attendant came over though and told her she couldn't use any electronics until the seatbelt sign turned back on. Skyy grudgingly turned her camera off and put it away. As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned on and they were at a steady altitude, Izzy took out his laptop. Skyy didn't take her camera out because she figured there wasn't much to take pictures of right now. Izzy started showing Skyy more things about cruise ships on his computer. He also showed her some pictures he'd found of Alaska's scenery. She was thoroughly fascinated and didn't mind getting all of Izzy's attention. Tai kept stretching around front to talk to Matt and Sora, so he ignored his two seatmates. Skyy assumed he was doing it so she could be alone (somewhat) with Izzy.
The flight was long but Izzy and Skyy were entertained the whole way. Once there was nothing left to talk about cruise ships, they got bored and began looking up random videos on YouTube. Some were really stupid, but other videos were so funny that both Izzy and Skyy would burst out laughing when it was totally quiet all around the plane. They had gotten many stares from passengers during that flight. When they spotted people staring at them they slouched a little in their seats as if because they couldn't see the people looking at them, then those people couldn't see them either. At one point Tai took a picture of Izzy and Skyy together. He kept saying "okay get closer, okay a little closer, a little more, cloooseer" until the two were almost cheek to cheek. Skyy's face was bright red in the picture and she knew Tai was teasing her and doing it on purpose…she would have to slug him later.
When the plane finally landed in Seattle airport the teens were all tired from traveling and lethargically got off the plane. As soon as they got into the airport they were greeted by a loud, perky cheer.
"Sora! Matt! Skyy! Izzy! Tai!" Mimi's voice practically rang throughout the entire American airport. The once pink-haired digidestined came running over. It never occurred to Skyy how beautiful Mimi was. They had seen her a couple times over the years when she would come to visit. But right now she looked more beautiful then Skyy had ever seen her. Her hair was its natural color and tied into a high ponytail with pieces hanging down and framing her face. She had on a grey shirt that was baggy at the top with a wide neck, and then slimmed down at the waist. She had on a pink tank top underneath and white short shorts with brown boots that came up to just under her knee. Under the boots were grey socks that came up to her mid thighs. Mimi had a bright face and a wide smile on her mouth. When she reached the group she hugged the first person, which was Tai. She hugged him tightly.
"Oh my! It's so good to see all of you!" Mimi squealed. Skyy spotted a light blush on Tai's cheeks, and immediately got curious. Since when did Tai blush at Mimi? But she looked closer at his face and saw he had the same expression that he usually got when Sora gave him a surprise hug. Skyy grinned. Was her best friend unearthing a new attraction to someone other than Sora? very interesting…
"This trip is going to be just divine! I can't wait to check out the spa! You two are defiantly having a girl's night with me!" Mimi said letting go of Tai and turning to Skyy and Sora. Tai looked at the floor with a confused expression on his face. He looked a little dazed but broke away from it when Matt patted his back and asked if he was OK. He shrugged it off but Skyy could still see the confusion in his eyes.
Mimi gave everyone hugs and welcomed them. She chatted nonstop all the way until they got to the baggage claim.
"…and we can go to the club every night and meet guys and have drinks and dance all night long!" Mimi said. She had her arms linked with Sora and Skyy, though her words were really going in one ear and out the other, except for one person.
"What? Meet guys? You girls want to meet guys?" Izzy asked worriedly. Mimi turned and gave him an odd look.
"Of course! We're on vacation; we want to have some fun!" Mimi said grinning at him mischievously. Izzy's eyes widened.
"Uhh, she doesn't mean that! Ha ha ha" Tai said nervously to Izzy, who just nodded slowly. Sora put a finger on her chin.
"Actually that does sound a little fun, right Skyy?" Sora asked, playing along with Mimi. Matt got a little nervous this time as well.
"What? Sora—…" Matt started, but Skyy cut him off.
"Oh yes! I hear American boys are veeery good eye candy," Skyy said with a dreamy expression on her face. All three boys watched the girls saunter off with seriously worried looks in their eyes.
Once they reached the baggage claim, they got a spot beside the lift. When the bags started coming some accidentally started piling up on the lift and got stuck. The lift had to be closed for a minuet or two and Skyy clicked pictures as the bags piled higher and jammed the lift. When they all finally got their suitcases, Mimi led them to the taxis and they got two cabs. The girls all wanted to ride together so the boys went in another car.
"Westen Hotel please, it's downtown I believe" said Mimi in English as she made herself comfortable in the front seat. The cab driver nodded and pulled away from the airport. Mimi started pointing out certain landmarks and stores that she loved. She was chatting the whole way. Telling them the great places they could go to tomorrow and what restaurants to eat at. Skyy was somewhat listening, mostly focusing on taking her pictures of passing scenery. Sora seemed more interested and was asking questions which kept Mimi talking even more. This was a relief because Skyy hated the awkward silences during cab rides…
Mimi slid the room key into the slot and the door clicked open. The hotel rooms at the Westen were pretty average with two beds, a TV, some chairs, a desk, and a bathroom. But Skyy especially liked this room because one wall was a huge window looking down on the streets of downtown Seattle. Cars were bustling down streets and the tram was curving around buildings. Tiny dots walked along the sidewalks and the colors of the sunset splashed all over the sky. She could even see the Space Needle between two other skyscrapers. Skyy immediately took pictures of everything she found interesting in the room and in the view from the window.
"Wow, the view is so pretty. The colors are mystifying…"Skyy sighed as she got lost in the view. Sora smiled at her.
"Only an artist would find a sunset mystifying," Sora chuckled. Skyy smiled.
"Well, I am an artist!" Skyy said, snapping another picture of the sunset before turning away and putting her camera back in its case. Skyy did miss her paint and canvases back at home, but with all these pictures she was taking, she would have some great ideas for her next painting or sketch.
"So where do you guys want to go for dinner, I'm famished!" Mimi's voice rang from the bathroom. Sora went over to see her but Skyy could still hear them.
"I don't know, do you know any good places?" Sora's voice asked. Skyy heard a movement, which she assumed was Mimi shrugging.
"Not in the area no…I've never been to Seattle," Mimi replied.
"You haven't? But you were pointing out all those stores that you liked, and places to visit," Skyy questioned. Mimi poked her head around the corner so Skyy could see her.
"Well yeah, we have the same stores in New York, and I've heard about all those places from people and advertisements," Mimi explained.
"Oh…" Skyy sighed. There was a knock on the door. Sora went to open it because she was the closest. Skyy heard her open the door and a familiar voice answer.
"Hey girls! I don't know about you but we guys are totally starving! Let's go get something to eat!" Matt said. Sora laughed.
"You're not the only ones, but where should we go?" Sora asked as Matt, Tai, and Izzy invited themselves in. Skyy mentally thanked herself for not unpacking anything so that her suitcase wasn't wide open showing all of her private stuff. The boys had their own room down the hall.
"I dunno, I didn't see any restaurants I recognized except for McDonalds," said Tai. Skyy mimed gagging on the floor.
"No way! We are not going to McDicks," Skyy said scrunching up her face in disgust. Tai smirked at her nickname for the fast food grease shop.
"Why don't we just amble around and look for a place?" Izzy suggested. They all pondered the idea for a moment until Matt finally shrugged.
"Sounds good I could use a good walk," Matt said. Skyy and Sora nodded in agreement, but Mimi whined.
"But my boots have heels! If we're going for a long amble I can't do it in heels!" she said pointing at her brown boots.
"I have a pair of extra runners, wear those" Sora suggested. Mimi scrunched her face.
"Oh ew, I'm not wearing running shoes in Seattle!" she said putting her hands on her hips. Skyy rolled her eyes.
"Then you'll have to wear your boots, if you collapse then we can get one of the guys to haul you back," Skyy said. Mimi scrunched her face and the guys chuckled.
"She'd look like a drunken teenager," Tai chuckled.
"People would give her dirty looks," Matt grinned.
"Quite an unsightly appearance," Izzy said, grinning as well. Mimi huffed and went over to Sora's suitcase as grabbed the running shoes, giving up on her heel boots.
When they left at first all they were passing were clothing stores and hotels, but after walking down a couple, streets they started seeing a bunch of different restaurants. It had already gotten dark outside and all the lights were dazzling. Skyy kept stopping to take pictures of stores, signs, and walkways. There were an assortment of stores and shops lining the streets and on almost every corner was a different street performer. Skyy probably took a dozen pictures of all of them. Some man was only using plastic bins and a bent symbol for his music but he was actually really good. It reminded Skyy of a character in a musical called RENT. At one point they passed a massive arcade and Skyy was begging to go in. They literally had to drag her away or else she would spend the whole night there and blow all of her spending money. Skyy had a total of $100 saved up for spending and $70 saved for food. They also passed a big book store by the name of Barnes and Nobles, an American bookstore. Nonetheless Izzy really wanted to go in, even Matt wanted a look, but their stomach's suggested otherwise and they made a plan to go there some other time.
As they walked though they could feel their eyelids drooping. It was 2 in the morning back home and they had been up since around 7 that morning. Besides Mimi everyone was getting extremely tired and was barely keeping awake. Skyy kept yawning every 2 minuets and Tai would accidentally start wandering off in random directions before Mimi had to steer him back the right way. She would scold him saying people must think he was drunk or something. It only got worse when Izzy started stating all the bad things about staying up really late. Skyy had to shut him up buy lazily covering his mouth with her hand. Matt and Sora were walking in front with their fingers laced together, Sora's head leaning on Matt's shoulder. Tai seemed too tired to care which relieved Skyy. That way he wouldn't make a fuss about it.
Besides this they didn't really find many appealing restaurants, mostly just because they were expensive. They did see a really neat looking place that was decorated with drapes, old chairs and tables, masks, chandeliers and old paintings. It sort of reminded Skyy of a vintage theatre. Like the one in Phantom of the Opera. In fact the restaurant used to be an old movie theatre, but the prices were really expensive so they bypassed that restaurant. They finally settled on the Cheesecake Factory for the second time that day. 1, because they were extremely jet lagged (besides Mimi), 2, they were extremely hungry, 3, they hadn't actually had a meal before just cake, and 4, they honestly didn't care as long as they got fed. They wandered in and were surprised to be seated right away. They all got into a rather large booth and a perky waitress came along with menus.
"Hi there! Welcome to the Cheesecake Factory! Tonight's special is lettuce wraps and we have half price on all of our French styled cheesecakes! Now to start, can I get you all something to drink?" she said. Matt, Sora, Tai, and Izzy sort of just looked at her, not understanding her English. The waitress must have realized they didn't understand her because she gave them a worried glance. Mimi and Skyy smiled at her though.
"Thanks! I'll have some water with lemon please!" Mimi asked in perfect English. The waitress looked a little relieved. Skyy quickly asked her friends what they wanted to drink in Japanese and they all gave her their orders.
"Uhh, and two Cokes, one iced tea, one orange juice and another water with lemon please" Skyy translated for them. The waitress smiled and nodded.
"Okay! I'll be right back with your drinks!" she said happily and walked off.
"Wow Skyy, I didn't know you were so good with English!" Mimi gave Skyy an admiring look. Skyy shrugged.
"Well I lived in Canada for three years; I needed to know how to speak English for school," Skyy replied picking up her menu.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Mimi sighed, picking up her menu as well. Skyy and Mimi had to help the others with what they wanted because they couldn't read the menu's very well. They had all taken Standard English at school, but they all dropped the subject finding it too hard. It was times like these that they regretted it most. Once everyone figured out what they wanted their conversations went dry. Skyy rested her head on the table, trying desperately not to fall asleep right then and there. She felt someone playing with her hair but didn't bother to look up and see who it was. Soon the waitress came back with their drinks and held out her notepad to take orders.
"Okay! Now I know these portions are big but I also know you all want some cheesecake after am I riiight?" the waitress smiled and winked at them. They all gave sarcastic laughs. Mimi and Skyy understood her perfectly, but even the others could pin point the word cake and understand what she was talking about. The waitress gave them knowing glances.
"Ah, I know, most people actually don't eat the cake after, anyway, what can I get for you?" she asked getting ready to write. Both girls translated orders and the waitress skipped off to the kitchen. They fell into a couple short conversations but were mostly all just sitting there. Skyy kept her mouth on the straw to her water and chewed it, taking sips once in a while. The chewing would help keep her eyes open. Ah how she looked forward to curling up in her nice big warm hotel bed and drifting off to sleep…
When the hotel room door clicked open all girls rushed in and quickly changed into their PJs. It wasn't even 10 minuets after they got in until they were already for bed and getting under the thick white covers. Sora was sleeping with Skyy and Mimi slept on the other bed. After they said their hasty goodnights they shut off the lights and let darkness shroud them. With all of their bellies almost full to explosion they all fell asleep easily. Dreams of cruise ships and dance parties filled Skyy's mind and she drifted into a heavy sleep. Not knowing a maroon haired boy a couple doors down was thinking of her instead…
End - Day One