Hi, it's me again! Uh...not sure if that's a good thing ^^; Well, this is my Christmas ro-
mance fic, a Mimato. This takes place way before the Digiworld, the Digidestined are
about the same age as they were in the first section of the Digimon movie (for those who
didn't see it, this takes place around the time when they saw Greymon and Parrotmon
fight at Hightonview Terrace). I don't know if someone's done an idea like this...but en-
ough of my endless babbling, read the fic!

Ages:
-Tai, 7
-Sora, 7
-Matt, 7
-Mimi, 7
-Izzy, 6
-Joe, 8
-TK, 4
-Kari, 4


JUST FRIENDS...RIGHT?


Mimi sleepily opened her eyes and yawned, it was another boring school day. Then she
remembered exactly what kind of school day it was.
"The last day of school before Christmas Break! Yaay!" she cheered, suddenly charged
with energy as she leaped out of bed and hurriedly got dressed. Grabbing her brush from
her dresser, she raced to the kitchen, hopped onto her chair and began scarfing down her
cereal.
"Why're you so hyper today?" her mother demanded as she took the brush from Mimi and
proceeded to put her hair in a ponytail. Mimi just kept eating while her mom was fixing her
hair.
"It's the last day of school, Mommy," Mimi informed her. "Then, no more school for 2 whole
weeks!" She giggled happily as her father smiled from behind his newspaper.
"That's right, I almost forgot," he said. Mimi gaped at him.
"Daddy!" she exclaimed. "How can you forget about Christmas?"
"I didn't forget about Christmas, sweetie. But I don't get off from work until Christmas
Eve," he told her.
"Oh yeah." Mimi jumped off her chair and handed her dad a piece of paper. "Can you mail
this to Santa?" she asked. "It might get there kind of late, but if mine is the last one to
arrive, he'll remember what I want for sure."
Her dad and mom shared a secret look. "Sure," her dad agreed, taking the letter. "But you
better hurry, you'll be late for school."
"Right. Bye Mommy, bye Daddy!" Mimi gave her dad a butterfly kiss on the cheek and
hugged her mom. Then, grabbing her backpack, she ran out the door.

Tai, Sora, Matt, Mimi, Izzy, and Joe were in the school playground during recess. Matt,
Joe, Izzy, and Mimi were playing a pirate game. Tai and Sora were supposed to be playing
too, but right now they were too busy smashing snow at each other. (A/N: No, I'm not
sure if they were friends before they went to camp, but in the first part of the Digimon
movie, they all seemed to know Tai and each other pretty well)
Mimi hung upside down from the monkey bars, watching as Sora and Tai finally stopped
their mini war.
"How long do I have to hang here for?" she demanded, as the other 3 boys came over.
"Till you get all dizzy and fall off," Tai snickered.
Sora smacked him. "You're not funny, Tai," she told him as Mimi just glared at him. It was
routine, they all had fun just teasing each other.
"It's okay, you can come down now," Joe told her. Mimi gracefully swung herself down
from the monkey bars, feeling a little light-headed. She had been hanging there in the
first place because she was playing the captured princess, but now the game was app-
arently over.
"Oh hey, I almost forgot," Tai said. "My parents are going to be out of town on the week-
end after this one, they're coming back on Sunday, Christmas Eve. They're gonna go see
my grandma, and they said that if you're allowed to, you can all come stay over with me
and Kari for the weekend. You want to?"
"I will!" said Sora enthusiastically. "I'm sure my mom will let me."
"Me too," agreed Matt. "Should I bring TK?"
"Yeah," said Tai happily. "He and Kari can play together."
"Well, I have to ask, but I think I'll be allowed to," said Mimi.
"Me too," added Joe as Izzy nodded in agreement.
"All right!" cheered Tai. "It'll be so cool, we can spend the whole weekend together."
The recess bell rang, and the kids ran back inside the school.

A week later, it was Friday evening, and Mimi's mother had just dropped her off. "Hi Mimi,"
Tai greeted. "Glad you could make it, you're the last one."
Mimi looked around, all the others were already there. Matt and Joe were facing off in a
video game, TK and Kari were playing a board game with Sora as the referee, and Izzy
was doing something on his little watermelon laptop (A/N: It's a kid-type laptop, kind of
like his regular one but with watermelons instead of pineapple designs)
"Bye Mommy!" called Mimi as she waved to her mom. Her mother gave her a little wave
back, then left.
Tai ran over to Matt and Joe. Joe looked up. "Hey Tai," he said. "I managed to keep you
alive, but Matt's got the advantage."
"Yeah, I'm so gonna beat you bad," laughed Matt.
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that," said Tai challengingly as Joe handed him the controls. He
planted himself in front of the TV as he and Matt began pushing buttons furiously.
Mimi went over to Sora, and she looked up. "Hi Mimi," she smiled. "Wanna help referee?"
"Sure." Mimi sat down across from Sora, with Kari and TK facing each other. The game
was Candyland.
"Hey, TK cheated," Kari suddenly complained.
"No I didn't," TK countered.
"Yes you did," Kari told him. "You were supposed to land in the molasses pit."
"No I wasn't," TK argued. "The card said I have to go ahead 3 spaces."
Sora took the card and looked at it. "Actually TK, it's a 2," she told him.
"See?" cried Kari triumphantly. TK crossed his arms, looking miffed.
"It's okay TK," Mimi pointed out. "You're still ahead, and you're almost at the end."
Kari simply shrugged. "Yeah, it doesn't matter," she said. "Besides, I'm at my favouritest
part, the gumdrop woods."
They ordered pizza that night with the money that Tai's parents had left, Joe making the
order since he was the oldest. Then they watched a movie late into the night, and after-
wards getting into their sleeping bags and talking even later, finally going to sleep around
1 in the morning.

The next day, they watched some cartoons on TV, then began playing video games. Fin-
ally, around 2 in the afternoon, Tai suggested that they go outside.
"Aw, you only want to go out 'cause I'm totally beating you down," remarked Matt.
"No!" said Tai hotly. "I'm just tired of staying cooped up inside."
Matt just shrugged. "Whatever." (A/N: LOL, even when he's 7 he's still got his "da man"
attitude)
Tai got his way, and all eight of them headed out to wander through the city. TK began
singing Christmas carols, and wouldn't stop, then Kari joined in. Now they were singing a
duet of "Winter Wonderland".
At Mimi's insistance, they dropped by the mall, where Mimi saw the prettiest bracelet. It
was pink and green, looking like shiny coloured vines woven together with a little glass
heart in the center. Mimi couldn't get it off her mind, she wished she'd asked for it for
Christmas. (A/N:Think Palmon's pink and green colour, that's what the bracelet looks like.)
"That was a really pretty bracelet back there," she said to herself out loud as they walked
through the park.
Matt heard and looked over at her. "You mean that wierd looking pink one?" he asked.
"It wasn't wierd looking, it was nice," Mimi told him in annoyance.
"It was wierd," said Matt, holding his ground. "You only liked it 'cause it was pink."
"Uh-uh," Mimi argued stubbornly. "It's cool, and it kind of reminds me of something."
"And it's pink," Matt added. "The Pink Princess never gets anything else."
He had pushed the last button, and Mimi boiled over. "Well, you're a rude jerk," she snap-
ped.
"And you're a stuck-up dumbo airhead," Matt countered, glowering back at her. Mimi
stared furiously at him, her hands balled into fists. "Well, you're a-an ignorant creep!" she
yelled. "If you don't know what that means, get a dictionary!"
Matt glared at her for a moment, then laughed softly. "You're cute when you're mad," he
murmured.
Mimi was about to shout back a retort when she finally caught what he'd just said, and
her mouth fell open in shock. "Huh?" she gasped, not knowing what to say. An insult she
could've handled, but...
Matt realized what he'd let slip and blushed deep red. "Um....sorry.." he said quietly.
Mimi stared at him. She always considered him one of her best friends, but he was usually
so shy. The comment had been very unexpected. Mimi finally decided to react lightly and
simply. She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Boys," she muttered.
Matt looked at her and laughed softly. Then a snowball came flying at him, catching him
on the shoulder.
"Yes! Direct hit!" cried a voice in triumph. Matt spun around and gave Tai a poisonous
look. Sora, who was beside him, also threw a snowball, which hit Mimi. She let out a tiny
shriek. The 2 of them slapped each other high fives. Matt turned to Mimi. "Wanna teach
them a lesson?" he asked.
Mimi looked from Sora, to Tai, then back to Matt. "Gladly," she agreed, scooping up a
handful of snow. The 2 of them began pummeling Tai and Sora with snowballs, but the
other 2 weren't exactly falling back. One of the snowballs went flying astray and hit TK,
right in the middle of a verse from "Santa Claus is coming to town". He was cut off insta-
ntly, rubbing snow away from his face. "Oh yeah?" he said challengingly, filling his little
palm with snow and flinging it at the older kids. Kari wasn't about to let him have all the
fun and joined forces with him. It wasn't too much later that a couple snowballs ended
up hitting Izzy and Joe accidentally, and they got caught up in the fight, which was now
more of an all-out war.

When it ended, they began building forts and snowmen, finally coming back to Tai's place
around 7:00 pm. It was amazing that they didn't all catch hypothermia, they'd been out
in the snow for almost 5 hours straight.
Later that night, after changing into drier clothes and ordering dinner again, everyone sat
in the living room, and Tai put a cartoon version of "Sleepy Hollow" into the VCR.
"Tai!" Joe instantly complained. "I hate this movie!"
"Me too," agreed Mimi. "It's way too scary."
"You're in the wrong season, Tai," Sora pointed out. "Shouldn't we be watching Christmas
movies or something? It's a little late for Halloween."
"Oh come on guys, it's just a cartoon," Tai told them. "It doesn't even have real people."
"I heard it's based on a true story," Izzy muttered.
They watched the movie. Mimi kept squeezing her eyes shut whenever she heard the
horse of the Headless Horseman, and shuddered involuntarily when she heard the SWISH
sound of the sword as someone else's head came off. Isn't this supposed to be rated PG
or something? she thought inwardly.
Matt leaned toward her from where he was sitting in front of her. "Are you scared, Mimi?"
he asked.
Mimi didn't hear any sarcasm in his voice, and she nodded slowly. After a second's hesit-
ation, he moved back to sit next to her. Mimi wondered very briefly why he did that, but
didn't give it another thought. She was slightly surprised to notice that now that Matt
was next to her, she wasn't as afraid as she'd been before.

Even later that night, about 2 hours after they'd gone to bed, Mimi woke up to go to the
bathroom. When she got back, she slid into her sleeping bag between Kari and Sora and
tried to fall back to sleep. She thought about what she'd gotten the others for Christmas.
She's gotten Tai a soccer T-shirt, with the name of his favourite player on the back, Sora
some blue hairclips (she couldn't resist, even though Sora was a major tomboy), Joe a
poetry book (since he liked poems a lot), Izzy a computer game, TK and Kari a couple of
games. Matt had been hard, since he was sort of a mystery, but she'd finally decided on
the video game that he and Tai were always competing on when he came over. Even
though Matt usually won, now he could practice to beat Tai even more.
Mimi was about to go back to sleep when she heard a noise-- a soft, whimpery-moan
type sound. It kept coming, and Mimi sat up, trying to figure out where it was coming
from. Not too far away, Matt was sleeping-- the sound was coming from him. Mimi crawled
over to him, stopping about an inch away, and studied him. His face was twisted in pain
and fear as he kept making that sound.
He's having a nightmare, Mimi realized. She wondered if she should wake him up. No, she
quickly told herself. It might shock him, or he might scream.
Matt began tossing and turning, the nightmare getting worse. It must be really bad, Mimi
thought. She was torn between herself. Should she wake him up? She hated seeing him
this way, he seemed so frightened.
Matt let out another tiny moan, which tore at her heart. Without even realizing what she
was doing, she put out her hand and laid it on Matt's shoulder.
And then he relaxed, and his face became peaceful again. Mimi was confused, then she
noticed her hand. She turned back to watch him, and smiled softly. He looked so innocent,
like TK. He was nice too, when he wasn't being Mr. Master of Cool, or just a plain jerk.
He looks so...cute, Mimi thought, looking on as the moonbeams which bounced off the
glistening snow and through the window gave him a silvery glow.
Kind of like the hero in a beautiful fairy tale.
Then she blinked, wondering where THAT thought came from. It was the first time in her
life that she'd ever thought that about a person, much less a BOY. But still...maybe...
Mimi dragged her sleeping bag over next to Matt, lay down beside him, and went to sleep.

The next day was Sunday, Christmas Eve. It was the last day of their weekend together,
their parents would be picking them up at 4:30, and Tai and Kari's parents would arrive
home around 5:00 pm. Everyone just went their own way, did their own things, with the
typical restlessness of Christmas Eve.
Around 3:00, the kids began exchanging gifts in Tai's living room. Tai and Sora had both
given each other new soccer balls, and now they were laughing and talking about which
brand was better (Tai was wearing the soccer shirt Mimi had given him). TK and Kari were
tearing into their presents, and Izzy and Joe were looking their gifts over.
"Here Mimi, this is for you," said Matt, pushing a small package with a rose attached into
her hands. Mimi looked at it curiously, then opened it. Her face lit up like a little sunrise.
Matt had gotten her the bracelet that she'd seen before.
"Oh wow Matt, thank you!" she gasped in total happiness. Then, without thinking, she
leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Matt went crimson red as he kept his gaze on the floor. Tai pretended to gag, disgusted,
Sora laughed her head off, Joe just watched in amazement and confusion, Izzy barely
glanced at them before turning back to his laptop, and TK and Kari looked at them blankly.
Mimi put her hand on her mouth, completely shocked at what she'd done. Matt was look-
ing just as stunned as her, and their eyes met.
Mimi gave a tiny smile, her face also flushed. "Sorry about that," she said weakly. "I don't
know what came over me. Thanks so much though."
Matt gave a shy smile as well. "Don't mention it," he murmured.

That evening, Mimi was back at her own place. There was a family gathering, and now
everyone was in the living room, watching a Christmas movie (A Christmas Carol), or
sitting around the tree and talking.
But Mimi wasn't doing any of those things. She was just sitting on the couch with her
knees drawn up, holding the rose Matt had given her, looking at it with a dreamy smile.
The bracelet was clamped onto her wrist, she didn't plan on taking it off, even to sleep.
"What's wrong with her?" Mimi's uncle asked. Her aunt turned to look at her, then smiled.
"Isn't it obvious?" she pointed out. "She's in love. Look at her, she's acting like a lovesick
teenager."
"Isn't it the sweetest thing?" Mimi's older cousin cooed.
Mimi's mother nodded in agreement. "I think it's her friend, the blond one," she said.
"What?" complained her father. "She's only 7-"
Mimi's mom elbowed him. "Honey, you will NOT interfere," she interrupted sternly. Mimi's
dad sighed, then grudgingly agreed.
Mimi listened to them, she was almost positive they were talking about her.
Can they be right? she wondered. I'm only a little kid. Can I really be in love...with Matt?
She looked at the bracelet, then at the rose. Matt..., she thought dreamily. Then she
realized, and gave a small sigh. Yes, she thought. Even though we're too young to have
anything big...I love Matt.

The next day, around 10 in the morning, Mimi got to the park, clutching her new Candy
Baby doll. (A/N: Yes, I made that up myself ^^) She wondered if her friends would show
up that day, she was curious to know what they'd gotten for Christmas.
Suddenly, a snowball hit her from behind. "Guess who," said a very familiar voice.
Mimi turned around happily to Matt. "Hi Matt!" she greeted brightly. "Glad to see you."
Then she frowned, brushing the snow from her doll. "But you got snow all over my new
Candy doll," she scolded.
Matt shrugged. "Sorry, it was an accident," he said, smiling innocently.
Mimi didn't believe him of course, but it was too hard not to fall for that innocent look.
"By the way," she said, rolling up her sleeve a little to reveal the bracelet. "I have to say,
this is my favourite gift. Thank you." She hugged him, and he blushed again. She noticed,
and giggled. "You keep doing that," she laughed, then once again not thinking twice, she
kissed him on the cheek. Matt went even redder, if that was possible. He slowly put a
hand to touch his cheek, staring at her. "Mimi, I think...I'm in love.." he murmured softly.
There was such confusion, astonishment on his face, he looked so cute and sweet all
confused about his feelings. Mimi felt as if she was melting. She smiled. "I don't think,
Matt, I know I'm in love with you," she told him, then hugged him. He looked at her for
a moment, then gently put his arms around her.
"I know because you do funny things to my heart," Mimi continued, resting her head on
his shoulder. "Do I do that to you?"
Matt blinked at her in amazement. "Yeah...you do," he said in wonder, then smiled softly.
Mimi looked at him with a shy smile. "I guess love does wierd things to people," she said
quietly. Then she gave him a quick kiss- a real kiss- and he flushed deeply. So did she.
Then they became aware of a noise to the right. They stepped apart, turning to see the
others. Tai was about 4 seconds away from dying of laughter, with Sora following not too
far behind (A/N: Yeah, I'm aware that she acts really immature in this fic, but come on,
she's only 7 yrs. old). Joe and Izzy were watching with slightly amused faces while TK and
Kari had the same blank looks.
"'I..think I'm in love'," Tai choked out, mimicking Matt.
Matt got angry and began to pound on Tai. Mimi covered her eyes. "I can't watch," she
muttered.
After Tai's hysterical laughter subdued, he suggested on a snowball fight.
"Boys against girls," Matt suggested.
"Yeah!" agreed Joe and TK.
"But that's not fair!" protested Sora. "You've got 5 and we've got 3."
Tai shrugged. "Fine then, we're allowed to use our forts."
They ran to the forts that they'd built the day before, then Mimi decided to launch a
sneak attack. Creeping through the woods, she came out behind the boys' fort. Sneaking
up behind Matt, she quickly made a snowball and hurled it. It landed mostly in his hair.
Shaking it out, he turned to her, revenge in his eyes. She giggled.
"Merry Christmas, Matt."
Smirking, he grabbed an armload of snowballs and began pelting her with them one by one,
laughing.
"Merry Christmas, Mims."


Whew! It took a while to write, since I don't know anything about them as little kids. I
don't know if it's all that good...but it's Christmas, so this idea just came up. Tell me how
I did, ok? R/R please, and also tell me if I should write another fic with the young Digi-
destined, kk?

P.S. Merry X-mas everyone! ^_^