Author's Introductory Note: This story has been gestating for a long time now, a spin-off of sorts from one of my other long-term labours of love (Knowledge is More Powerful Than the Sword). No knowledge of that story is necessary, and as for Will, in both the stories in which he appears his role has always been more as an expository tool or as a catalyst for growth in the other Digidestined, who are the real reason we're here. So I will try to keep the focus on Izzy, because he truly is the star of this story.

'Okay Izzy, are you sure you'll be okay for a whole week?' Mrs Izumi was calling from the doorway of the apartment; sure or not his parents were leaving for the week for a conference in Osaka. Izzy, unsurprisingly, was at his desk going through his emails.

'Of course I'll be all right Mum. I mean, I can't speak for the apartment, but we've got insurance for fire damage and everything, don't we?' There was a pause and Izzy chuckled quietly to himself.

'Just…stay safe.' His mother's voice was tinged with a hint of exasperation. Then the door shut, and everything was quiet. Izzy returned to his emails. Spam…spam…News from T.K. He was moving from Hikarigaoka to Odaiba at the end of the summer. That would be nice, it would be good for all the Digidestined to be in the same area. Well, not all of them. Izzy scrolled through a couple more emails until he came across the one he was looking for. He read through the daily email from Mimi twice before opening a new window to compose a reply.

Dear Mimi,

I'm glad to hear that you were able to visit Palmon yesterday. It's weird that we can't predict when a Digital Gate will open, but it's still worth it if we're able to see the Digimon again. I hope Palmon was well, thanks for giving her that message to pass on to Tentomon.

Your new pumpkin pie recipe sounds amazing! When you come back to Japan in a couple of months you absolutely have to make one. I'll start looking around for where you would find a pumpkin…

It had started when Mimi moved to America the previous year and promised to write a group email every day. Perhaps it wasn't unusual that within a month the emails to and fro across the Pacific started becoming less frequent; writing anything every day was just really hard. But Izzy was always at or within reach of his laptop, and he rather enjoyed starting each day with a letter to Mimi. They'd been in the same grade at school, while the others were either older or younger than them, so they'd grown closer than some of the others. It wasn't surprising, Izzy always told himself, after everything they had been through in the Digital World there would always be some things you couldn't share with outsiders. And besides, with Joe always either in an exam or studying for an exam, and with Tai and Matt subconsciously battling it out for Sora's affections in a way that was obvious except for those actually involved, it was only natural that Izzy and Mimi would grow close, even become best friends. Not that there was anything beyond that: No. Izzy was tired of Tai's teasing on the subject, which seemed to grow more constant the more he denied it.

Izzy was broken out of his reflection when the doorbell rang. Muttering, he picked himself up, threw on his dressing gown and made his way to the apartment's front door.

'Guh, who could possibly be here so early in the morning? It's probably just Mum or Dad and they've forgotten their keys. Or maybe it's Kari and she's broken her camera again. Or maybe…' Izzy opened the door and was somewhat surprised to find a boy his own age at the door. He was pale skinned; British Izzy had always presumed though he couldn't be sure, and was wearing a dark suit with tails, a similar vest underneath, black leather shoes and a bowler hat.

'Ta Daaaaaa' the stranger softly called as he pulled off a lame set of jazz hands and grinned. Izzy just looked at him for a moment, sighed and stepped out of the way to let him in.

'You don't really get modern fashion, do you Will?'

Izzy had first met Will (who was now complaining about the absence of a hatstand in the Izumi residence for his bowler) a few months after the Digidestined had defeated Diaboromon; or, as Tai like to call it, 'The Time We Saved the World From THERMONUCLEAR DESTRUCTION!'. Mimi had just told everyone that she would soon be moving to America, and frankly Izzy was feeling pretty crummy. He'd drowned his sorrows in the message board he'd set up on the Internet for questions about the Digital World. He was certain that he and his friends could not be the only people in the world with knowledge of Digimon and had set up the board in an attempt to find others. For the most part the posts were either people who thought Izzy was insane or people Izzy thought were insane. There were a few who believed Izzy and seemed genuinely interested by what he was saying; one of them, a girl in the year below him, had even joined the Computer Club so she could ask him more and more questions. But for the longest time he had found no promising leads.

But that day Izzy thought he'd finally found something. Whoever the person was, they seemed to either know or pretend to know just enough for them to potentially be a bona fide Digidestined. He had tried to track this mystery person down through the Internet, but to no avail; wherever he searched, it always ended in a dead-end. It seemed that whomever this person was it would be he who would find Izzy.

And so it had been. A month after Mimi had left the mystery person had sent Izzy a message to his private email account. How he'd found Izzy's address he did not know, but the short message of a place and time only a few hours later at what turned out to be a bakery in Shinjuku, was intriguing, and even though it was the other side of Tokyo Izzy had dashed out of home and across the city, arriving dead on time.

When he'd arrived Izzy's spirits collapsed. His secret contact was no more than a boy his age, and he was wearing a travelling cloak for goodness' sake. He was clearly nuts. But the kid must have known what he looked like, because he waved Izzy over and, perhaps sensing his trepidation, had pulled out Digivice of similar design to his. Izzy could remember the surprise, confusion and relief that had washed over him all at once. At last, he'd found another.

And boy, what a find he'd been. At first he'd been unsure how much of Will's story he should believe: a life lived in the Digital World as far as could be remembered, a cloud piercing tower housing the knowledge and history of two worlds…it was almost unbelievable. But all of it was true. Will had explained that since Diaboromon had invaded the Digital Gates between Earth and the Digital World had become more and more common, but that their Digivices could not control them. He'd taken Izzy to a computer lab in a nearby public library and, lo and behold, a gate was open to the Library he'd spoken of. For the Keeper of the Crest of Knowledge it was as if all his dreams, birthdays and Christmases had all come at once.

Since then the two had corresponded regularly, and when the chance had arisen Izzy had come into the Digital World, visited Tentomon and helped Will with his research. Access to the sum total of human knowledge had also come in handy for schoolwork. But Izzy had never told the other Digidestined about him, except Mimi. About the possibility of travelling back to the Digital World, of course, but never about the slightly odd friend he'd made. He wasn't sure why.

And he wasn't sure why he'd chosen that moment to reminisce on their friendship. But it had worked out well because Will was only just now finishing up his rant on the dearth of hatstands in modern society and instead placed his bowler on the kitchen bench before following Izzy to his room.

'Thank God I didn't bring my coat with me,' he muttered to himself, 'you probably don't even have a coat rack.' Izzy just placed his head in his hands.

'How many times have I tried to explain the modern world to you, Will? And why are you even here?'

'Clearly not enough. I suppose I'll have to start reading those fashion magazines I see in the convenience stores here. But I'll have you know that bowler hats are very in at the moment in the Digital World.' Izzy was pretty sure that was a bald-faced lie, but he let it slide. Will continued, 'And as for why I'm here, well there's a bunch of reasons. I want a holiday, you're alone for a week, I'm kidnapping you and taking you to New York, I wanted go to a new restaurant here in Tokyo…' he turned his head and noticed a photo of Izzy and the Computer Club at their annual dinner and pointed at the younger purple headed girl there at the table. 'Who's that?'

'That's Yolei.' Izzy replied. 'It's funny you'd ask; she's actually really interested in the Digital Wo … Wait. You're kidnapping me and taking me to New York?' Will just grinned at him.

'One reason among many.' He paused for a second. 'Surprise!'

'But why?' Izzy recognised that Will could occasionally come across as somewhat eccentric, but this was weird, even by his standards. Will fell silent for moment and was clearly thinking hard.

'How can I put this tactfully? I'm writing a biography on one of the Digidestined…on Mimi, actually. And so I was hoping you would convince her to let me interview her…because you and she are … ummmmm, what's the word?'

'Friends?' Izzy suggested. Will snorted derisively.

'Yeah, "friends", that's definitely what you are. Good one.' Izzy could feel his face burning but said nothing. As he'd learnt from Tai's own brand of mocking, silence was the only guaranteed defence. 'Anyway, I'm taking you to New York and then you'll convince Mimi to let me interview her and then I'll take in a Broadway show. C'mon Izzy, it'll be fun. I mean, what else are you going to do for a week?'

Izzy sat back to digest what had just been said. It was true; he hadn't really planned to do much while his parents were away. But the plan Will had suggested was so patently crazy, and he couldn't help but think it odd that Will was writing a biography on one of his friends, even if he was a historian of the Digidestined back in the Digital World … and yet, there was something attractive about the idea. He let out a sigh.

'Okay. I'm not even going to begin to ask why you're writing a biography of Mimi of all people. But let's do it. I assume we'll be travelling through a Digital Gate,' Will nodded, 'in which case I'll still need to pack some changes of clothes. I'll meet you downstairs.' The delight on Will's face was impossible to hide.

The two were now walking to Odaiba Middle School, where the Digital Gate Will had used was situated. They were walking past the hedges that made up the school's boundaries when suddenly from a behind a voice called out.

'Izzy!' With a hitherto unknown strength Izzy shoved Will into the hedge moments before Kari Kamiya came running around the corner.

'Izzy!' she called again, as she finally caught up. Izzy glanced quickly into the hedges and could see Will glaring angrily back.

'Oh, hey Kari! What are you doing here?' Well done Izzy, keeping it cool.

'I was coming to see you to ask if you'd look at the settings on my camera. I was taking some photos this morning and for some reason the colours have inverted.' Izzy took the proffered camera and played around with the settings for a moment before handing it back. Kari grinned.

'Thanks Izzy. Oh, did you hear the news; T.K's moving to Odaiba!' It seemed that Kari had, within the hour since T.K's impending move had been announced, organised an impromptu Welcome Home Party.

'Wow Kari, that's a lot of work for a single morning,' a tiny smirk crept into the corner of his mouth, 'you must be looking forward to seeing him again … so close.' The slightest blush of pink flashed across Kari's face but fled in an instant. If there was one thing Tai and Matt enjoyed more than teasing Izzy about Mimi it was making thinly veiled references to their younger siblings. Uniting the Bloodlines they called it.

'Well yeah…But he sort of hinted a few weeks ago that he would be moving back, so I did some of the preliminary work then…' Kari must have realised that she was merely digging herself deeper into a hole because a more definite shade of red flashed across her face, '… Anyway, thanks for the help Izzy. I've…uh…got to go.' She turned and, muttering what sounded like highly disparaging comments about her brother, dashed around the corner and out of sight.

Only now did Will pull himself out of bushes, brushing off some leaves and twigs. Peering the direction that Kari had stormed off, he quickly turned back with another ridiculous grin on his face. 'So, that's a thing, is it?' Izzy chuckled.

'It was always going to be though, only a matter of time.' The two continued through the mysteriously unlocked gates of the school and as they were climbing the stairs Will turned to Izzy.

'So, am I so poor a friend that you need to hide me from everyone?' The tone was more one of bemusement than of hurt, but nonetheless Izzy was taken aback for a moment.

'Oh. Well, I just assumed that you didn't want all the Digidestined to know you existed.' It was a reasonable excuse, and the one that he always turned to when he reflected on the question. But it wasn't the whole answer, not quite, and clearly there was something in his voice that gave it away.

'Don't worry about it Izz,' Will replied, breaking into a smile and slapping him on the back, 'I think I understand.' He didn't elaborate and just as Izzy was about to prompt him to go on Will pulled him into one of the computer labs. A single computer began to flash and brighten, responding to the proximity of their Digivices. Walking over to it and hitting a few buttons on the keyboard, Will double-checked the co-ordinates or the gateway and looked up at Izzy.

'Well my friend, would you like to do the honours?' Will stepped aside, allowing Izzy to position himself in front of the computer. He raised the Digivice up to the computer and as he did a flood of white light exploded from the screen, encompassing the room and consuming the two boys.

For a few moments it felt like he was going through a tunnel while tied to the top of a very fast train. Or a rocket, Izzy felt that this is exactly what being tied to a rocket would feel like. But the moment was over and all he felt was the force of being thrown out of a terminal and onto the ground. He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was in the Library alright, no doubt about that; whatever room he was in was like a small carved out cavern, lit by a mixture of torches and different lanterns on the wall and filled with random artefacts. Glancing around he could see an old typewriter, an early movie projector and a phone box which he thought might be from a beach the Digidestined had visited in their adventures. But the most intriguing items in the room were the two-dozen digital terminals arranged on a circular table, facing outwards like a 24-hour clock. Small televisions complete with coat hanger, bunny ear antennae. Izzy could see that a few of them were active; again the proximity of a Digivice was starting them up. Izzy had figured out after some research that the Digivices could only enervate active connections between the two worlds. It meant that the destination of a gateway could be anywhere, and there was nothing he could do to change it.

By now Will had picked himself up, placed his bowler on a conveniently placed hatstand and circled round table until he was almost opposite the terminal that had delivered them. He noticed that Izzy was glancing at the mismatched items scattered across the room.

'It's just a storage room. No copies of the Magna Carta or Spanish dubloons I'm afraid. That's why the Powers That Be around here kindly allowed me to use it to store my terminals.' Izzy looked at him quizzically for a moment. 'By collecting all these terminals into one place it means I can maximise my chances at being able to travel to any given place, or in this case places. Now get over here, no time to dilly dally.'

'You know,' replied Izzy, 'no one says "dilly dally" anymore.' He stepped around to where Will was. Two active terminals stood side by side, Will looking at the two, somewhat confused. He glanced at the one, then the other, before seeming to make up his mind on the right hand terminal. Before Izzy could say anything, query his friend's momentary confusion, Will threw up his Digivice and another wave of light engulfed them.

Izzy looked around at their latest destination. It was a small room with a single computer. Judging by the terrible elevator music that was softly playing and the heady mix of air sanitiser and old cigarette smoke it was probably the business booth of a low rent motel. Will had already stepped out into what must have been the lobby and was peering out the window. Izzy stood up and left to join him, noting the very confused old lady at the reception desk. As he stepped next to Will his compatriot made a comment.

'Huh, I didn't know that it was in New York.'

'What do you mean?' Will pointed out the window. Off in the distance was a sign, a series of letters situated on a hill, a series of letters that spelt 'HOLLYWOOD'. Izzy's heart skipped a beat. Actually it skipped several. In fact it is probably fair to say that it stopped altogether.

'It doesn't. It's in Los Angeles.'

'…Oh.'