Disclaimer- I don't own Digimon or it's characters. The production company does. This is just a loyal fan's work. All characters displayed in this story are owned and copyrighted by the company. Please don't sue me, Demidevimon stole my wallet! Any original characters that appear, or are mentioned, in this fic are my property and mine alone!
Another Disclaimer- I did not write or perform any of the songs used in this fic unless stated otherwise in my footnotes.
Author's Notes- Wow! Such a great response to Chapter One! I had a feeling that it may be popular but, I got like 10 or so reviews in 2 days! To me, that's a fantastic success! I hope that this Chapter is just as well-recieved by you readers and reviewers but, to do that, you're gonna have to read the story! So, start scrolling down and enjoy!
'I'll Stand By You.' Chapter 2. A Digimon Fanfic by Jay Moss-
***
Mimi's alarm clock buzzed at 10:00 on a warm, bright Saturday morning. She searched around her bedside table with her hand before finding the alarm clock and turning it off. Her face on the pillow, she hardly had the energy to get up out of her bed. For the past two days, she had been helping Tai, Sora, Kari, Joe and Izzy prepare a surprise, 'Welcome Back to Odaiba!' Party for Matt and TK. They had bought food, drinks, little gifts for the two of them and Mimi had decided that she was going to give her first performance in front of everyone playing the Harmonica that Matt had given her the night he left. She then thought that maybe they could do a little duet, just the two of them. She had to find some kind of romantic song that they could sing together. The problem was that she didn't know any! None of the modern groups or singers did romantic duets. Well, none that she knew of anyway. Mimi turned onto her back and sat up in bed.
'There must be something that I can sing with Matt...'
Mimi turned around and opened a small, pink case next to her stereo. Inside were lots and lots of CDs and MiniDiscs. 'One of these must have a romantic duet on them!' She told herself and began searching through them. She had an album by the American boy-band *NSync but, she couldn't vision Matt agreeing to sing to any of their songs. She put it to one side and picked up her Britney Spears CD. A scary thought of Matt dancing around in tight pink tops and having his hairstyle changed to pigtails shot into Mimi's head like a speeding bullet. Mimi shivered slightly at the thought but then, giggled at it, imagining how funny Matt would look with pigtails! But still, she had to face reality. The only CDs she had were bouncy pop songs that she could dance to in her room. She sighed and closed the case before leaving the room to have some breakfast.
As Mimi stood in the Kitchen, impatiently waiting for the toaster to do what it's supposed to and toast some bread, she decided to switch on the radio. She turned the volume up and walked over to the fridge for some orange juice. The radio show's presenter was taking requests from listeners, bringing Mimi back memories of when all her friends phoned up the radio station and requested a song for Mimi's birthday. What made it even more memorable is that it was Matt's idea in the first place. The requested song began playing and Mimi stopped pouring her drink when she realised that she had heard this song before. A romantic duet! Mimi turned up the volume a bit more and listened closely. She had definately heard the song before but, who were the artists? The song was beautiful, the perfect song for two lovers. It was on a film soundtrack from years ago, she remembered her mother and father playing it. The song finished and the presenter informed listeners of the song's title. Mimi grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled it down:
'Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes - I've Had The Time Of My Life'
Mimi clasped her hands together and jumped up and down with excitement. The song fitted the bill perfectly! All she needed to do was find a copy of the song for the Party tonight and then, she and Matt would be side by side behind two microphones singing their eternal love for each other. In fact, Mimi was so happy that it took her some time to notice that black smoke was coming from the toaster. Her toast was stuck in the toaster! Mimi screamed and pulled the plug on the toaster before it went up in flames. Her toast was burnt and so crispy, it could have been a giant potato chip.
'I think I'll skip breakfast.' Mimi said to herself and ran upstairs to have a shower.
***
Matt sat on the Airplane bound for Odaiba staring out of the window next to him. In a few hours time, he would be looking out of the window and see his former homeland that he left behind a year ago.
And somewhere in that city, would be Mimi Tachikawa, the girl he left behind. The girl he had betrayed without her knowing. Also somewhere in that city would be Taichi Kamiya, the only person in his group of friends who did know what he had done. Matt told Tai that he didn't want him to tell Mimi, that he would do it himself.
That was Matt's main concern. How should he tell Mimi, a girl who firmly believed that the two of them still had a relationship despite being so far apart for a year, that he had done something so terrible? It would leave her brokenhearted but, Matt didn't want that.
'But, if I didn't want to hurt Mimi, why the hell did I do it?' Matt asked himself, angrily. He turned away from the window to the little kid sitting on the seat beside him scribbling on a pad of paper, covering it up with one arm. Matt smiled. He had to admit to himself how jealous he was of TK, he didn't have his kind of problems.
He didn't have anything or anyone at Odaiba that he was afraid to confront.
***
TK tried hard to hide what he was writing although there wasn't much of a point seeing as how his brother Matt had been staring out of the window ever since sitting down on the plane. He had never written something like this before but, he thought he had done quite well:
'To Kari,
I am writing this to say that you are...'
"Matt, how do you spell 'lovely'?" TK asked.
"L-O-V-E-L-Y." Matt replied in a depressed tone of voice.
'To Kari,
I am writing this to say that you are lovely. I also want to tell you that I really, really, really, really, really, really like you a lot. Well, talk to you later!
Love from,
TK.'
"What're you writing there anyway?" Matt asked his brother.
"Um... Nothing." TK replied.
"Ah come on!" Matt said, brightening up slightly, "You can tell me."
"Well... okay but, don't laugh or anything, Matt." TK told him, handing him the pad of paper. Matt stared at what was written.
"Is it okay, Matt?" TK asked, hopeful.
"Yeah but, was it really necessary to write 'really' six times?" Matt queried to his obviously lovesick little brother.
"Yeah, 'cos I wanted to show just how much I love her. Saying it once just isn't enough, you've got to show... erm... What's that word where you stick at something for a long time?"
"Dedication?" Matt suggested.
"Yeah, that's it. You've got to show dedication to the girl you love. Like you do with Mimi!"
Matt twitched slightly and gave an extremely weak smile.
"Yeah, like I do with Mimi." Matt said, looking back out of the window. This was going to be a long week.
***
Whilst everyone else was making final preparations for the welcoming party, Kari Kamiya was still asleep. All through the night, she had been subject to several dreams revolving around her and TK. Some involved the two of them having romantic dinners and others had them strolling on the beach with a spectacular sunset on the horizon. Kari blamed it on the teasing from Mimi and Sora at the clothes store during the previous day. She could never imagine being in love with TK, it might spoil their friendship. Besides, at the age of nine years, they were both too young to be falling in love. 'I'd have to bring Tai along on dates and TK would have to bring along Matt!' She reminded herself, shaking her head to remove the thought. Kari got out of bed and looked at her clock. It was 11:30 in the morning. She scowled at herself in the mirror for sleeping in so late on what was going to be such a busy day. She stepped out into the kitchen and looked around. Her older brother, Tai, was nowhere to be seen. Their parents had gone away for the weekend and Tai was supposed to look after her. Kari's eye then caught sight of a note by the telephone. She picked it up and read:
"Kari,
Sorry to leave you on your own but, I'm going to help out Sora early. You do remember that the party's tonight at her house, right? She just needs me to help out on a few things so, I've left you some food in the fridge. You'll be okay, I know you're a big girl now. Later!
Tai."
"Typical." Kari commented before going to get her cold breakfast.
***
Mimi made her way around the huge music store with caution. She wore dark sunglasses and a hat that was large even by her normal standards! She didn't want to be seen looking through the 'Oldies' section by anyone from School. As she was looking through the wide selection of dusty, second-hand CDs, some girls she recognised walked behind her.
"Hey, isn't that Mimi checking out all the old music?" One asked the other.
"Nah, it can't be. Mimi's not into that out of date junk." The other girl replied as they walked on. Mimi breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that she had to find the song quickly before her cover gets blown and she becomes the laughing stock of Odaiba High School. Frantically, she searched through the collection until she found what she was looking for! It was also a really small price tag so, Mimi could easily afford it. She grabbed the CD, hid it under her arm and paid for it. Mimi put it in her bag and ran out of the store, a satisfied customer.
***
Sora Takenouchi opened her front door to be greeted with a kiss from her boyfriend for a year and half, Tai. He looked at the long, red dress with blue flowers dyed onto the fabric that was being worn by his girlfriend. He was blown away.
"Sora, you look..." Tai began, trying to find the right word. "...Unbelieveable. I haven't seen a dress look so good on you since..."
"Tai, I haven't worn a dress since the School Dance. I'm only wearing it because, it's a really special day." Sora told him, cutting Tai off. Tai just smiled and put his arms around Sora.
"Is it a special day because, Matt and TK are coming back? Or is it a special day because, you get to see me?"
"Tai, we see each other everyday." Sora reminded him, with a laugh.
"And every day, you keep looking better!" Tai told Sora. They stared at one another silently for a few moments, letting their eyes do all the talking before kissing lightly.
"Tai, do you know how to set up this karaoke machine?" Sora asked, seriously.
"Shouldn't that job be left for Izzy? I don't know nothing about electric stuff!" Tai replied, reluctant to do any real work.
"He's busy typing up the lettering for the big banner." Sora told him, handing him a toolbox. Tai gave a heavy sigh and got to work.
"Why do we have a karaoke machine anyway?" Tai asked.
"It's Mimi. She has some kind of wild fantasy about her and Matt doing a romantic duet."
Tai opened his mouth to reveal Matt's secret but, remembered that Matt specifically told him not to.
"Well, they'd surely bring the house down with their awful singing!" Tai said instead.
"How about me and you do a song?" Sora suggested. Tai dropped his screwdriver from shock.
"Sora, I'm not getting up in front of everyone making an idiot of myself!" Tai snapped before returning to work.
"Well, excuse me!" Sora said sarcastically.
***
As Izzy tapped away at his computer, Joe was taping large pieces of paper together to feed into the printer.
"Izzy, why don't you tape the paper and I type for a while?" Joe suggested.
"No. The keyboard is much too fragile to be used by someone who has little or no idea how to treat it with proper care. Besides, it's my computer." Izzy told him, not looking up from the screen.
"It's just that I'm worried that the tape will bring my hands all out in a rash."
"Joe, that is highly unlikely. Tape cannot damage the skin to the extent that your hands will come out in a rash. Now, stop complaining and load the paper into the printer."
Joe sighed and began loading the long line of taped pieces of A4 paper into Izzy's printer. Izzy tapped away at a few keys and the printer went to work.
"So, are you looking forward to the party tonight?" Joe asked Izzy.
"Well, it's a very nice gesture towards Matt and TK. However, I would be more happier with a quiet night in on my computer. But, since everyone else is going, I suppose I should go too. What about you?"
"I guess I'll go but, I hope the music isn't too loud. I get headaches really easily that way."
"Speaking of music, did you know that Mimi is intending to sing a duet with Matt tonight?" Izzy gossiped to Joe.
"Mimi? And Matt? Give me a break. Those two are completely different people. Matt's not the right kind of person for a girl like Mimi."
"Who would you say is the right kind of person for Mimi?" Izzy enquired. Joe sat in deep thought for a few seconds before responding.
"How about me?" Joe suggested. Izzy looked at Joe blankly.
"Joe. Mimi is an outgoing girl who enjoys parties. You, on the other hand, prefer staying in and doing homework. I strongly doubt that you would be a worthy suitor for Mimi."
Joe stared at Izzy angrily before standing up.
"Well, I'll show you Izzy! I'll show everyone here! Tonight, I am going to prove that I can be a good man to Mimi Tachikawa!" Joe shouted at the top of his voice. Sora poked her head through the door.
"What was that, Joe?" Sora asked.
"Ah... Nothing, Sora. Nothing at all." Replied Joe, embarassed.
"Well, don't keep your hopes up Joe. Matt's a tough cookie to crack!" Sora told him, leaving the room laughing.
"I'll prove to you all that I can be romantic! Matt's not the only stud around here!" Joe shouted out before going to leave the room.
"Joe, before you go and prove how much of a 'stud' you are, could you possibly put up this banner?"
"Oh, sure." Joe responded politely, picking up the banner and going to put it up at the front of Sora's house.
***
Mimi sat on her bed, reading the lyrics to the song that she and Matt would sing. 'Such a great song for lovers...' She thought to herself before being interrupted by a knocking on her bedroom door.
"Come in!" Mimi called and with that, Kari stepped into her bedroom wearing the party dress she had purchased yesterday. The whistle around her neck had been replaced by a beautiful, shining necklace and in her hair was a pink flower.
"I knew it!" Mimi said, bouncing on her bed. "You ARE trying to impress TK, aren't you Kari?"
"Oh, don't start that again please." Kari said. "I was just wondering when the Party actually starts tonight?"
"It's at 6:00 and we've all got to be there ready to surprise them!" Mimi informed her pint-sized friend. Kari nodded a thank you and turned to go when she noticed the CD next to Mimi.
"Who's Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, Mimi?" Kari asked, looking at the CD in her hand.
"I don't know. It's a song that me and Matt are going to sing together tonight!" Mimi told Kari, excitedly.
"Is there a song that I can sing?" Kari asked.
"What? With TK?" Mimi asked.
"No. On my own." Kari told her, trying to keep her cool.
"Sure! Just choose a song and you can sing it!" Mimi told her, handing her the case of CDs and MDs.
"Thanks Mimi! You seem so excited about tonight." Kari told her, smiling. Mimi smiled back.
"Kari, nothing is going to spoil tonight for me!" Mimi said to Kari before helping her choose a song to sing.
***
A few hours later...
***
The taxi cab pulled up outside the Takenouchi residence where Matt and TK had been told to go once they had arrived in Odaiba. They stepped up to the front door, admiring the large 'Welcome Home!' banner, only to find that it was open. Inside though, it was pitch black. searching around, Matt found the light switch. He flicked it and jumped out of his skin when Tai, Sora, Joe, Izzy, Mimi and Kari shouted:
"SURPRISE!"
Mimi smiled sweetly at Matt. Matt attempted a smile back.
Kari waved a hello to TK. TK's heart began to beat with love.
Matt's heart began to beat with fear.
***
To Be Continued...
***
Author's Footnotes- Hey, next up is the party itself! I can't wait to get started on that! I've always been envious of those who write great party fics and now, I get a shot at it! Fingers crossed I don't mess it up! Anyway, now for the usual round of points. First of all, there is probably a large amount of you who haven't heard 'Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes - I've Had The Time Of My Life' which is a shame because, I personally believe it is one of the best love songs ever and over here in England, it's a firm karaoke and slow-dance favourite with couples. Well, in my area of the country anyway. It truly is a wonderful song and that's why I chose it. Some of these modern love songs just aren't the same as the classics but, that's my opinion. Secondly, some of you may be confused as to why Tai and Sora are actually a couple in this fic series. Well, like I said, they were in 'The Instrument of Love' and since this is the sequel, they are together in this and don't argue with me about it! Thirdly, I'm still undecided as to what song Kari could sing for her lovesick puppy... sorry, boyfriend... sorry again, good friend TK. If any of you have any ideas, put it in your review or E-Mail me with it. Remember, this is a 9 year old singing so, make sure it's not too much of a love song! If you people don't suggest one then, I'll choose!
And I'm thinking that the whole gang do an S Club 7 number! Stop me before I commit this act of insanity! *ahem* I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you did, review telling me so (I LOVE fan mail, don't you?) and if you didn't, review this story and give CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! Don't make me come round your house and hit you with a fish! Erm... Don't ask.
Thank you for your time and may God bless you all.