A/N: Here's the next installment. Well, this chapter is shorter than the last, but that's a bit of a given, considering the last one had the play. This is still a decent sized chapter nonetheless. My love of flashbacks starts to shine through in this chapter. What can I say?

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Five Days Until Christmas

"Takato, what's going on?" Guilmon asked as he started to shrink.

"Guilmon!" Takato stared in shock at his glowing Digimon. "What's happening?!"

"I don't know…" He answered, a pitiful look on his face.

Takato watched as Guilmon grew smaller and smaller, De-Digivolving into Gigimon, his In-Training form. He held him tightly, spying Mr. Wong arriving with Suzie.

"Mr. Wong, why are Guilmon and the others De-Digivolving?" He asked, clutching his friend.

Henry question his dad the same thing, in an angrier tone. The man responded in an almost cryptic way, saying the Digimon had to go back to the Digital World or else they'd disappear. He said they were never meant for this world.

Takato was now felt tears roll down his cheeks. "But Guilmon's meant to be with me! He's a part of me and I promised we'd always be together! I promise!"

He heard his friends yelling and crying as their Digimon did the same and slowly began to float away, but he couldn't really hear them. It was like he was in a void of silence, only him and Guilmon.

"We'll play again soon," Gigimon said, snapping him out of his daze, "won't we, Takato?" He was already floating higher and higher, and Takato could barely keep his hold on him. It was time for his best friend to go…

"Yeah…" Through his tears, he nodded. "Yeah." He then let Gigimon float into the sky toward the portal with the other Digimon.

He heard his friends' tearful farewells to their Digimon friends.

"Guardromon, I love you, man!"

"MarineAngemon!"

"Bye, Cyberdramon!"

"Impmon, we'll miss you!"

"Thank you, Calumon."

"Lopmon, don't go!!"

Then came the final three calls from the last three Digimon.

"Momentai, Henry!"

"Stay strong, Rika!"

"Remember, Takato, you promised! Takato…!"

Takato shot out of his bed, a yell escaping his throat. He looked around to find his dark room, the Digimon figurines and card on his messy desk, his drawings scattered on the floor, and a picture he'd taken with Guilmon on his night-stand. Hot tears stung his eyes at the memory of his partner.

"Guilmon…"

"Remember, Takato, you promised!"

He gripped the bed sheets tightly, watching as they were dampened with his tears. "I know I did, boy… I know…"

Suzie got up early that morning, telling her parents she had to do some last minute Christmas shopping. They gave her some money and asked Jaarin to go with her. The 18-year-old girl frowned after they stepped outside their apartment and started walking to the West Shinjuku District mall.

"Okay, spill."

"Huh?" Suzie blinked.

Jaarin stopped, crossing her arms. "We already did all of our Christmas shopping together, remember? I took you around and we got everything on the list. We even got the presents for the other Tamers." She gave her sister a searching look. "Why are you really going out?"

Suzie sighed. She didn't answer the question, and instead asked a question of her own. "What's Christmas spirit?"

Jaarin was taken aback from the question. "Christmas spirit?"

"Yeah, the older Tamers seemed to have lost their Christmas spirit, so I want to find it for them. I want to get it back." Suzie explained.

Jaarin chuckled at Suzie's question. "Suzie, Christmas spirit isn't something you can find."

"Why not?"

"Because, Suzie, Christmas spirit isn't something you can hold like a present; it's inside of us all."

Suzie blinked. "But, Jaarin, how am I supposed to get it back if I can't hold it?"

Jaarin sighed. "Suzie, you can't give someone Christmas spirit, they have to get it for themselves. And it's different for some people."

Suzie frowned sadly. "But… I want to make them happy again."

Jaarin ruffled Suzie's hair. "That's sweet, Suzie, but you can't give them Christmas spirit if you don't know what's making them sad in the first place." She took her hand. "Now, how about I buy you some ice cream, okay?"

Suzie smiled slightly, but was still determined to get her friend's Christmas spirit back.

Suzie sat on a bench in the mall while Jaarin was getting ice cream from the stand. It turned out it was a really long line. Go figure. It was then that Suzie spotted a very familiar red-haired girl, trudging through the mall and grumbling as she carried bag after bag. She sat down in a chair in the food court and groaned, dropping the bags at her feet. Suzie smiled. Maybe if she found out what the others thought of Christmas spirit, it could help her to find it for them!

She half-ran, half-skipped over to Rika sporting a toothy grin. Her eyes spied a cell-phone being withdrawn from her pocket and curiously stopped, listening closely as she started talking.

"Uh, hi, Mr. Akiyama, is Ryo there?" Rika asked into the phone.

Suzie blinked. Ryo? Why was she calling him?

"Yeah, yeah, don't get any ideas, Akiyama," Rika's tough voice said, signaling she'd started talking to the boy. "I'm just inviting you and your dad to the resort outside the city for the Tamer party." Another pause. "The Tamer party, you dolt! That means no, I'm not inviting just you!" She scoffed. "Please, I was almost ready to not invite you all together, but the others wouldn't be happy about that, would they?" There was another pause and Rika's face slowly turned red. "I would not! You better stop jumping to your stupid conclusions or I'll-!" Suzie could only guess Ryo had cut her off. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, see you there…" The girl hung up the phone and shook her head. "Idiot…"

Suzie took this time to show herself. "Hi, Rika!" She said, making the rest of the way there. "Who were you talking with?" It wouldn't hurt to pretend, would it?

Rika cracked a smile. "No one that's important." She moved a bag and let Suzie sit down next to her. "What are you doing here today? Didn't you already do your shopping?"

Suzie dawdled for only a moment. "Jaarin's getting ice cream over there." She pointed at her sister, still in the long line. "And what about you?"

Rika gestured to the bags around her. "Would you believe my mom has a photo shoot five days before Christmas? And since my grandmother had to get things at the resort ready, I'm stuck with all the Christmas shopping, even if it's for Mom!" She reached into one of the bags and withdrew a small white teddy bear from it. "She even handed me this in a small bag by mistake. And guess what? She got it for me, too." Her face twisted into an annoyed and angry frown.

Suzie reached out to touch it slowly and, when she did, in a high-pitched squeal of a voice, it yelled, "SHINY!"

Rika's ears twitched in annoyance. "You see my problem?" She then remembered her words from earlier and added, "You, uh, do know about the resort, right?"

Suzie nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! Henry told me about it last night! I can't wait until Christmas Eve! It sounds great!" She looked at the older girl curiously. "Do you think the baby Digimon could come too?"

Rika felt a pang of sadness as the baby Digimon entered her mind, followed by Renamon. Her face turned downcast for an instant, but then she put on a forced smile. She couldn't get Suzie sad, could she? "Of course they can. I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind."

Suzie smiled back, moving her little feet back and forth. She then tilted her head to the side. "Rika, what's Christmas spirit?"

"Where did this come from?" Rika asked, raising one eyebrow.

"I've just been wondering it for a while."

There was a pregnant pause before Rika answered, "Christmas spirit is a feel of happiness you get around this time of year. It makes you feel warm inside and you want to help others."

"Where do you get it from?" Suzie questioned.

"From things that make you happy, I guess. Like family and friends." Rika responded.

Suzie was about to ask more, but Jaarin's voice suddenly called over, "Suzie! Suzie, I have the ice cream!"

Suzie sighed as she and Rika stood up. "I'd better get going too," The older Tamer said, looking warily at the bags around her. "More shopping. Yay me."

Suzie chuckled at Rika's sarcastic tone and then waved good bye, running over to Jaarin. She now had more to go on, but she needed a bit more. Then she'd be able to find out where to find her friends' Christmas spirit.

While walking out of the mall, Suzie just happened to spy Kazu, walking down the opposite side of the street with a bag under his arm. Perfect! Suzie checked to make sure there were no cars going by and ran across the street, making poor Jaarin scream in fright. Suzie took the last three steps as leaps as she landed right in front of Kazu.

"Hiya, Kazu!" She cried, grinning from ear to ear as the boy jumped back in fright.

"Where'd you come from?!" He heard another shriek from Jaarin and turned to see the older sister yelling at Suzie for scaring her so much. "Oh…"

Suzie beamed up at Kazu, her grin becoming lop-sided. "Whatchya doin'?"

"Um, last minute parent shopping?" He said, gesturing to the bag he was holding.

Suzie started walking with him, except she was moving backwards in front of him so she could look him in the eye.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" The visor boy asked cautiously. Get Suzie hurt and mess with her older brother. Who knew kung-fu. And occasionally could turn into a giant green armored rabbit-dog thing.

Suzie ignored his query, noticing Jaarin was coming across the street. "What's Christmas spirit? Where do you get it from?"

Kazu blinked. "Well that's an odd question," he muttered. "Christmas spirit is just the happiness you feel around Christmas. It's this thing that makes you want to do happy things and smile. You know; that stuff."

"Where do you get it?" Suzie asked again.

"Ummm…" Kazu frowned. Where did you get it from? Then his eyes lit up. Light bulb! "You get it from all the other people feeling happy around you. Someone starts feeling jolly, and then it's contagious!"

"Where do they get it from?" Suzie wasn't letting up.

"Why, from getting to see their friends and family, of course!" Kazue grinned. He was good at this! "They see everyone they haven't seen in a long time, and they just can't help but be happy!"

Jaarin arrived at just that moment. "Suzie! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?!" She took the purple-haired girl by the hand. She waved good bye to Kazu and started the other way, toward their house. "Sorry for causing you so much trouble."

Kazu shook his head. "Naw, the little girl's cute when she asks questions like that. See you on Christmas Eve!" He gave a wave before taking off down the street.

"Questions?" Jaarin looked down at her sister. "Suzie, what are you doing now?"

Suzie could only smile. One more person…

Takato sighed as he walked down the street, kicking a can outside the bakery with his hands in his pockets. Why did he have to be reminded of Guilmon now? It was Christmas for crying out loud! Well, almost. Now was a time when he should be concentrating on all he had and his friends and his family and … Jeri…

The goggled-headed boy continued to walk down the street, so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice a little girl come running up the sidewalk, not looking where she was going either.

SLAM!

Takato staggered back, the little girl not being strong enough to knock him over. She, however, fell flat on her rear with a yell. Takato gasped when he realized the girl was, in fact, Suzie.

"Ah, Suzie!" He cried, kneeling down and pulling her to her feet. He dusted her off and checked to see if she was hurt. "Sorry, sorry, I wasn't looking."

Suzie stood there, blinking back a few tears from the sting of the fall. She, however, then smiled happily. Ah ha! "I-it's no problem, Takato!" He stood up and patted her on the head. She frowned. "You look different, Takato. Are you sad?"

Takato hastily smiled and started chuckling nervously. "Who, me? Of course not!"

Suzie's frown deepened. "Really?"

Takato's shoulders sagged and he let out a sigh. "I guess I'm just thinking of Guilmon." He looked to the sky, his soul a thousand miles away. "All the times we had together and all the things we did and … my promise… He's my best friend, but I haven't seen him in so long." Takato suddenly looked down at Suzie and smiled. "Heh, I'm just getting a little too emotional, I think." The smile… It wasn't real…

"Oh, Suzie!" Suzie cringed. She had, once again, run away from Jaarin. The girl was going to be a nervous wreck by the time this was done, seriously. "You stay put, young lady!"

Takato looked at the older girl and then back at the purple-haired one. "You're causing your sister trouble again, huh?"

Suzie grinned sheepishly as Jaarin caught up to her. "Suzie! Stop running off! Do I need a leash for you?"

Suzie let out a high-pitched squeak. "Eeep! N-no!"

A hard look hit Suzie's eyes. "Then you will walk with me the whole way home. No more stops."

Suzie sighed. She'd have to continue her quest tomorrow, then. "All right…" Her sister started to take her home by the hand, but with her free hand, she waved good bye to Takato. "I hope you feel better soon, Takato!"

Takato waved back, blinking at the sight that had just passed him by. He turned around and shook his head. "She's growing up, that girl is…"

And he started on his way home.

Jaarin and Suzie stood in the elevator to their apartment. They'd been out for a long while; lunch had already passed and dinner was coming soon. Suzie was amazed at how fast time had flown by. She rocked back and forth on her heels, humming a little tune. Jaarin eyed her.

"What's up with you today, huh?" Silence. "I mean, all day you run around, never giving me a moment to catch up with you, and I find out most of the time it's to talk to people who you just saw and will be seeing in four days!" Jaarin just hung her head. "You know, you're becoming a lot like Rinchei when he was your age. I was hardly able to keep up with him when he let me come along on his little 'adventures.' Ugh, I'm glad you didn't develop his sense of humor as well…"

Suzie giggled at this. Rinchei and her weren't all that close, considering the twelve year age difference, of course, but he always knew how to make her laugh; he had only slightly more tact that Terriermon.

Suzie just gave Jaarin a childish smile. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to get out today. I promise it won't happen again."

"Oh, I've heard that one before… This time from Henry…" She sighed. "Being the responsible one really tires me out. Of course, Henry has grown up a lot since he was young, but when I had to baby-sit him?" She paused. "I think I'm the only one who skipped the rebellious period."

Suzie giggled again at her sister. She then looked at her with pleading eyes. "Do you think you could convince Mom and Dad to let me go out by myself tomorrow?"

The blue-black haired girl did a double-take. "After what you pulled on me today? No way!"

Suzie's eyes widened. "B-but Jaarin…"

"Don't you 'but Jaarin' me! I could understand going into the food court, but running across the street? Suzie, you had me worried sick! And then when you ran into Takato. You got so far away from me that I could hardly see you!" Her sister firmly shook her head. "No, Suzie, I won't help you."

Suzie's bottom lip began to quiver and her eyes began to shake. She sniffed loudly and her arms started to shake.

"Oh, no, Suzie, please not here." Jaarin begged.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Suzie bawled. She bawled as loud and as hard as she could. "WHY WON'T YOU LET ME DO WHAT I WANT? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Jaarin cringed as she watched Suzie cry. She hated it when the youngest Wong was like this, especially when it was her fault. It made her feel so guilty.

And that's what Suzie wanted.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! I H-HAF' T-TA DO E-EVERYTHING WITH SOMEONE OLDER! I C-CAN NEVER D-DO ANYTHING BY. MY. SEEEEEEEEELLLF! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Suzie was vaguely aware that other people had stopped the elevator to get on, and were now receding slowly as to not upset her anymore.

Jaarin looked at the crowd they had started to make and picked up her crying sister. "Okay, okay." She whispered gently, patting her back. "I'll plead your case. Now please stop crying, all right?"

Suzie sniffled slightly and hiccupped, pulling back to look at her sister. "R-really?"

She gave a half-hearted smile. "Really."

Suzie then let out a small cry of jubilation, hugging Jaarin tightly as her sobs subsided. She was half-crying and half-laughing. It was quite a sight. Jaarin could do nothing but smile. Her precious little sister…

Suzie washed her face before dinner; it was the only way Jaarin would help her with her 'problem.' She didn't want her parents to find out she'd been crying either, so it worked out in her favor. The little girl talked all night, her hands moving animatedly. While shoving a piece of chicken in her mouth, she started talking about her day.

"An' ah tha mall, we ran into Rika!"

"Chew your food dear." Her mother, Mayumi, reprimanded without even looking.

Suzie swallowed it all in a great big gulp, flashing a wild grin. She then pulled a heaping helping of wild rice on her plate with the serving spoon, watching the steam rise as the hotter portions were exposed to the colder air. She continued her story. "She had shopping do though."

Henry raised his eyebrows. "Rika? And shopping?"

"Her mom's." Little Suzie explained.

Henry chuckled and shook his head. "Poor Rika."

Suzie nodded, shoving some of the peas on her plate down her throat. "Uh-huh." She earned a hard stare from her father and began to chew her food properly before continuing. "We saw Kazu too." She purposely left out the part where she had run across the road to ask him her question.

"What was he doing there?" Henry inquired with an odd look on his face.

"He forgot a gift of some sort." Suzie waved her hand as if brushing the question away. "We had to get home, though." She frowned, but then perked up a second later. "But we also saw Takato!"

"More shopping?"

"No, he was just walking." She also left out the fact that she'd ran head-long into him.

Jaarin decided to hold up what she saw as her promise to Suzie and said, "Suzie was really good today, mom." Suzie glowed. "She may be even ready to start going out on her own."

Mayumi looked at her daughter in shock while Janyu coughed slightly. Even Rinchei and Henry wondered where this suddenly came from. "Jaarin, what makes you-?"

"She's really grown up, Dad." Jaarin reminded while Suzie sat there, twitling her thumbs. "All the responsibilities she had from the play most have done it; I was really surprised," Suzie gave a nervous grin when they looked at her, "not to mention impressed."

Mr. Wong stoked his chin softly. "Well…" He glanced at his nervous wife. He got up to clear his plate, taking a few of the others as well. Rinchei began to help him. "We'll talk more about it later."

Suzie knew her father's language; this meant Jaarin actually had some good points and he needed time to think of the bad ones. In other words, she had a chance! Now, if she could only decipher what her friends had told her…

Takato walked through the door of his parents' bakery and into the back. "I'm home!" Silence answered him. "Hello? Mom? Dad?"

On the table was a note. He picked it up and looked at it strangely.

Dear Takato,

Your father and I have gone out with some friends who dropped by. Sorry about the short notice. There's pizza in the fridge that you can heat up. Make sure you brush your teeth and wash your face, okay, young man?

Love, Mom

P.S. I'll know if you don't.

Takato sighed at the letter. "Aw, Mom…" She could still embarrass him even if she wasn't in the same room. He opened the fridge and grabbed a few slices of pizza, putting them in the oven to heat up. He was about to shut the refrigerator, but there he saw a loaf of bread shaped very oddly. He withdrew it and suddenly it felt like a fist had closed around his heart. The bread was shaped like Guilmon's head.

"Guilmon…" The sight of the bread had never gotten him worked up before, but now?

He felt memories flooding back to him. The first time he and Guilmon met, the time he'd almost disappeared in a Digital Field, when he first Digivolved into Growlmon, when he'd Digivolved into WarGrowlmon, Megidramon…

Takato shook his head at the bad memory, his own voice echoing in his ears.

"Beelzemon… I'll make you hurt… I'll make you pay!"

"You cannot lose, I won't allow it! I… I order you to Digivolve! Digivolve, NOW!!"

"I order you to Digivolve to Mega!"

"That's it… Mega…"

Takato's eyes widened at the monster in front of him. "Guilmon, what have I done to you, boy?"

Takato felt his hands shake. How could he have done that to him? How?

Another memory filled Takato's mind, a very vivid one. It was when they were rescuing Jeri from the D-Reaper. He and Guilmon as Gallantmon were almost there…

Gallantmon ran up the side of the D-Reaper.

"We're coming, Jeri!" Takato yelled.

Suddenly, the coils in front of him rearranged themselves to form a Jeri-shaped head. It looked down at him and fired a blast of darkness from its mouth. Gallantmon screamed in pain and began to fall, his body darkened severely.

Takato panicked. "This can't be happening! Guilmon!"

Guilmon's soft voice came as they continued their head-first freefall. "I'm sorry, Takato."

"NOOO!"

An unfamiliar voice entered his ears. "Do you want to fly, Guilmon?"

Gallantmon answered, his eyes wide. "Wh-who are you?"

"Do you want to fly?" The male voice repeated. "I can give you my wings."

Guilmon's innocent voice answered in shock. "Wings? I-I could fly?"

Gallantmon's faithful friend, Grani, flew shakily toward him. "Grani!" The Mega cried.

"I can no longer move on my own, but I can give you the strength that remains in me. You can have my wings, Gallantmon." The Ark explained.

"Grani… You really are a Digimon, aren't you?" Takato's voice shook with revelation.

"Grani, are you sure?" The dinosaur half of the Mega asked uncertainly.

"I'm very sure. You are my friends; you talked to me. This is my gift to you." Grani flew at them, beginning to merge with the Digimon.

"GRANI!" Takato yelled, tears on the edge of his eyes.

"A part of you will always be with us, Grani!" Gallantmon felt his body change, become more powerful. He was different… He had wings…

"Grani…" Takato felt his heart, knowing part of him beat within him. "Thank you…"

If it hadn't been for him, they couldn't have saved Jeri, or anyone, for that matter. His mind recalled one more event.

"I'm coming, Jeri!" Takato was confident. He was almost there! He would finally see Jeri again.

Suddenly, a very warped version of Jeri's clone flew out of the coils in front of him. "Negative, subject Gallantmon." It fired a powerful blast at him much like the one the Jeri Head had before. It destroyed his sword in a flash.

"Who is that?" Gallantmon asked before it grabbed his head.

"Humans and Digimon exist only to destroy or be destroyed, an exercise in futility! Humans desire annihilation, therefore their existence is pointless."

Gallantmon struggled at the strong grip. "No… You don't get to decide that!"

Takato twitched and pulled, struggling to break free. "My life isn't pointless and neither is Guilmon's or my friends' or anyone else's! We have the right to live and protect the people we care about- something a warped freak like you could never understand!"

The red knight grabbed the hand and wrenched it away. He tried to punch the blue clone, but got punched instead.

"You are persistent, bit you are only delaying the inevitable!" It shoved him into the D-Reaper's coils, causing him to inhale deeply and begin to dissolve. "You do not deserve to exist!"

"It's not true, is it?" Guilmon questioned.

Takato clenched his fists. "No! No it is not!" The data was sucked back into him. "And it's about time we proved it!"

Gallantmon flew out of the coils, ripping them in rage. "We do deserve to exist!" He punched the clone in the stomach and twisted his fist. "You don't!"

The clone screamed in pain before it broke up into piece of the D-Reaper and then disappeared completely.

Takato sighed at the memory of his words. They deserved to be together too, didn't they? After all they'd been through, couldn't Destiny at least grant them that? The kitchen timer beeped wildly, making Takato jump. He walked over to the oven and withdrew the slices of pizza with an oven mitt.

"Oh, Guilmon…"

Suzie flopped down on her bed in comfy pink pajamas. They weren't too loose, and they didn't constrict her when she moved around. Little white rabbits covered them, and Suzie loved them so. This is why it was odd when she found a sudden sharp pain in her back. She jumped up, rubbing it softly, and began to dig through her covers, discovering her pink D-Ark. She'd been so excited the night before that she'd slept in her clothes, and the D-Ark must have slipped off.

She picked it up and studied it curiously as she lay down. She held it up to the soft light, feeling the smooth edges and stroking the screen softly. It had not faded in the years following the D-Reaper; on the contrary, it still looked brand-new. Part of her wondered if it could ever fade or if the color could ever chip off. Probably not, seeing as it was made from wishes and dreams, but still. She wondered why she hadn't taken better care of it in the past three years, and an image of smiling at her Lopmon filled her head. Lopmon…

Suzie ran through the park with her father far behind. She spun and twirled in happiness. The big red blob was gone, it was finally gone! Now she could play with Henry and Terriermon and Lopmon all she wanted, and all the other Tamers could be happy! She could spend days playing in the snow that was soon to fall and teach Lopmon about Christmas! Her little chocolate bunny and her, with nothing to ruin the moment…

She just had to find her first. She found the other Tamers standing in the middle of the park with a little boy and a little girl she didn't recognize off to the side. She felt her face light up.

"Thewe you awe!" She called to her father, who was looking like he was dreading something. She didn't know why. She turned back to them, laughing cheerfully. "Henwy, Lopmon, Tewwiewmon! I thought I-" It was then that she noticed the Digimon were really tiny and looked different. "Daddy, what's wong? Why awe they gwowing so smawl?"

She looked at Lopmon, who was now a little blob-like thing with three horns and rabbit ears. She reached out to hold her, unaware of the other children and her father talking. They were all crying, even Henry. Suddenly, Lopmon raised into the sky toward a big black and red shiny thing, completely composed of squares. Suzie gasped as she reached out to her, tears running down her cheeks as she watched her rabbit floating away.

"Lopmon, don't go!" She cried, still reaching out with her little pudgy hands as she did with Terriermon so long ago.

Lopmon reached the center of the squares and then disappeared, her outline staying there for a second longer. She watched as a little Terriermon-like creature floating up as well, followed by a small fox head and a little dinosaur thing. They all shouted things out before disappearing.

"Momentai, Henry!"

"Stay strong, Rika!"

"Remember, Takato, you promised! Takato…"

The squares disappeared, and Suzie started crying harder. She hugged her brother's waist tightly. "Henwy, Where'd they awl go? Where's Lopmon? I want my Lopmon! I want my Lopmon and Tewwiewmon!" She felt Henry hug her back. "I don't want them to go!"

She looked up to the sky where the Digimon had gone. Why had she left? Where was she? Would she ever see her again?

Suzie's eyes snapped open and she sat up suddenly. She'd fallen asleep… The lights were off in her room (she figured someone had turned them off), and her hand was still wrapped around her pink D-Ark. She noticed the door was open a crack, and she could hear her parents talking outside.

"I'm just not sure if we're ready to let her go out by herself." Her father's voice came.

It was, amazingly, her mother that contradicted him. "She has been to the Digital World before, honey, and she did wonder around for a good amount of time there alone."

"Yes, but she was almost killed!" Oooh… She should've left that part out when she was describing her little adventure.

"But we don't have any Digimon here, do we?"

"But that Bio-Emerge-!"

"-Released the lowest level of Digimon there are, correct? You said it yourself. Besides, from what those little guys are saying, there's actually peace in the Digital World right now. And not a little, I mean complete and total peace. They even said they have Christmas there!" Her mother had spent the day listening to the slumbering babies, she guessed.

"There's what?!"

"But we're getting off the subject, dear. Look, how about we give her a cell phone and we send Rinchei with her?" Suzie felt her heart begin to sink. "If she goes to a large store, she can go look around and Rinchei and go off to do what he wants to. All he has to do is call her and she can still have her freedom." A miniature celebration went off in the eight-year-old's head. Her mother was defending her! Her mother! How did this happen?

She heard a sigh from her father, signaling defeat. "I just wonder how you suddenly became so trusting of our children…"

Her mother chuckled. "Now, Janyu, are you saying I'm overprotective?"

"N-no, I-!" He stopped for some reason.

"Come with me, we're going to bed."

Suzie heard their voices trail off, and she hugged her D-Ark close. At last! She could look for the Tamers' Christmas spirit in peace! All she had to do was figure out where to look…

She sighed as she thought of Lopmon again. She really missed her. In the short peace they'd had, she'd become her best friend…

Suzie suddenly shot up, her eyes wide. That was it! She thought of the answers the other Tamers had given her. Rika told her Christmas spirit was a happy feeling you get inside, and you get it from the people you love. Kazu told her you get it when your friends and family that you haven't seen in a long time come, making you feel very good inside. Takato told her he was missing Guilmon, his best friend. That was it! The Tamers didn't have their Christmas spirit because their partners weren't here!

Suzie frowned. That was a big job for such a little girl. How was she supposed to find a way to get the Digimon back? Well, no matter how hard it was, she'd find some way! She had to!

So dear little Suzie hit the sack,

Wondering how to get the Digimon back.

What she didn't know was someone was musing,

And would find her little struggle very amusing.

He would test her and prod her and laugh at her pain.

She would even risk death for this little game (ugh!)

A/N:

Next Time: Suzie decides to go to an old ally for assistance on her quest, but will he be of any help? Meanwhile, Ai notices Mako is acting out-of-sorts lately. Will an unexpected phone call be the gift he was waiting for? Find out next time in Digimon Tamers: What is Christmas Spirit, Anyway?!