Sorry about being MIA for these few weeks! My mother's gone crazy with the math and has been giving me extra homework! And what's even worse is that she's going to put an algebra textbook in my stocking this Christmas! What did I do to deserve this kind of torture?! Oh, and enjoy the story!

Izzy explained to Matt, Ken, Davis, and Tara that Imperialdramon would be landing in Miami for them to split up. Matt and Ken would be taking a helicopter to Palenque, while Davis and Tara will be on an airplane to the Big Apple, all to the behest of their American Digidestined friend, Michael.

Tara paled when they said the word, "plane." "By plane do you mean as in a plane, plane? Or do you mean as in a plane, plane, plane?"

Agumon held his head. "That's one too many planes! There's only one plane, and you're going to be boarding it!"

"Oh. Thanks. Just wanted to clear that up. . ."

The airfield where they were supposed to meet Michael and Betamon came into view.

Michael waved to them as Imperialdramon landed and Dedigivolved in an abandoned airfield somewhere inland. "Here! And wow, you guys changed since I last saw," he jogged up to Tara and extended his hand. "Hi! The name's Michael, and this is my partner, Betamon." He gestured to a green tadpole that waved at her.

"Hello."

"You must be Tara, and Lunamon. It's good to finally meet you two."

She took his hand and shook it. "Yeah. . . How did you know my name?"

"Well, we've heard a lot about you from Mimi, and the message you broadcasted a few minutes ago."

"So are we going now?" Veemon impatiently asked. "Haven't got all night."

"Then climb on! My dad's going to be piloting this thing, and he's getting antsy."

"He's a licensed pilot, right?"

"Not exactly, but he's done enough flying to qualify."

Tara gulped. Goody. We're going the whole length of the East Coast, by a plane that's being piloted by an unlicensed flyer.

Michael winked at Tara. "Don't worry about it. He's great! We'll be in New York in a jiffy." He ushered Tara who began stuttering incomprehensive words of protest.

Davis flashed a wide grin with both thumbs up as he boarded the plane. "See you in however long rounding up Digimon take!" The door shut itself, as it ascended.

Tara yelped and dove to the nearest seat. She quickly did the seatbelt before going into a full-blown panic attack.

Michael pointed a finger to the girl and whispered, "Is she okay?"

Lunamon waved a hand. "She's perfectly fine."

"But Tara's doing the same thing she did when we got on that plane to Colorado."

She gave Veemon a cold glare. "I said that she's perfectly fine."

The dragon caught the message. "Uh, yeah! Totally fine, nothing wrong here!" He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously.

Lunamon mentally slapped herself on the forehead. Take note: teach Veemon how to act so he can be able to help in important situations.

Michael reluctantly shrugged. "If you say so."

Palmon led the plane in as it landed smoothly on the ground.

Tara wasted no time in getting off the aircraft once it landed.

"Tara!" Someone crushed her in a hug. "Took you long enough!"

Wait a minute. . . Don't tell me that's-She cautiously looked up and saw a blonde-haired, blue eyed, certain American boy from Colorado.

He flashed a smile as wide as Texas. "I told you I would see you again someday."

Tara turned bright red and blankly thought, It's him. "MIMI!"

Mimi had a mischievous smile. "Yes?" she craftily said.

"What were you thinking?"

"Oh you mean your present! Yeah, Mimi got it imported all the way from Colorado!" Palmon said.

Tara hung her head, but it landed on something soft and very, very warm. She turned a darker shade of red. "Willis?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you let go of me now?"

He dropped his hands to his side.

An awkward silence filled the air.

"Awkward," Terriermon half-whispered.

Exactly.

"Hey is that Kokomon?" Tara suddenly said. She was pointed to a chocolate colored bunny that looked a lot like Terriermon.

"Yes, but its Lopmon now," he said. "Pleased to meet you."

Mimi clapped her hands. "So why don't you all come along? I've got a nice winter picnic set up not too far from here. And guess what? Gennai was right about that counterpart thing, how they were dispatched all over the world, but what he didn't say was that-you know what? I'll just let you find that out for yourself."

"But Mimi-"

"Nope. Not going to tell you. You're not going to get a peep out of this girl." To prove her point, Mimi imitated pinched two fingers across her lips, turning it at one end, and then tossing something over her shoulder (AU for those who can't comprehend, it's the throw-away-the-key gesture).

They all walked to the campfire that burned brightly in the winter night.

Lunamon squinted and rubbed her eyes. "Is that Gennai?"

The might-be-Gennai guy stood up and shook his head. "Everyone says that, but no, I'm Benjamin. His American counterpart."

The Digidestined from Odaiba's eyes bulged out to the size of a fist.

Veemon's mouth opened and closed in revelation to that of a fish. All he could say was, "Do all Gennai's wear robes?"

Everyone else mocked falling to the ground, anime style.

"That's a typical Veemon saying," Betamon sighed.

Palmon poked the fire as it began to dim. She reached to the side, but only grasped empty space. "Uh-oh. We should get more firewood. Can't cook without a fire."

Mimi stood up. "Then I'll go with you."

Betamon raised a fin. "Same here with me and Michael."

Palmon looked at Davis. "You want to come and help us find some branches?"

Davis crossed his arms behind his head and laid there in the snow. "Nah. Me and Vee will just kick back and relax for a bit."

"Oh, come on Davis," Mimi widened her eyes a bit and cut glances between him and Tara and Willis. "We can't do all the work while you just lounge around."

Davis hurriedly got up. "On second thought, I'll just go with you guys. I need some time to think anyhow."

"Where ever Davis goes, I go. So wait up!" Veemon jumped after the small group.

"Are you coming too, Lunamon?" Kokomon asked. "The more the merrier."

Lunamon seemed to hesitate for a bit before coming to a final decision. "Fine. Might as well get some exercise. Being on an airplane can sure make your muscles cramp up." She hopped after them and disappeared into the wood.

There was an awkward silence between the group, until Willis coughed. "Um, want to go on a walk with me?"

Tara was a little flustered, but gave a nonchalant shrug. "Why not?"

Willis helped her up to her feet. Tara felt the blood rush to her face from the contact of warmth. Their hands held a few seconds too late to be normal, before their hands snapped to their sides. They both looked at Benjamin who was poking the fire with a stick and whistling.

He looked at them with a casual glance. "Don't mind me. I'm just the guy tending the flames." He went back to poking the flames.

Both teens walked aimlessly through the park. They stopped to sit at a bench a ways off from camp.

Tara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "So. . . Anything interesting happen over the fall?"

"Nothing much. Just the usual stuff, really."

Snow began to fall in beautiful swirls around them.

Tara turned to face the American blonde who faced her at the same time, was only inches away from her face. She probably turned red at that moment, but so did Willis.

He bit his lower lip and fumbled with something in his pocket. "Tara?"

She leaned in a little closer. "Yeah?"

"Well, I just wanted to-" He stared into her eyes and stopped.

Tara got a good look at him, now. He changed a little over the fall. He had grown an inch taller and his blue eyes seemed bluer. She felt her heart flutter.

He closed his eyes and leaned in.

Tara hesitated. Then she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

They both leaned in closer and closer and closer. Their lips were brushing when-

"Help! Cherrymon's on the loose and rampaging through Rockefeller Centre!"

They broke apart and furiously blushed.

Tara took a sudden interest at her boots, while Willis looked away and whistled.

"Umm. . . We better get to that Cherrymon problem."

"Sounds like a plan," they both looked at each other. Willis managed a shaky smile. "Captain."

"There you are!" Mimi yelled as Tara and Willis arrived. "Where have you two been?!"

They both started stuttering excuses.

"Uh, we were-"

"Walking and then-"

"Err, then we sort of-"

Davis made a cut gesture with his hand. "Break! It's not that important right now. What is important is that we get the Cherrymon down before something bad happens!"

The said Digimon hauled himself to the top of the building and pounded his test.

Seadramon groaned. "This is a remake of King-Kong all over again."

"Yeah," Antylamon half-heartedly said. "Only this time, it's a tree Digimon. Not a huge monkey."

"Blue Thunder!"

"Arghhhh!" With a flash of blue, Cherrymon came down to Earth. The hard way.

Michael cringed. "Yikes."

"Sorry about that Cherrymon!" Mimi said. "But it was the only way to get you to keep calm!"

Cherrymon blinked once, twice, and shook his head. "It's alright."

"Thanks for the help back there," a young blonde with glasses about Tara's age greeted. "My name's Phil, and this is my partner Digimon, Flareizamon. I'm guessing you're the one who called me on my Digivice. Tara, is it?"

"Yeah that's me. It's nice to finally meet you. All of you in fact."

The rest of the American Digidestined smiled.

"My name is Maria, and this is Centarumon."

"This is Frigimon, and I'm Steve."

"Lou and Tortomon over here."

Lunamon. "Alright. We better get these Digimon to Central Park."

"Digiport, open!"

Nothing happened.

Davis looked at his Digivice. He pointed it to Benjamin's laptop and yelled. "Digiport, open!"

Crickets chirped in the silence.

"Please?"

"Maybe your D-3 is broken." Palmon suggested.

Benjamin shook his head. "That's impossible. We programmed the Digivices to be indestructible and perfectly functional."

"Then what could be the problem?" Maria asked.

"What if-?" Everyone turned to Steve. He looked a little flustered from all the attention. "Could it possibly be that something is jamming the signal?"

They all looked at each other.

"Then that means. . ." Lou paled and gulped. "How are we supposed to send the Digimon back home?"

The said Digimon murmured in agreement.

Tara snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Opening a portal through the Digiport may not work, but the program on my Digivice can!"

Everyone who didn't know Tara looked at her.

"What are you taking about?" Frigimon asked.

"Just watch," Tara gave the snowman a confident smile and yelled, "Portal open!"

A white doorway to the Digital world erupted in front of them. Everyone took a step back in surprise.

The Digimon blinked.

Tortomon's mouth was agape. "Is that really-?"

"The Digital world," Centarumon finished.

Flareizamon looked at Tara in awe. "How is that eve possible?"

Tara smiled and shrugged. "The same way how I broadcasted our plan to every single Digidestined on the planet; with an incredible amount of luck."

Everyone was having a good time. Michael and Betamon had rekindled the fire, and Mimi had some extra food in that basket of hers. The rest of the American Digidestined and their Digimon had stayed with them to join the happiness, and they were glad too. It was a great moment. They all laughed, joked around, and ate as they shared stories about their own experiences with the Digimon.

". . . and then, there was this huge Gorillamon, I'll tell you!" Betamon said. "It was just hanging there on the Empire State Building! But that wasn't good enough for him. Oh, no. He had to pound his chest just like Cherrymon did, and yell 'Oh, look at me! I'm King Kong!'"

Betamon puffed up his little chest and pounded his fins against it. Everyone laughed as his green cheeks turned red from the effort.

"Tara!"

Everyone stopped laughing.

She looked up and gasped.

Ken waved from Stingmon's back. "We need your help!"

"Portal open!"

The Digimon filed in one by one until they were all gone. The portal collapsed as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for helping us out back there." Matt said.

"No problem! Happy to help out."

"Well, actually, there's a big problem," Ken said.

Lunamon turned to him. "What is it?"

"You said that in New York that the Digiports weren't in commission, right?"

"Okay, so?"

"If that happened there, as well as here, then that means that it wasn't a coincidence."

Gabumon waved his hands. "Back up, are you saying that the rest of the Digiports are broken too?"

Ken gave a grim nod. "I'm afraid so. If my prediction is correct, then the rest of the Digidestined need our help too."

"Then we're going to need Imperialdramon for this," Wormmon said. "Do you think you're up to the challenge, Tara?"

She snorted. "Of course!" She took out her gold-and-purple Digivice as it glowed.