Not gonna lie. If ever there was a chance of a chapter being late, it will be the next one. School is eating me alive this semester. There are times when even I'm surprised I'm still keeping my head above water. And now I've got projects coming up on top of the regular workload. Yay…

Thank you so much for reviewing chapter thirteen: ReaperOfShadows125, Berry Doyle, dnofsunshine, Sweet Cari, and ToastyToaster22. I had a lot of fun writing that chapter, so I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy it also. And thank you FlightfootKeyseeker for taking the time to review chapters 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, AND 13! I loved reading all your questions as you worked through the chapters. Questions are the kind of constructive criticism that I love—even if most people wouldn't really consider them to be such—because they ensure that I'm asking myself those questions, in case I wasn't before. They keep me on track. So thank you!

Chapter Fourteen: Preparations

That made three screens alight with activity. The Emperor had only been gone for a day and a half, and Wormmon was right. He was not happy with these new developments. Not at all. The bug Digimon cowered under the desk as a pair of Gazemon were destroyed in his rage. Their data scattered at the press of a button.

Wormmon knew the real source of the Emperor's frustration lay on the desk above him. Two crests, one dull and lifeless, the other sparkling and alive but out of reach. Wormmon, too, had heard the rumors that the crest of Light had rehabilitative powers, but they had yet to see the proof of this.

But apparently one of the other crests had found a way to rehabilitate itself. Which could mean disaster for the Emperor's reign. Which was causing smaller-scale disasters close to home.

As the Emperor barked orders to those brave enough to still stand at command, Wormmon scuttled away. His presence wouldn't be missed here, and perhaps he could find something out about the most recent crest development before the Emperor got everything back under his control.

…

Kari was grateful to find Gatomon already curled up fast asleep in her bunk when she finally turned in for the night. As long as the day had been, she knew she would have stayed up all night as well for a chance to talk more with her new partner. There were so many questions still to be answered.

But they could wait until the morning. And late morning at that. The exhaustion finally caught up with her when she lay her head down and closed her eyes. By the time Kari woke the next day, both of her parents had already left for work.

She was grateful for this too. She had the house to herself and took her time putting together a late breakfast. Gatomon had remained fast asleep, curled up in a tight little ball on the bed, when Kari got up, and she'd quickly pushed any thoughts of disturbing the Digimon aside. If Kari had been exhausted from her own adventure, she couldn't imagine how Gatomon must be feeling.

She really had no idea what Gatomon had been through, she realized now, putting aside a portion of her meal for the Digimon. Well, she supposed that wouldn't be the case for much longer. She had grown so used to the answers being far out of reach, but Gatomon was waiting in the next room. All she had to do was ask.

At the last second, Kari doubled back and filled a bowl with milk as well before heading back to her room. All of the two questions racing through her mind ground to a sudden silence, however, when she pushed open the door. Her eyes scanned the room once. Then a second time. Then again and again until there was no mistaking it. Gatomon was nowhere to be seen.

…

Kari was not the only one who slept late that day. In fact, Davis's slumber likely would have continued if not for Jun's appearance outside his door around noon. His eyes flew open as she raised a fist to his door a few times and called in, "Hey, Davis, you plan on getting up sometime before tomorrow?"

He grumbled something incoherent about sisters into his pillow as she moved on, but the damage was done. He wouldn't be falling back to sleep now. His glare was still in place as he sat up with exaggerated slowness—honestly, was nothing sacred anymore? –but he was up.

"Little late for breakfast, don't you think?" his mother asked as he plunked himself down at the table. She was hurriedly collecting her things, on her way to work, and she had already whisked herself into the next room by the time Davis muttered back, "Not late enough…"

But he began to truly wake up over breakfast. In truth, there was nothing Davis would have liked more than to go back to bed and lounge around the house all day. His muscles were still feeling the effects of his soccer camp and the crazy trek across the city with Yolei the night before. But there was still so much to be done, and they hadn't actually managed to accomplish anything in regards to Kari. It sent a little jolt through him—washing away any remaining vestiges of sleep—realizing that Kari could still be out there somewhere in a strange, possibly dangerous world.

They needed to regroup… But he doubted Yolei would want to see him after their last conversation, he reflected with a grimace. Well, no matter. He hadn't been joking. He was going to find a way to the Digital World, no matter what it took. And maybe Cody would be able to help him find a way to do it. The younger boy deserved to be filled in anyway. Yeah, patching things up with Yolei could wait until after he'd caught up with Cody. But first…

Davis's movements were as quiet and slow as they'd ever been as he crept down the hall. He could hear the shower going—Jun must have just been getting up herself. Very slowly, very carefully, he reached out and twisted the bathroom doorknob. Perfect. Jun hadn't bothered to lock it. Well, that was what his sister got for waking him up so rudely and then being so careless.

Davis was meticulous about his actions, confident in the knowledge that his sister couldn't take a short shower if her life depended on it. He gathered all of his things and made sure to leave the front door wide open before filling a dish with cold water and creeping back down the hall. He eased the bathroom door open without a sound, letting the steam envelop him as he stepped inside. He grinned. Jun hadn't heard a thing.

In one fluid motion, Davis swung the dish up over the side of the shower curtain, dumping the freezing water over what he hoped to be his sister's head. And then he booked it back down the hall before Jun's satisfying shriek of outrage could even meet his ears. He didn't stop, knowing full well his sister wasn't above grabbing a towel and charging out after him in nothing else. He was out the door before she got a chance, laughing without restraint, leaving the bowl spinning on the table, ready to face the day.

…

Mimi and her own Digimon partner remained locked in each other's embrace for a long time. Yolei couldn't blame them. Though her grip had loosened, she still held Hawkmon close, and the stuffy little bird had yet to voice a complaint. Had the original Digidestined been facing this sort of danger and excitement on a regular basis? For all these years? Or at least the first year that TK had been with them?

If so, Yolei could hardly blame Mimi for getting worn down by it all. The mere thought of facing further danger herself was enough to make her shake. But when Mimi finally pulled back, there was a strength in her eyes and a steadiness to her voice that Yolei never would have expected.

"Oh, Palmon… I'm so sorry."

But Palmon shook her head vigorously. "Don't apologize! It was my job to keep you on track! I wasn't strong enough to make you face your fears."

Mimi shook her head too, albeit with a gentler expression on her face. "There will be time to discuss all this later. For now, we have some preparations to make."

The former Digimon Princess got to her feet, looking no less regal for her dishevelment. She shook herself out a bit and then strode confidently over to the disoriented heap that was the Emperor's general.

"ShogunGekomon. It's nice to meet you. Really meet you. I hope we can continue to work together now that the Emperor has manipulated us both."

The massive Digimon blinked blearily at her for a moment. Even freed from the Emperor's influence, Yolei thought he looked decidedly… grouchy. And she tensed up when a fierce glare overtook his features. But Mimi remained strong. And her confidence was rewarded.

"That Emperor," ShogunGekomon growled. "He'll regret the day he tried his mind control on me!"

His words were accompanied by a cacophony of shouts and cheers from the Gekomon who finally seemed to have overcome their shock. Mimi's smile was genuine but tight and determined. "Excellent. But let's not be too hasty. We need to make all the proper preparations."

ShogunGekomon turned his beady glare on her. "Now listen here, Princess. You've spent the last two years in this cushy castle—"

"No, you listen," Mimi cut in, her hands on her hips. "You want your revenge on the Emperor, and you'll get it. But we're not going to go charging in there without a plan. Not while my friends are still out there somewhere, possibly at his mercy. The Emperor has already shown us that he's capable of hacking into the Digital World's very code. I don't want any nasty surprises if he realized we're fighting back too soon. So let's do this right, agreed?"

Yolei didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until the immense Digimon finally backed down. "Fine. But you better be right, Princess."

"I am," she answered stoutly. "And the name's Mimi. The Emperor is expecting you to report back today, right?"

The former general nodded.

"You'll give that report as a video call from here. Tell him Poromon was causing trouble again, but you got things under control and you'll be staying just a little longer to keep an eye on things. The images of those screens are never the clearest anyway. We'll fashion a fake dark ring out of fabric and cardboard or something. Just try to act as submissive as possible."

She left the Gekomon to their encouragements then and turned to Yolei with a wink. She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "It's terribly uncouth, but sometimes there's nothing you can do but be the bigger bully."

Yolei just nodded dumbly, starting to feel a little lost as the pace around her picked back up. She finally got back on her feet, following Mimi as the older girl swept into the next room. This one was clearly her personal quarters and was just as spacious as all the rooms that had come before it. Yolei stood a little awkwardly off to the side of the bed as Mimi threw open the doors to her wardrobe with a flourish. She contemplated its contents for a moment before decisively stripping out of her extravagant dress.

Yolei politely averted her eyes, only looking back when the sound of fabric tearing reached her ears. Mimi had changed into a fitted, short-sleeved shirt, a short skirt, and a pair of boots that reached almost to her knees. She watched as Mimi ripped off a wide stretch of the princess dress and fastened it around her waist so that the ruffles accented one side of her skirt as well. Maybe her hair wouldn't be so meticulously styled for long, and maybe the colors she'd donned were a little too bright to be practical, but the effect was clear. The princess persona had been dropped for one more akin to a warrior.

Mimi's eyes were clear and bright as she caught sight of Yolei taking in her new image. "I think this is a better look for me, don't you? Now, I suppose we should get down to business, huh?"

Her gaze softened a bit as she took a seat on her enormous bed, inviting Yolei to join her. When she did, Mimi said, "I know this all must be a bit overwhelming, but I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me your story."

So, taking a deep breath, she did. Yolei explained how she and Kari had become friends shortly after the original Digidestined's disappearance. The Inoue family had been one of many to relocate. As the Kamiyas' apartment building had remained relatively undamaged, Kari's family had stayed put, hoping against hope that Tai would find his way home. She explained watching her friend go through the stages of loss but also the general normalcy of the next four years. And then how TK's sudden appearance had turned their lives upside down. And finally, how their investigation had come together, leading to her own walk through the streets of Odaiba the previous night.

Mimi absorbed this all thoughtfully but suddenly sat up ramrod straight at her description of the boy who'd brought her here. "You saw Ryo?!"

Taken aback, it took Yolei a moment to pick that name out of her memory of Hiroaki's secondhand tale. "You mean… The boy who transported all of you here?"

Mimi nodded, her mouth set in a serious line. "Sounds like him… And I don't know anyone else who can travel between the worlds like that. Or disappear afterwards so completely. I wish I could tell you what this means… We never did figure out what Ryo wants. I wonder what he's been doing all these years…"

"He said the children had fallen…" she remembered slowly.

"Well, I suppose that's true enough," confirmed Mimi. "All but TK and Kari."

"But there was more…" Yolei shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to remember it exactly. "'They were supposed to save our world, but they've fallen.' That's what he said. Our world. Almost like…"

"Like he's from the Digital World," Mimi finished for her. "I mean… I guess he did always act a little… strange."

"He sounded sort of… robotic when he talked to me," said Yolei. "Like he was working off of a script or something. He didn't really respond to anything I said."

"Well, if you're right, he's the most humanlike Digimon I've ever seen. But we have more pressing things to worry about right now. Tomorrow, Palmon and I are going to set out to track down the others, but if we're going to keep fooling the Emperor, someone needs to stick around and watch over things here. I'm sorry. I knew it's a lot to ask of you. But I don't think we can get you home until all this is figured out anyway. So what do you say?"

The brief clarity she'd attained through their Ryo brainstorming had vanished. Once more, her mind was reeling with the suddenness of it all. She tried to focus on the facts. She'd come here to help Kari, and Kari was still out there somewhere. She couldn't look for Kari if she was stuck in this castle. But Mimi was better equipped to help her friend than Yolei was. Better equipped to help all of them. And she was right. Whatever her decision, Yolei had no way of returning home right now.

She looked over at Hawkmon, patiently awaiting her answer. She remembered his answer when she'd asked him about what, exactly, they were meant to be doing together. Why, whatever you think is right.

Finally, she turned back to Mimi, a new determined glint in her eyes. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Excellent." Mimi smiled, taking something from Palmon's outstretched hands. The tiara that had been thrown across the room in the struggle. She situated it atop Yolei's head with all the grace one would expect from the former Digimon Princess, approving her own work with a nod. "Let's get to work then."

Review please!

I don't own Digimon.

I don't even know what to leave for an ending note. I'm typing this up while waiting for one of my midterms to be posted… Fingers crossed that you hear from me next month.