"Emily? Is it ok if I come in?" Joe tapped his key on the door.
"Yeah, hold on a second, ok?" Emily opened the door and Joe stepped in. "Thanks for knocking." She grinned.
"No problem." Joe blushed again. Then he looked at Emily and blushed even more. "Oh, I didn't know that you…" Emily was wearing a big white T-shirt with the words "think of Hawaii" on it. Under that, she was wearing a pair of plaid boxers.
"What? You actually think I was going to sleep in my clothes that I've worn for, what? How long?"
"No. I just..." Joe was turning the color of a fire engine.
Emily sighed. "Never mind. I don't want to know. Say, you aren't planning on wearing your clothes to bed, do you?"
"What? Well what else would I sleep in?" Joe was now turning the color of a brand new fire engine.
"You think I don't know what boxers look like, Joe? I'm not a total moron. At least you don't sleep naked like Matt does." Emily rolled her eyes.
"Hey! I forgot about that!" Joe chuckled.
"Here! If you get cold sleeping without a shirt on, put this on." Emily tossed Joe a shirt out of her bag. It said "Party 4 Ever" on it in big blue letters.
"Thanks, I'll keep it right here." Joe placed it next to his bed.
"You can go ahead and change if you want, Joe. I'm just going to clean out my guitar case. It's been getting kind of cluttered." Emily lifted her guitar case up on to the bed and opened it up.
"Um, ok." Joe walked into the bathroom and pulled off his shirt. I can't believe this! She's sleeping in a T-shirt and boxers, and she's ok with me sleeping in the same room with her while I'm just wearing boxers. Joe folded his clothes and put them in his bag. Then he walked back out.
"If you put your bag by the door, Leomon told me he'd have the maid pick them up and have them cleaned and back to us by tomorrow morning." Emily said without looking up.
Joe picked up his bag and Emily's and hung them outside on the doorknob. Then he shut the door again. "Oh! I just remembered!" Joe opened the door again, grabbed his bag, and pulled out his shorts. He fished around in his pocket until he found Emily's song. He took it out, then put his shorts back in the bag, and the bag back out side. Then he shut the door. "Don't want anything to happen to this."
"What's that Joe?" Emily looked up.
"Oh, just something I like to read." Joe fumbled the paper nervously in his hands.
"Hmmm. I have something like that; something I like to look at." Emily motioned for Joe to come sit down next to her as she pulled out a small notebook. Joe's eyes widened. "Someone gave this to me, along time ago. I've treasured it always." Emily pulled out the cherry-blossom that Joe had given her the day she'd given him her song. "The person who gave this to me was my inspiration to not stop my music. Every time I thought I would quit, I looked at this flower and remembered that somebody had been touched by my music and didn't want me to stop. And in return," Emily looked as though she were in a dream, "I gave him my song. That was the first song I'd ever written, the first time I'd ever poured out my heart into something like that, and I shared my gift with that person."
"My gift to you," Joe whispered as he handed Emily the paper in his hands.
"What's this?" Emily took the paper from Joe and opened it up. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at it. Then she turned to Joe. "It was you? How could forget?"
"Emily," Joe swallowed his fears and reached over and took her hand. He used his other one to close her guitar case and shove it off her bed. "When you gave me that song, you really did give me a gift. When ever I read that, I always felt as though I was being told that I mattered. I was important to someone, even if I hadn't met them yet. It was a gift that always gives, and keeps on giving. That was your gift to me." He looked at the cherry-blossom, "And that was my gift to you."
"My gift to you." Emily whispered as she reached out and ran her fingers down Joe's cheek. Then she leaned forwards and kissed Joe softly on the lips. "You don't know how long I hoped I would see you again." She breathed.
Joe's pulse quickened. He felt himself slowly begin to kiss her back. "And you don't know how long I waited for you." His arms went around Emily's waist, and he felt her arms go around his neck.
They stopped to catch their breath. "I guess Mimi's not the only one." Emily said softly as she kissed Joe again. "She's not the only one who's fallen in love."
"And I guess Izzy isn't the only one either." Joe smiled. He held Emily close to him and sighed. "We'll have to tell the others you know."
"I know. Let's do it tomorrow so it won't be a big surprise to everyone." Emily ran her fingers through Joe's hair. "Joe, what did you do to your hair? It's not all tangled or anything!"
"Oh, I just stuck my head under the faucet of the sink and got my hair wet, then I ran a comb through it." Joe ran a hand through Emily's hair. "Your hair's not tangled either."
"Conditioner and a good brush. It's a good thing I washed my hair before I left. And it's a good thing I brought it all with me." Emily gave a small laugh.
Joe tightened his grip around Emily. "You know what I want right now?"
"What?"
"For some reason," Joe let go of Emily and stood up. "I can't get rid of the fact that I'm starving!"
"Me too! And you know why? Because we never ate!"
"Oh yeah! I was so worried about finding you, that I forgot about eating."
"And was so upset about what Matt told me, that I forgot about eating too! Geeze! I'm starving! Where's the phone? I'm calling room service."
"I want a cheeseburger!" Joe handed Emily the phone.
Emily picked up the receiver and dialed. "Hello? Yeah, could you please put me through to room service? Thanks. Hi? Yeah, this is room E07. I'd like to order some food to have brought up here. Uh huh. Yeah, get something to write all this down on. That's a good idea. Mmhmm. Ok, I need one cheeseburger with," She looked at Joe. "With…"
"Lettuce."
"Lettuce."
"Tomatoes."
"Tomatoes."
"Pickles."
"Pickles."
"Catsup."
"Ketchup."
"Mayo."
"Mayo."
"Mustard."
"Mustard."
"Onions."
"And onions. Got that? Ok. And I also want a plate of spaghetti. Yeah, spaghetti. And give me an order of garlic bread too. Ok. To drink? Uh, I'll have water. And a…"
"Milkshake. Strawberry."
"And a strawberry milkshake. Ok. Uh uh. Uh huuuh. Uh huh? Oh, well that's great! Thanks. In a half an hour? Great. Ok, thanks. Bye." Emily hung up. "Wow."
"What?"
"Well, the person in room service said this meal was no charge. Apparently, our tab is on the house. How weird."
"Well, Izzy said Gennai set this up for us. Or maybe Leomon's letting us stay here for free because he knows us. Or maybe..uh maybe…"
"That's enough Joe. Let's just wait for the food to come ok?"
"Ok. So..."
"So..."
"What should we do while we're waiting?" Joe arched his eyebrow.
"Let me think for a millisecond." Emily paused, then put an arm around Joe. "I don't know. What do you want to do?" A light smile grazed her lips.
"How about," Joe stopped and met her smile with his lips, kissing her gently. Then he stopped and pulled away.
"Woah! Joe, I didn't know you were such a good kisser!" Emily sounded surprised.
"Really? That's the first time I ever tried that." Joe blushed slightly and looked away. "I'm not exactly experienced in this whole romance thing."
"Oh Joe!" Emily sat down on her bed. "There's so much I just wish I could say right now. There's so much that I wish I could do. So much." Emily hugged her knees.
"Then tell me." Joe sat next to her and smoothed her hair behind her shoulders. He leaned forwards and kissed her gently on the cheek, then pulled her closer to him.
Emily relaxed against Joe and rested her head against his shoulder. "Joe, I-" her voice quivered.
"Shh." Joe pressed a finger against Emily's lips. "I want to say something first." Joe took Emily's hand and began tracing a heart in her palm. "Before I met you, I was the one that everyone forgot. I was always alone. My heart was empty. But then, you and Candymon showed up. Emily, I fell in love with you again the minute I saw you.
"I love you. I love the way your eyes always seem to be laughing and how they get this flash of light in them when you've got an idea. I love how you arch your eyebrows when you talk. I love how your lips form that perfect cupid's bow. I love how your whole face lights up when you laugh. I love how the sun and the rain makes your hair glisten. I love...I love," Joe traced his finger down the middle of the face. Down the slope of her nose, down soft slopes of her lips, down her neck. "I love you."
He caressed her cheek and held her face in the palms of his hands. "After we moved, I tried to push you out of my head. I didn't like to remember that I had fallen in love. But I never forgot about you Emily. I tried and tried. And when I thought I had forgotten about you, I felt so empty and alone. You're a part of me. You can't understand how much I-" Joe kissed her lips. He pressed Emily close to him. He could feel his heart racing as Emily slid her arms around his neck. He felt his tongue slowly work its way into her mouth and her tongue slowly push it back. "Love." Joe whispered passionately.
He heard Emily gasp and the kiss was suddenly broken. "I...I..." Emily moved away from Joe.
"Emily! Did I say or do something wrong?" Joe was hurt and puzzled at the same time.
"No Joe, it's not you. It's just...just...Greg...he-" Emily stopped and looked away.
"He was someone that you loved and then he turned out to be a super villain?"
Emily shuddered and nodded. "He broke Godiva's heart and mine. There's this feeling in me now. This suspicion. It's afraid you'll hurt me some how."
"Emily, I'd never do anything to hurt you." Joe put his arm gently around Emily. "Never."
"I want to believe you Joe. I really want to."
"Then do it!"
"I can't!" Emily cried. "I'm afraid! There's so much going on right now, Joe. The guardian's being stolen, my not being able to transform, GAG capturing digimon, having to find my crest..." Emily's voice trailed off. "It's all so much. I don't know how to handle it all at once! What if you ended up hurting me Joe? Then everything would just be to much."
"Emily, look at me!" Joe slid off the bed and kneeled down in front of her. "I just confessed my love for you. I listed all the things I love about you. I've kept the song you wrote for four years and you kept the flower I gave you. What more do you want? For me to handcuff myself to you? For me to cut off my hand for you? What? Haven't you heard enough to know how wonderful I think you are? Doesn't that help you know how much I love you?" He grasped her hand tightly. Emily looked away and her eyes clouded as she thought. "Well?"
Emily closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, then she sighed.
"Well?" Joe held her hand tighter.
"Yes Joe, that's perfect." Emily opened her eyes. "You've done all you can to let me know. I know that you love me Joe. And I know now that I love you as strong as you love me." She looked at Joe. "I love you too."
"Hurry up you guys!" Tai grabbed Sora and Kari's hands and dragged them into the elevator.
"Tai! Where are we going?" Sora laughed as Tai hurriedly pushed the buttons and bounced around impatiently as he waited for the doors to close.
"Yeah Tai! First you wake us up at what ever time it is! Then you make us call Mimi and Izzy and tell then to meet us on the 5th floor! What gives?" Kari punched her brother in the leg.
"You'll see!" Tai snickered as they stepped out of the elevator to meet a sneering Matt, a sleepy eyed TK, a baggy eyed Izzy, and a frizzy haired Mimi.
"Tai! What's this all about! I need my beauty sleep you know!" Mimi began complaining as soon as she saw Tai.
"Chill out Mimi! Me and Tai wanna show you guys something!" Matt looked at Tai, then he and Tai giggled.
Tai turned to face everyone, then cleared his throat. "What you're about to see may shock you. So before I-"
"Just get to the point Tai!" Sora yawned.
"Hey! Why are we in front of Joe and Emily's room?" Everyone glanced at the door number after hearing TK's observation.
"Which leads me to my point!" Tai exclaimed triumphantly. "Matt and I were in the weight room earlier, when-"
"The weight room? What were you doing? Getting rid of your abbs of flab?"
Tai sighed, "When Joe came in. He told us that he found Emily in the garden and that she wasn't going to stop being one of us. Then, he left. After a while, Matt and I got tried of-"
"Of pretending to work out?"
Tai held a fist out at Kari. "We got tired of lifting, so we decided to take the stairs back to our room for exercise. Well, we got so caught up in climbing the stairs, that we forgot to go to our rooms, and we ended up on the 5th floor. We decided to stop by and visit Joe and Emily, but, when we knocked on the door, no one answered. Matt and I were about to bang on the door, when we discovered that it wasn't locked. We walked in and, well, see for your selves!" Tai pushed the door open to reveal Joe and Emily's room. It was obvious by the plates and glasses, that they had ordered room service. But the real shocker was what everyone saw next. Emily and Joe lay asleep together. Emily was in Joe's arms, snuggled against him. Both of them were smiling.
"Aaaaaaaw!" Tk and Kari couldn't help awing at the two.
"Well, I guess Mimi and Izzy have got company." Matt slapped Izzy on the back.
"So...tired. Shouldn't...have...stayed...up...on the...Internet...Mimi...I'm...Zzzzzz" There was a thud as Izzy collapsed on the floor, asleep.
"Oh Izzy!" Mimi yawned. Then she picked up Izzy and dragged him off by the arms. " 'night everyone! See you in the morning!" She dragged Izzy into the elevator and the doors shut behind her. "Shh, Izzy. Mimi's here."
"Tai?" Kari tugged at Tai's sleeve.
"What is it Kari?" Tai shut the door to Joe and Emily's room. Neither of them stirred.
"Were Emily and Joe the reason you woke us up?"
"Well, yeah I guess so."
"That's it?" Kari arched her eyebrows.
"Well, um, yeah!" Tai didn't like the tone of Kari's voice. He braced himself for her response.
"You woke us up to show us Joe and Emily? You woke us up for that? Tai! I was dreaming about My Little Ponies!" Kari gave Tai and charlie horse and stormed off, with Sora and TK, into the elevator; leaving Tai rolling in pain on the ground.
"Matt!" TK called over his shoulder, "I'm spending the night with Sora and Kari ok?"
"I guess so." Apparently, Matt didn't' think it was odd for TK to be sleeping in a room filled with girls. He directed his attention to the groaning Tai. "Man, I can't believe your own sister floored you!"
"Oh, just be quiet and help me up!" Tai glared up at Matt as he struggled to stand.
"Tai got floored by his sister. Tai got floored by his sister. Tai got floored by-"
"Are you gonna help me up or not?"
The next day, at breakfast, Joe and Emily glanced at each other and smiled. "Everyone, I've got some, uh, good news." Joe stood up. "Emily and I have-"
"We know."
"You do?" Joe turned to Mimi who had spoken. "but how did you...?"
"You left your door unlocked last night, and when Tai and I went to visit you, we saw you two asleep." Matt said smugly. Tai shrunk into his seat.
"Oh, I see." Emily looked at the two boys. Joe tensed himself, waiting for her to yell at them for spying. Instead, she smiled and said "Well, I guess I'm glad that you got that out of our way then. Thanks Tai."
"Me?" Tai's eyes widened.
"Yeah. Gomamon heard the whole thing last night that happened in the hall. He told me you brought everyone in front of our room."
"Oh, well, ummm..." Tai and Matt blushed. "We just thought the sight of you and Joe together was so cute that we needed everyone to see you guys too!"
"Nice save," Matt muttered.
"You and Joe hooked up, Emily? Way to go!" Candymon hugged Emily.
"All right Joe! I told you it would happen!" Gomamon did his best to give Joe a high-five with his flipper.
"Wow! This is great! I'm so happy for all of you!" Sora put one arm around Joe and Emily and her other arm around Mimi and Izzy. "Can't you just feel the love you guys?"
"All I can feel is Sora getting all emotional." Tai said through his teeth. Then, "Yeah, Sora. It's great."
"Well," Mimi looked around, "Unless anyone else has a secret to tell, I think we should enjoy rest of our stay here. Anyone care to join me in the beauty spa for a massage?"
"Oh, I'm going to hate to leave!" Sora sighed as she and Tai sat together in the garden. It was their last night at the Digimon Hotel, and all the couples had decided to hang out in the garden together for a while. Tai and Sora were sitting together, even though they hadn't said anything about being together. Joe and Emily sat together next to the fountain. Izzy and Mimi were sitting under a willow tree, next to the lake. TK and Kari were skipping rocks on the lake, despite Mimi's complaints that they were getting pond scum on her. Only Matt sat alone, reading an issue of Hot Rod that he'd brought with him.
"Joe?" Emily looked into Joe's eyes.
"What is it Emily?"
"Look around us Joe. Look at how beautiful it is." She motioned to everyone. "I just feel so good knowing how everyone's together in some way. Look at it."
Joe looked. Sora was drawing a flower on Tai's hand. TK was offering Kari some of his soda. Izzy was braiding Mimi's hair for her. "It's beautiful all right, Emily. But it seems like there's something missing in it all."
Emil looked at Matt. "Him. He's alone."
"What?" He followed Emily's gaze. "So? Matt always is like that unless TK's around."
"But it's his...well....his music, Joe."
"Music?" Joe was getting confused.
"Well, Joe, one of the side effects of Godiva's powers in me, is that I've developed a different kind of empathy. Instead of feeling what a person's feeling, I hear what they're feeling. Everyone has a song in them, Joe. I know because I can hear them. The song's effected by the feelings. I can hear Matt's song. It's so sad, alone."
"What's it like, Emily?" The look in Emily's eyes caused Joe to put his arm around her.
"It's so lonely, Joe. It's like a single instrument playing by itself, then it gets joined my another one, then it's alone again. And when it's alone, it's so sad." Emily's eyes watered. "It's like his song is completely surrounding him, like a barrier. He feels like he's surrounded by loneliness. It's just so- Huh?" Emily looked down. Her tag had begun to glow and suddenly, there was a flash. Emily looked at the fountain, and the blue waters in it began to swirls together in the center of it. Then, the blue was suddenly sucked out of the water so that it was more like a blue mist. The mist floated through the air and swirled through a green wind chime that hung from a tree causing the notes to ring through the air. Then it stopped in front of Emily and turned into a crest. The crest slipped into her tag and was set in place.
"Emily!" Everyone came running to her.
"Emily! You've found your crest!" Sora hugged Emily.
"More like it found me." Emily examined her crest. It was a line that looked like it had been folded in half so that the ends wound upwards around each other, connection into a heart at the top. Two rays came out from each side of the heart, and there was a small star in the center of the heart. It had an aqua blue tinge to it.
"So, Emily. What's you crest?" Matt had joined them.
Emily looked at Matt thoughtfully for a second, then said, "The Crest of Music."