Okay-chapter 3 is up and running. Yee haw! Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of the digidestined. Please don't sue. Please R&R. I'd like some kind of feedback. ANY feedback. Please, please, please, please. Oh, great. Now I'm begging-I hope that you're satisfied. (sniff sniff) Finally, a little romance and flirting! (Yes, there will be a bit of a love triangle-expect LOTS of angst in future chapters-for some reason I like writing angst-bizarre).
"Any sign of Lynn yet?" Yolei asked as she peered down the hallway outside of the principal's office.
"Not yet." Kari sighed. "I was hoping that we'd be able to catch her before we had lunch. At least this way she could eat with someone she knows."
"We don't even know if Lynn's even in there. She could be in class." Davis suggested.
"Davis, it's lunchtime, dude. Who's in a class during lunch?" TK rolled his eyes.
"Oh, right. Guess that is kinda dumb."
"Kinda dumb? How about really dumb?" Yolei laughed.
"Well, if we don't leave for the cafeteria now, we'll have to scarf down our food." Kari said with a sigh-turning to leave.
"This stinks! We're going to have to go to the digital world after school, so we won't be able to walk home with her. She's probably going to think we abandoned her or something." Yolei sighed as they left.
"I doubt she will think that. Besides, we can always stop by after we come back." Cody said.
"It still stinks, though." Yolei pouted.
"It's weird, you know. We've had lots of new kids at school...why are all of us so concerned about being friends with Lynn?" Cody wondered out loud.
"Maybe because she's from America? It's a totally different culture over here. It would be like being in the digital world without a digimon-there's no one to guide you." TK shrugged his shoulders.
They waked into the cafeteria and sat down at the closest available table-pulling their lunch out of their backpacks. Yolei scanned the crowd. "Hey! It's Lynn!"
"It sure is-she's sitting with Izzy and Sora. I guess Izzy found her before we could. Let's go sit with them." Kari picked up her food and they all walked over to where the trio was sitting.
"Hi, everyone! Guess who I found wandering around looking completely bewildered." Izzy said with a smile.
"That would be me." Lynn raised her hand. "Thank goodness, I ran into Izzy or I think I'd still be wandering around."
"How'd everything go in the principal's office?" Cody asked-sitting next to Lynn.
"Pretty good. They're going to order some English textbooks for me. I'll be able to take my tests in English, until I get used to Japanese kanji. I'm even allowed to take a tape recorder with me to class so I can record lectures and translate them later. It's basically overwhelming, but Izzy and Sora have offered to help. I get to have an extra elective because I already speak English-so I guess things aren't too bad." Lynn grinned.
"We were hoping to find you earlier." Yolei said. "We have some things we have to do after school and didn't want you to think we forgot about you."
"It's alright. You can't change your schedule for one person. Besides, plenty of people have been helpful. I met your brother, Kari. He helped my father and I find the principal's office."
"Yeah, I told Tai to be on the lookout for you." Kari smiled. "It's nice to know he's actually good for something."
"It was a little weird having a stranger walk up to you and already know who you are, but I appreciated it."
"So, what's your schedule like?" Davis asked between gulps of food.
"Here." Lynn took a piece of paper out of her bag and handed it to him.
"Cool! We have the same biology class. You can sit next to me."
"Just don't let him copy off of your tests." Sora whispered into Lynn's ear.
"I heard that!"
"You did a pretty good job of dissecting that frog." Davis said as they left the biology lab. "Most girls I know are too squeamish about things like that."
"Yeah, well most guys I know don't faint at the sight of frog guts." Lynn laughed.
"You're not going to tell Kari are you?" Davis almost panicked. Lynn laughed.
"I won't tell as long as you tell me where I can find the auditorium. I have chorus next. Last class off the day-thank goodness."
"Oh, that's easy to find. Go down this hallway then take a left. Go downstairs and turn right. The auditorium is through the double glass doors."
"Got it. See you later, Davis!"
"See ya!" Davis turned to walk away when he noticed that Lynn had dropped her Japanese/English dictionary. "Hey wait up!" But Lynn had already disappeared. "Oh well, I'll give it back to her later." Davis said, sticking the small dictionary in his pocket.
Lynn opened the doors to the auditorium and let her eyes adjust to the light. A bunch of students were already sitting on risers that were on the stage. Lynn took a deep breath and walked down the aisle towards the stage. The chorus teacher took a long look at her and sighed.
"Are you the transfer student from America?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Lynn Morgan."
"I hope you have a good singing voice. I have spent all year perfecting the sound of this group and here comes some outsider that could wreck the entire balance. Normally you have to audition at the beginning of the school year to be in this class, but apparently the principal feels it doesn't apply to you Americans. Now, go stand over by the piano. I want to test your range."
"Yes, ma'am." Lynn's face blushed bright red. All of her other teachers had been so nice to her. No one had called her an outsider. Much less made fun of her because she was an American. What if she wasn't good enough for this chorus? Would she have to find another class to be in?
"Now, I'm going to play some scales-sing the notes you hear." The teacher sat at the piano and played a scale. Lynn cleared her throat and tried to sing, but it came out as a squeak. Some of the students snickered. Lynn glanced at them-all eyes were on her. No pressure. Yeah, right.
"Again!" Lynn closed here eyes. She had every right to be here. Her father was a music fanatic and her mother had been a professional opera singer. Music was in her blood. Lynn let herself go and sang the scales as if they were the most important opera aria ever written. The teacher kept making the scales more difficult-soon they weren't even scales but melodies. But Lynn managed to keep up with her. When the teacher was done-there was complete silence then thunderous applause. Lynn opened her eyes and smiled a little. The other students were smiling back. One boy in particular looked almost thrilled. He had blonde hair and blue eyes-very cute. Lynn risked a glance over to the teacher who actually looked pleasantly surprised. "So, the American can sing. I may have a use for you after all. Go stand in the middle somewhere. We're practicing control today. I'll give you the sheet music for the song's we're working on later."
"Yes, ma'am." Lynn walked up to the stage. The blonde reached a hand down to help her up.
"There goes Ishida, the ladies man!" One of the boys said, elbowing the boy next to him.
"You know he always has a thing for singers."
"Ishida? Are you TK's brother?" Lynn asked.
"Yeah, I'm Matt. TK told me to be on the lookout for you in case you needed help with anything."
"I could use a little help diffusing the ogre of a teacher over there. Is she always like that?"
"Ms. Yamaguchi? Only if she feels threatened."
"Threatened?"
"She doesn't like it when someone prettier than her comes into her chorus. She feels it distracts the boys' attention from her." Matt winked at her. Lynn felt her face flush.
"Mr. Ishida, Ms. Morgan, I'm sorry to break up your little chat, but can we start class now?"
"Yes, ma'am." Matt said, grinning.
"Sorry, ma'am." Lynn smiled.
"Let's get started..."
"Hey, can I walk you home? I need to drop something off for my mom-and since you live in the same building..." Matt asked as Lynn grabbed her backpack.
"Sure." They walked up the aisle out of the auditorium.
"Way to go, Ishida!" One of the boys yelled as they walked out.
"Shut up, Haruto!" Matt blushed.
"So, you have a reputation as a ladies man?" Lynn laughed. "Is it true?"
"Yes and no. Yeah, I do have some girls that flock around me, but most of them are total bimbo's. There's one in particular. She's Davis's sister-the girl doesn't have a brain cell in her entire head."
"Oh, come on. You must love the attention."
"Not really. Listen. I know this is going to sound like a major pick-up line-but I have this band and..."
"Isn't a little too early to ask if I want to be a groupie?" Lynn laughed.
"Um, actually, I was wondering if you might be interested in coming to practice with me Friday night. I think you'd be a pretty good addition to the group. Of course, I'd have to get everyone else's approval, but I'm sure they'd let you in as soon as you sing one note. Even though you are a girl."
"You want me to be in the band?" Lynn stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Yes."
"Isn't that going to ruin your boy group image? I mean, what would your fans think? Oh, Matt! You've broken the hearts of millions of girls!" Lynn feigned a fainting spell.
"Very funny. I'm serious. Would you consider it?"
"I'll have to run it by my father. He has ambitions of me being a doctor or something. Besides, I don't know if I want to be subjected to all that testosterone!" Lynn laughed as Matt pretended to swat her.
"Ken, do you mind if we don't go to the digital world today? I think I've come down with a cold." Leafmon said, sneezing.
"Okay, buddy." Ken said, wrapping Leafmon up in his blanket. "I'll just e-mail the others so they don't wait around for me."
Sorry guys, but I won't be able to make it today. Leafmon's got a pretty nasty cold and I don't want him to get worse. I'll let you know when he's feeling better-Ken.
"I really am sorry about this, Ken." Leafmon sneezed again.
"Don't worry about it. All their doing is cleaning up the remains of the control spires. I still can't believe that we're still cleaning up the mess I made all those years ago."
"It wasn't your fault, Ken. I know that everyone in the digital world has forgiven you-why haven't you forgiven yourself yet?"
"I've tried Leafmon, I really have. There's just something that feels left unfinished. Something I haven't fully atoned for yet."
"What else could there be?" Leafmon asked.
"I don't know. But it still feels like something's missing. Am I making any sense?" Ken turned to his digimon.
"Kinda. But then, I always have had a hard time understanding humans." Leafmon giggled-then sneezed.
"Get some rest. I'm going to go take a walk, or something."
"Why don't you go see Lynn?" Leafmon said conspiratorially. "This will give you a chance to talk to her without the other boys around."
"Are you playing matchmaker?" Ken laughed as he shut his bedroom door.
"Maybe." Leafmon yelled after him. The tiny digimon snuggled into the covers. "If what Poromon says is true-she might be just what he needs."
"I wonder what made me come here?" Ken said as he stared up at the building TK, Cody, Yolei and Lynn lived in. "Maybe Leafmon has some latent power of suggestion. Oh well, since I'm here, I might as well see how her first day went."
Ken rang the button on the elevator and went up to the third floor. He was about to knock on her door when it opened. He was surprised to see Matt standing there. Matt looked just as surprised.
"Hi, Matt. Did I get the wrong apartment?" Ken was sure this was Lynn's apartment.
"I think Cody is in the digital world." Matt whispered.
"I'm not looking for Cody. I was stopping by to see Lynn."
"Ken? Is that you? Come on in. Matt was kind enough to walk me home." Lynn's eyes sparkled. Ken stepped into the entryway.
"Um, am I interrupting anything?" Ken fidgeted. Matt always made Ken nervous for some reason.
"No. I was just about to go drop something off for my mom. I'll see you tomorrow, Lynn!" Matt winked at her.
"You are what my friends in America would call a player, Matt!" Lynn's laughter followed Matt as he shut the door, leaving Ken and Lynn facing each other.
"I was taking a walk to get some fresh air and found myself in front of your building, so I thought I'd come up and see how your first day at school was."
"Come and sit down with me." Lynn said as she sunk into an overstuffed chair. Ken sat down on part of the couch farthest away from her. "I won't bite. I promise--unless you like that sort of thing." Ken's eyes widened and he starting turning flame red. "I'm sorry. I offended you. I'm still acting like I was around Matt. He's fun to flirt with because he doesn't take it seriously. I really am sorry." Lynn stammered out an apology.
"No, it's okay. I just haven't had very many girls flirt with me."
"I find that rather hard to believe. From what Yolei has told me about you-you're pretty popular."
"Well, there's a difference between having girls throw themselves at you and flirting."
"Ah, yes. Subtlety. I get it. Anyway, things actually went better than I had anticipated. Although, my brain is still reeling with shock-the homework alone is giving me a headache. Thank goodness I ran into some familiar faces today, or I'd be a basket case right now. I'm definitely going to take you up on that tutoring offer of teaching me Japanese."
"You seem to be doing just fine."
"Speaking, yes. But I've got a long way to go with kanji. I just hope you know what you've gotten yourself into by volunteering to help out."
"I don't mind." Ken smiled. Lynn smiled back. "So what do you think of the group?"
"I really like everyone. Kari is so sweet. TK's got a really wicked sense of humor. Yolei is just plain crazy, but in a good way. Cody I haven't exactly figured out yet, but I swear he's a thirty year old trapped in a teenager's body. Davis is a nut case too-he had me cracking up in Biology today. Izzy is pretty cool-he's offered to help me if I need to do anything on the computer. I didn't get to talk to Sora and Tai too much-but they both seem nice. Matt's a terrible flirt, but I think he's got a good heart. And then there's you."
"And?"
"Now, what would be the fun if I told you?" Lynn grinned.
"Okay, I won't help you with your kanji." Ken grinned back.
"You wouldn't!"
"I would."
"Okay, I'll tell you. I haven't formed a full opinion of you yet, but I know I like you. Fair enough?"
"I'll take what I can get."
"Think you can handle it? I'm sorry-there I go again. I'm beginning to think that Matt's going to be a bad influence on me." Lynn shook her head-a silly grin on her face.
"How about I take a look at your homework assignments. I could help you translate." Ken fidgeted. The way she was talking about Matt was upsetting him. He couldn't figure out why. Then he realized what it was. The look that crossed her face was the same look that Yolei had whenever Izzy was around. It was the same look Tai gave Sora when he thought no one was looking. If Lynn was this infatuated with Matt already, what chance did he have?
"That would be great! Give me just a second-I'll be right back." Lynn ran into her room and grabbed her backpack. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. There must be some way that I can pay you back."
"Well, you did offer to tutor me in English."
"It seems like your getting the short end of the stick, though." Lynn laughed as she sat down by him on the couch.
"You haven't heard me try to speak English yet." Ken smiled weakly. What is wrong with me? He thought. I just met her, it's not like I can be in love already.
"I am ready to be taught honorable sensei." Lynn bowed her head.
"Okay, grasshopper. Let's tackle biology first." Ken laughed. "Pun intended." Better not to worry about Matt. After all, I'm the one she's studying with. Besides, I'm feeling more at east with her. Maybe I can get her to warm up to me more.
Meanwhile...in the digital world....
"Well, there's one more control spire completely gone." Exveemon said, dusting off his hands.
"Yeah, and only about 50 million more to go." Davis sighed.
"At least they're not active anymore. It's just a matter of cleaning them up now." Kari said on Nephertimon's back. "Pretty soon you won't even be able to tell that they were even here. The digital world can finally get back to normal."
Just then there was a flash of light in the distance. A column of light rose from the ground to the sky
"Do you see that?" Yolei said-pointing in the direction of the light.
"I sure do." TK said.
"Let's go check it out!" Davis shouted as Exveemon picked up him up.
"I hope I didn't speak too soon about things getting back to normal." Kari sighed as they left.
"It looks like it's coming from Primary Village." Cody said as they got closer.
"I hope nothing's happened to the baby digimon." Yolei crossed her fingers.
"I'm sure they're fine. There's lots of grown digimon in the area that take care of them. And Tentomon is patrolling that area. Izzy would have e-mailed us if something bad had happened." Kari said.
Just then TK's D-3 went off. "It's a message from Izzy. He says that some weird digi-egg just appeared in the middle of that column of light."
"Don't digi-egg's normally appear at Primary Village?" Yolei asked.
"Yes, but usually not this spectacularly." Halsemon said over his shoulder.
"Wizardmon once told me that this happened once before. When she was born." Nephertimon said.
"Who's she?" Kari asked her digimon.
"One of the guardians of the digital world."
"The digital world has guardians?" Davis asked.
"Hey! Kind of like what Joe's brother and Sora's father told me about? There's four guardian gods. Suzaku, Byakko, Seiryu, and Genbu." Yolei said
"Something like that." Nephertimon said-as they landed just outside Primary Village. All of the digimon de-evolved to their rookie forms. "In the digital world, there is a guardian of the sea, a guardian of the air, a guardian of the land and a guardian of the heart. Umimon, Kuukimon, Rikumon, and Kokoromon Kokoromon disappeared about three years ago. Since then, there has been a kind of unbalance in the digital world-the other digital guardians have tried to maintain the balance, but it's slowly coming undone. Their power is diminishing and without Kokoromon, the balance may come undone."
"Why didn't you tell all of this earlier, Gatomon?" Kari asked.
"It never seemed important. Guardians are kind of solitary. Besides, it's not unusual for them to not be seen for long periods of time. Guardian's aren't re-born as quickly as us regular digimon are. This pillar of light can only mean one thing. Kokoromon was killed-and she's finally felt a connection strong enough to someone to re-appear."
"But why would she re-appear now?" TK asked Patamon, who was sitting on top of his head. "I mean, we've been in the digital world almost every day now for years. What's changed?"
"I wish I knew." Patamon said, shaking his head.
"I think we're getting closer to the digi-egg." Armadillomon said as they reached the center of Primary Village. A circle of baby digimon had formed on the outskirts of the column of light. Armadillomon started running towards the light.
"Hey! Wait up! We don't know if it's safe or not!" Cody yelled, running after his digimon.
"Hawkmon! Not you too!" Yolei shouted at her digimon-who took off flying as soon as Armadillomon did.
"Gatomon!"
"Patamon, come back!"
"Veemon, slow down buddy!"
"It's like they're possessed or something." Cody said, running after his digimon partner. They all stopped just outside the circle of baby digimon. "I've never seem anything like this."
"Look guys! I can see the digi-egg. It's got some kind of weird symbol on it." Davis said-peering at the egg.
"I can't make it out." TK said trying to get a closer look without stepping on any of the tiny digimon that were now jumping up and down excitedly.
"It looks like-two people hugging?" Kari wondered.
"It's the symbol of forgiveness." A familiar voice came from behind them.
"Tentomon? You're here too?" Cody asked.
"It's the strangest thing. It's like I just have to be here." Tentomon said, scratching his head. "I haven't felt a force this powerful since I put too much hot sauce on a taco."
"The symbol of forgiveness." Kari murmured.
"Any idea on why this is happening now?" Cody asked Tentomon.
"I really don't have any idea. You didn't do anything differently today, did you?"
"I can't think of anything." Yolei said, scratching her head. "Ken said Wormmon wasn't feeling too good so he didn't come today-but we've come here without members of our team before. No strange pillars of light formed then."
"There's got to be something different about today." Tentomon said. "Maybe someone new came to the digital world? I'll ask Agumon, Gabumon and the others if they've seen or heard anything out of the ordinary." With that, Tentomon flew off.
"I wonder if one of us is meant to have this thing?" TK walked closer to the light, reaching out a hand towards the digi-egg. "Ouch!"
"What happened?" Cody asked.
"It shocked me!" TK said, looking at his finger as a blister started forming on it. "I guess that means I'm not the person the guardian was looking for."
"Well, let me give it a try." Yolei said. Same thing happened to her. "You know, it could just say "no" or something like that-does it really have to be this painful?" Kari and Cody both ended up being shocked also. Davis walked up and hesitantly put his hand out. Nothing happened.
"Hey, cool." Davis smiled. He tried to grab the egg, but it kept moving out of reach. "What gives?" Davis said, trying to grab the egg again.
"I guess you're not meant to have it either." Veemon said, laughing at Davis' antics.
"But why is he able to at least get inside the light?" Yolei asked, her burned finger in her mouth.
"Let's head back home and see if Izzy has any ideas." Kari said. "I know I'm stumped. Besides, it's getting late."
"Let's head home gang!" Davis said, placing his D-3 next to the computer screen in Primary Village.
"Ooof! Get off of me!" Izzy said, trying to disentangle himself from digidestined and digimon.
"If you know we're going to be coming through here, why don't you move?" Davis asked.
"Because I was typing an e-mail to the other digidestined that I've kept in contact with worldwide trying to see what set off that phenomenon today. You all came falling out of the screen before I had a change to move."
"Any ideas?" Yolei asked.
"Nothing solid so far." Izzy said, staring at the computer screen. "Look! It's gone now!"
"It sure is." Kari said, peering over Izzy's shoulder. "Do you think whatever was causing the light to form has left the digital world?"
"Possibly. I think it has something to do with you guys. The timing of the light disappearing and your coming back from the digi-world is too coincidental. Something about you five has brought Kokoromon back. And when you left-so did the guardian. Fascinating." Izzy said, eyes shining with excitement.
"All of this is giving me a headache." Cody said, rubbing his temples. "I just can't seem to find the missing link."
"Maybe some food would help." Upamon said, jumping up into Cody's arms. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"
"Let's go try out that new burger place near where we live." TK said, picking Patamon up. "I hear they make a pretty wicked eel burger."
"Eel?" Poromon asked excitedly. "I'm in!"
"Let's get Lynn on the way." Yolei said, putting her digimon in her backpack. "I want to ask her how her day went."
"That means we won't be able to eat with you, will it?" Gatomon sighed. "Just bright us back some food."
"Sorry, guys. When the time is right, we'll introduce you to Lynn. Just be a little patient with us, please?" Kari asked.
"Okay." The digimon nodded.
"Hey, Matt. I didn't expect to see you here." TK said, as he came inside his apartment to get some money and drop off the digimon.
"I had to give mom a copy of my contract with the band-she's going to have a lawyer friend of hers go over it and I thought I'd stay just to see how you were doing. You guys just now getting back?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, we're going to kidnap Lynn from unpacking and grab something to eat."
"Count me in. I just need to grab something real quick." Matt smiled and ran downstairs.
A knock sounded on Lynn's door. Ken and Lynn both looked up at the same time. "Looks like we've got company." Lynn said, getting up and stretching. "The door's unlocked. Come on in."
"Hey, Lynn!" Yolei said, as she opened the door. "We were wondering if you were hungry. A bunch of us are going out for burgers. Hey, Ken! What are you doing here?"
"Helping out a damsel in distress." Ken said, pointing to the homework that was strewn all over the coffee table.
"Ugh. Don't remind me. I haven't even started mine yet." Yolei made a gagging gesture. "So, you want to come with us?"
"Who's going?" Ken asked.
"The whole crew-Cody, Davis, Kari, TK, Izzy and of course, me."
"Sounds like fun. Just let me call my mom and let her know I won't be home for dinner. Is it okay if I use your phone?" Ken asked Lynn.
"Go right on ahead."
"So, how was the first day?"
"Not too bad. Although, I did have a pretty bad run-in with the chorus teacher from an alien planet."
"You mean Ms. Yamaguchi? I've heard horror stories about her."
"I can assure you-so far they seem to be true. I don't know what I would have done if Matt hadn't assured me that it wasn't anything personal."
"Matt's in your class? That's cool. Sorry I couldn't walk home with you, but we had some stuff to take care of."
"Don't worry about it. Matt was kind enough to walk me home."
"Really?" Yolei's eyes sparkled with delight. "You're not giving me details-details! I want a full report!"
"There's not much to report. He's a nice guy and I think we're going to be friends. He's fun to flirt with, but I'm not going to take it that seriously." Lynn smiled. "Besides, I don't believe in love at first sight."
"Ah, you're no fun." Yolei laughed.
"You ladies ready to go?" Ken said, hanging up the phone.
"Let me leave a note for my dad just in case he comes home while I'm gone." Lynn said jotting down a quick memo on the dry erase board by the door.
"Let's go!" Yolei said, grabbing Lynn's arm and steering her out the door. "We're trying out this new burger place...we've heard some good things about it." Ken followed them out. Lynn turned to lock the door, when she turned back around she found a bouquet of daisies in front of her, with Matt smiling behind them.
"Oh, Matt! That's so sweet!"
"Think of this as a bribe." Matt laughed. "I'm not letting you get out of Friday night that easily."
"Friday...night...?" Ken turned to Lynn, a bewildered and hurt look on his face.
"Matt has this hair-brained idea that I would be a good addition to his band." Lynn smiled, as she smelled the daisies. "I still haven't decided."
"That would be so cool!" Kari said.
"Yeah, Matt. You'd actually have some talent in your band!" TK laughed, then ducked as his brother tried to get him in a headlock.
"Shows how little you know." Matt glowered at his little brother. "We've gotten even better since the last time you heard us."
"Well, there's no way you could have gotten worse." Izzy grinned as he ducked a half-hearted punch from Matt. Lynn was practically doubled over laughing.
"Come on! I'm practically starving over here!" Davis groaned, grabbing his stomach.
"Yeah, I see you wasting away to nothing." Cody teased. The group walked down the stairs. Ken held back a little as they started walking down the street.
"Ken? What's wrong?" Lynn stopped and turned to face him.
"Nothing. I just lost my appetite. That's all."
"Oh. Well, you'll come to keep us company, won't you?"
"I think it might be best if I just go home."
"Are you coming or not?" Davis yelled to them.
"Give us a minute!" Lynn hollered back, then turned back to Ken.
"Ken? I'd really like it if you came with us, but if you're not feeling well..." Lynn looked at him with concern.
"I'm sorry, Lynn. I'm afraid I'm not going to be very good company tonight." Ken sighed.
"I...I...see. Well, when can we get together again?"
"I'll have to see. I do have other things to do."
"I never said you didn't. Have I offended you or something? It's just that I had a lot of fun this afternoon-and I thought you did too."
"I did. I just..."
"Just what?"
"Look, I really don't feel like having this conversation now. Look, I'll stop by tomorrow if I can."
"Okay. I hope you feel better." Lynn said handing him one of the daisies from her bouquet. Then she did something Ken wasn't expecting-she gave him a hug. "I'll tell the others you starting feeling ill." Lynn turned away and starting walking towards the group, leaving Ken standing there-wondering if he was doing the right thing by leaving Lynn "alone" with Matt.
"I cannot believe you didn't tell me this was eel!" Lynn said as she swallowed the rest of her soda. "I think I'm going to be sick!"
"You weren't complaining when you were eating it!" Matt laughed as she glowered at him.
"Yeah, well that was then. This is now!"
"Hey, if you don't want the rest of it-I'll take it!" Davis said, reaching across to her plate.
"You're welcome to it."
"I told you not to trust Matt to order for you." TK snickered.
"Lesson learned." Lynn said reaching for a french fry. "Um, these are made with potatoes right?"
"They're safe." Kari said, trying to hide back a smile. "I don't think I've seen anyone turn that shade of green in a long time."
"I almost feel bad about it. Almost." Matt winked at Lynn.
"Very funny, Matt. Just remember-payback is hell."
"Thou hast wounded me, fair maiden." Matt put a hand over his heart.
"Whatever." Lynn said, eating a fry.
"Did Ken help you with your homework?" Cody asked, slurping his milkshake.
"Yeah. He made up some flashcards for me so I can memorize kanji. I guess it's easy for people who have been around it all their life, but it's so confusing."
"You'll get better at it." Izzy said. "It just takes practice."
"I hope he feels better." Yolei said. "It was strange how he decided not to go. He looked like he was looking forward to going out to eat with us."
"Yeah." Lynn said quietly.
"Look at the time!" Izzy said, looking at the clock on the restaurant wall. "I still have to type up a paper for World History. I'd better get going." Izzy stood up. "I'll see all of you tomorrow."
"Bye, Izzy."
"I guess I'd better get going too." Kari said; picking up the take-out bag she had gotten for the digimon.
"I'll walk you home, Kari." Davis said, shoving the rest of the eel burger in his mouth.
"She has to stop by my place to pick up her things, remember?" TK sighed.
"Well, I guess that's it for tonight. I have a ton of homework to do." Yolei said, stretching.
"I promised Grandpa that I would practice kendo for at least an hour today. I'd better get going too." Cody said standing up.
"I'll walk back with you guys." Matt said. "Besides, I still haven't gotten an answer from Lynn if she's willing to join my band or not."
"Keep dreaming, Ishida." Lynn said-throwing away her trash. "You've got a lot to make up to me because of that eel burger!"
"Ah, well. Tomorrow is another day." Matt laughed as they all left.
"So." Matt said as they stood outside Lynn's door.
"So." Lynn said back.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Come on-you know what." Matt folded his arms across his chest.
"Alright, already. Let me see if it's okay with my dad. I'll let you know tomorrow."
"Excellent." Matt smiled. "See ya."
"Goodnight, Matt." Lynn shook her head as she opened the door.
"Hey, kiddo! Apparently, you must've had a pretty good day if you already made friends to go out to dinner with." Lynn's father was sitting at the kitchen table-paperwork spread out all over it.
"Hey, dad." Lynn gave her father a hug. "School was pretty mind-boggling, but I think it's going to be okay. I have a lot of new friends-so life is pretty good." Lynn grinned.
"That's good to hear. I know it's going to be tough, kiddo. But we're both in this together. I'm just glad to see your smile actually reaching your eyes again."
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Lynn sighed-sinking into the chair next to her father.
"So, tell me about your friends."
"I don't know what I would have done today without them..." Lynn started talking about her day to her father.
"A band? Are you sure you're ready to start singing out in public again?" Her father's eyes opened in surprise.
"Yeah, dad. I think it's about time. Who knows? It might even build character." Lynn smiled.
"Well, if you want my blessing, kiddo. Go right on ahead. You know? Your mother would be very proud of you." He tousled Lynn's hair.
"I know, dad. I know." Lynn sighed as she stood up to go to her room.
Her father stared as she left. He let out a long sigh. "I just wish she would stop beating herself up over your death, Marie. But I guess it is hard to forgive yourself when you blame yourself for someone's death." He rubbed his eyes and turned his attention back to his work.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Davis said, picking Demiveemon up and putting him in his pocket.
"What's this?" Veemon said, pulling a book out of Davis's pocket.
"Hey! I almost forgot!" Davis said taking Lynn's Japanese/English dictionary from his digimon.
"It's a dictionary. It belongs to Lynn-she dropped it outside of biology and I was going to give it back to her. Guess I forgot. I better drop it by her apartment. She'll be missing it tomorrow."
Davis walked downstairs to Lynn's apartment and knocked on the door.
"Can I help you?" A tall, red haired man opened the door.
"Hi. You must be Lynn's dad. I'm Davis. I got to school with your daughter."
"It's nice to meet you Davis. Lynn's told me about you. What can I do for you?"
"She dropped this outside of class. I forgot to give it back to her earlier." Davis said, handing him back the dictionary.
"Thank you. She was looking for this."
"Good night!" With that Davis turned and left.
"Hey, Lynn!" Her father knocked on her door.
"It's open."
"Your friend with the goggles stopped by. He found your dictionary."
"That's where it went. Thanks, dad."
"Goodnight, kiddo."
"'Night dad." After her father shut the door Lynn quickly flipped the page to the H's. She let out a sigh of relief. It was still there. Lynn pulled out an iridescent purple feather and rubbed it against her cheek. "I miss you, Harumon. If only I had been in the digital world like I was supposed to have been. I knew you couldn't digivovle without me and yet I made you fight him alone. I just hope you can forgive me, wherever you are."
In the digital world a voice echoed in the darkness. "Lynn....please come find me...."
(Hoo boy! This ended up being a lot longer than I had anticipated-I guess I got kinda carried away. Well, I hope you enjoyed the third chapter-if so please R&R. Some feedback-ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated.)
"Any sign of Lynn yet?" Yolei asked as she peered down the hallway outside of the principal's office.
"Not yet." Kari sighed. "I was hoping that we'd be able to catch her before we had lunch. At least this way she could eat with someone she knows."
"We don't even know if Lynn's even in there. She could be in class." Davis suggested.
"Davis, it's lunchtime, dude. Who's in a class during lunch?" TK rolled his eyes.
"Oh, right. Guess that is kinda dumb."
"Kinda dumb? How about really dumb?" Yolei laughed.
"Well, if we don't leave for the cafeteria now, we'll have to scarf down our food." Kari said with a sigh-turning to leave.
"This stinks! We're going to have to go to the digital world after school, so we won't be able to walk home with her. She's probably going to think we abandoned her or something." Yolei sighed as they left.
"I doubt she will think that. Besides, we can always stop by after we come back." Cody said.
"It still stinks, though." Yolei pouted.
"It's weird, you know. We've had lots of new kids at school...why are all of us so concerned about being friends with Lynn?" Cody wondered out loud.
"Maybe because she's from America? It's a totally different culture over here. It would be like being in the digital world without a digimon-there's no one to guide you." TK shrugged his shoulders.
They waked into the cafeteria and sat down at the closest available table-pulling their lunch out of their backpacks. Yolei scanned the crowd. "Hey! It's Lynn!"
"It sure is-she's sitting with Izzy and Sora. I guess Izzy found her before we could. Let's go sit with them." Kari picked up her food and they all walked over to where the trio was sitting.
"Hi, everyone! Guess who I found wandering around looking completely bewildered." Izzy said with a smile.
"That would be me." Lynn raised her hand. "Thank goodness, I ran into Izzy or I think I'd still be wandering around."
"How'd everything go in the principal's office?" Cody asked-sitting next to Lynn.
"Pretty good. They're going to order some English textbooks for me. I'll be able to take my tests in English, until I get used to Japanese kanji. I'm even allowed to take a tape recorder with me to class so I can record lectures and translate them later. It's basically overwhelming, but Izzy and Sora have offered to help. I get to have an extra elective because I already speak English-so I guess things aren't too bad." Lynn grinned.
"We were hoping to find you earlier." Yolei said. "We have some things we have to do after school and didn't want you to think we forgot about you."
"It's alright. You can't change your schedule for one person. Besides, plenty of people have been helpful. I met your brother, Kari. He helped my father and I find the principal's office."
"Yeah, I told Tai to be on the lookout for you." Kari smiled. "It's nice to know he's actually good for something."
"It was a little weird having a stranger walk up to you and already know who you are, but I appreciated it."
"So, what's your schedule like?" Davis asked between gulps of food.
"Here." Lynn took a piece of paper out of her bag and handed it to him.
"Cool! We have the same biology class. You can sit next to me."
"Just don't let him copy off of your tests." Sora whispered into Lynn's ear.
"I heard that!"
"You did a pretty good job of dissecting that frog." Davis said as they left the biology lab. "Most girls I know are too squeamish about things like that."
"Yeah, well most guys I know don't faint at the sight of frog guts." Lynn laughed.
"You're not going to tell Kari are you?" Davis almost panicked. Lynn laughed.
"I won't tell as long as you tell me where I can find the auditorium. I have chorus next. Last class off the day-thank goodness."
"Oh, that's easy to find. Go down this hallway then take a left. Go downstairs and turn right. The auditorium is through the double glass doors."
"Got it. See you later, Davis!"
"See ya!" Davis turned to walk away when he noticed that Lynn had dropped her Japanese/English dictionary. "Hey wait up!" But Lynn had already disappeared. "Oh well, I'll give it back to her later." Davis said, sticking the small dictionary in his pocket.
Lynn opened the doors to the auditorium and let her eyes adjust to the light. A bunch of students were already sitting on risers that were on the stage. Lynn took a deep breath and walked down the aisle towards the stage. The chorus teacher took a long look at her and sighed.
"Are you the transfer student from America?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Lynn Morgan."
"I hope you have a good singing voice. I have spent all year perfecting the sound of this group and here comes some outsider that could wreck the entire balance. Normally you have to audition at the beginning of the school year to be in this class, but apparently the principal feels it doesn't apply to you Americans. Now, go stand over by the piano. I want to test your range."
"Yes, ma'am." Lynn's face blushed bright red. All of her other teachers had been so nice to her. No one had called her an outsider. Much less made fun of her because she was an American. What if she wasn't good enough for this chorus? Would she have to find another class to be in?
"Now, I'm going to play some scales-sing the notes you hear." The teacher sat at the piano and played a scale. Lynn cleared her throat and tried to sing, but it came out as a squeak. Some of the students snickered. Lynn glanced at them-all eyes were on her. No pressure. Yeah, right.
"Again!" Lynn closed here eyes. She had every right to be here. Her father was a music fanatic and her mother had been a professional opera singer. Music was in her blood. Lynn let herself go and sang the scales as if they were the most important opera aria ever written. The teacher kept making the scales more difficult-soon they weren't even scales but melodies. But Lynn managed to keep up with her. When the teacher was done-there was complete silence then thunderous applause. Lynn opened her eyes and smiled a little. The other students were smiling back. One boy in particular looked almost thrilled. He had blonde hair and blue eyes-very cute. Lynn risked a glance over to the teacher who actually looked pleasantly surprised. "So, the American can sing. I may have a use for you after all. Go stand in the middle somewhere. We're practicing control today. I'll give you the sheet music for the song's we're working on later."
"Yes, ma'am." Lynn walked up to the stage. The blonde reached a hand down to help her up.
"There goes Ishida, the ladies man!" One of the boys said, elbowing the boy next to him.
"You know he always has a thing for singers."
"Ishida? Are you TK's brother?" Lynn asked.
"Yeah, I'm Matt. TK told me to be on the lookout for you in case you needed help with anything."
"I could use a little help diffusing the ogre of a teacher over there. Is she always like that?"
"Ms. Yamaguchi? Only if she feels threatened."
"Threatened?"
"She doesn't like it when someone prettier than her comes into her chorus. She feels it distracts the boys' attention from her." Matt winked at her. Lynn felt her face flush.
"Mr. Ishida, Ms. Morgan, I'm sorry to break up your little chat, but can we start class now?"
"Yes, ma'am." Matt said, grinning.
"Sorry, ma'am." Lynn smiled.
"Let's get started..."
"Hey, can I walk you home? I need to drop something off for my mom-and since you live in the same building..." Matt asked as Lynn grabbed her backpack.
"Sure." They walked up the aisle out of the auditorium.
"Way to go, Ishida!" One of the boys yelled as they walked out.
"Shut up, Haruto!" Matt blushed.
"So, you have a reputation as a ladies man?" Lynn laughed. "Is it true?"
"Yes and no. Yeah, I do have some girls that flock around me, but most of them are total bimbo's. There's one in particular. She's Davis's sister-the girl doesn't have a brain cell in her entire head."
"Oh, come on. You must love the attention."
"Not really. Listen. I know this is going to sound like a major pick-up line-but I have this band and..."
"Isn't a little too early to ask if I want to be a groupie?" Lynn laughed.
"Um, actually, I was wondering if you might be interested in coming to practice with me Friday night. I think you'd be a pretty good addition to the group. Of course, I'd have to get everyone else's approval, but I'm sure they'd let you in as soon as you sing one note. Even though you are a girl."
"You want me to be in the band?" Lynn stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Yes."
"Isn't that going to ruin your boy group image? I mean, what would your fans think? Oh, Matt! You've broken the hearts of millions of girls!" Lynn feigned a fainting spell.
"Very funny. I'm serious. Would you consider it?"
"I'll have to run it by my father. He has ambitions of me being a doctor or something. Besides, I don't know if I want to be subjected to all that testosterone!" Lynn laughed as Matt pretended to swat her.
"Ken, do you mind if we don't go to the digital world today? I think I've come down with a cold." Leafmon said, sneezing.
"Okay, buddy." Ken said, wrapping Leafmon up in his blanket. "I'll just e-mail the others so they don't wait around for me."
Sorry guys, but I won't be able to make it today. Leafmon's got a pretty nasty cold and I don't want him to get worse. I'll let you know when he's feeling better-Ken.
"I really am sorry about this, Ken." Leafmon sneezed again.
"Don't worry about it. All their doing is cleaning up the remains of the control spires. I still can't believe that we're still cleaning up the mess I made all those years ago."
"It wasn't your fault, Ken. I know that everyone in the digital world has forgiven you-why haven't you forgiven yourself yet?"
"I've tried Leafmon, I really have. There's just something that feels left unfinished. Something I haven't fully atoned for yet."
"What else could there be?" Leafmon asked.
"I don't know. But it still feels like something's missing. Am I making any sense?" Ken turned to his digimon.
"Kinda. But then, I always have had a hard time understanding humans." Leafmon giggled-then sneezed.
"Get some rest. I'm going to go take a walk, or something."
"Why don't you go see Lynn?" Leafmon said conspiratorially. "This will give you a chance to talk to her without the other boys around."
"Are you playing matchmaker?" Ken laughed as he shut his bedroom door.
"Maybe." Leafmon yelled after him. The tiny digimon snuggled into the covers. "If what Poromon says is true-she might be just what he needs."
"I wonder what made me come here?" Ken said as he stared up at the building TK, Cody, Yolei and Lynn lived in. "Maybe Leafmon has some latent power of suggestion. Oh well, since I'm here, I might as well see how her first day went."
Ken rang the button on the elevator and went up to the third floor. He was about to knock on her door when it opened. He was surprised to see Matt standing there. Matt looked just as surprised.
"Hi, Matt. Did I get the wrong apartment?" Ken was sure this was Lynn's apartment.
"I think Cody is in the digital world." Matt whispered.
"I'm not looking for Cody. I was stopping by to see Lynn."
"Ken? Is that you? Come on in. Matt was kind enough to walk me home." Lynn's eyes sparkled. Ken stepped into the entryway.
"Um, am I interrupting anything?" Ken fidgeted. Matt always made Ken nervous for some reason.
"No. I was just about to go drop something off for my mom. I'll see you tomorrow, Lynn!" Matt winked at her.
"You are what my friends in America would call a player, Matt!" Lynn's laughter followed Matt as he shut the door, leaving Ken and Lynn facing each other.
"I was taking a walk to get some fresh air and found myself in front of your building, so I thought I'd come up and see how your first day at school was."
"Come and sit down with me." Lynn said as she sunk into an overstuffed chair. Ken sat down on part of the couch farthest away from her. "I won't bite. I promise--unless you like that sort of thing." Ken's eyes widened and he starting turning flame red. "I'm sorry. I offended you. I'm still acting like I was around Matt. He's fun to flirt with because he doesn't take it seriously. I really am sorry." Lynn stammered out an apology.
"No, it's okay. I just haven't had very many girls flirt with me."
"I find that rather hard to believe. From what Yolei has told me about you-you're pretty popular."
"Well, there's a difference between having girls throw themselves at you and flirting."
"Ah, yes. Subtlety. I get it. Anyway, things actually went better than I had anticipated. Although, my brain is still reeling with shock-the homework alone is giving me a headache. Thank goodness I ran into some familiar faces today, or I'd be a basket case right now. I'm definitely going to take you up on that tutoring offer of teaching me Japanese."
"You seem to be doing just fine."
"Speaking, yes. But I've got a long way to go with kanji. I just hope you know what you've gotten yourself into by volunteering to help out."
"I don't mind." Ken smiled. Lynn smiled back. "So what do you think of the group?"
"I really like everyone. Kari is so sweet. TK's got a really wicked sense of humor. Yolei is just plain crazy, but in a good way. Cody I haven't exactly figured out yet, but I swear he's a thirty year old trapped in a teenager's body. Davis is a nut case too-he had me cracking up in Biology today. Izzy is pretty cool-he's offered to help me if I need to do anything on the computer. I didn't get to talk to Sora and Tai too much-but they both seem nice. Matt's a terrible flirt, but I think he's got a good heart. And then there's you."
"And?"
"Now, what would be the fun if I told you?" Lynn grinned.
"Okay, I won't help you with your kanji." Ken grinned back.
"You wouldn't!"
"I would."
"Okay, I'll tell you. I haven't formed a full opinion of you yet, but I know I like you. Fair enough?"
"I'll take what I can get."
"Think you can handle it? I'm sorry-there I go again. I'm beginning to think that Matt's going to be a bad influence on me." Lynn shook her head-a silly grin on her face.
"How about I take a look at your homework assignments. I could help you translate." Ken fidgeted. The way she was talking about Matt was upsetting him. He couldn't figure out why. Then he realized what it was. The look that crossed her face was the same look that Yolei had whenever Izzy was around. It was the same look Tai gave Sora when he thought no one was looking. If Lynn was this infatuated with Matt already, what chance did he have?
"That would be great! Give me just a second-I'll be right back." Lynn ran into her room and grabbed her backpack. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. There must be some way that I can pay you back."
"Well, you did offer to tutor me in English."
"It seems like your getting the short end of the stick, though." Lynn laughed as she sat down by him on the couch.
"You haven't heard me try to speak English yet." Ken smiled weakly. What is wrong with me? He thought. I just met her, it's not like I can be in love already.
"I am ready to be taught honorable sensei." Lynn bowed her head.
"Okay, grasshopper. Let's tackle biology first." Ken laughed. "Pun intended." Better not to worry about Matt. After all, I'm the one she's studying with. Besides, I'm feeling more at east with her. Maybe I can get her to warm up to me more.
Meanwhile...in the digital world....
"Well, there's one more control spire completely gone." Exveemon said, dusting off his hands.
"Yeah, and only about 50 million more to go." Davis sighed.
"At least they're not active anymore. It's just a matter of cleaning them up now." Kari said on Nephertimon's back. "Pretty soon you won't even be able to tell that they were even here. The digital world can finally get back to normal."
Just then there was a flash of light in the distance. A column of light rose from the ground to the sky
"Do you see that?" Yolei said-pointing in the direction of the light.
"I sure do." TK said.
"Let's go check it out!" Davis shouted as Exveemon picked up him up.
"I hope I didn't speak too soon about things getting back to normal." Kari sighed as they left.
"It looks like it's coming from Primary Village." Cody said as they got closer.
"I hope nothing's happened to the baby digimon." Yolei crossed her fingers.
"I'm sure they're fine. There's lots of grown digimon in the area that take care of them. And Tentomon is patrolling that area. Izzy would have e-mailed us if something bad had happened." Kari said.
Just then TK's D-3 went off. "It's a message from Izzy. He says that some weird digi-egg just appeared in the middle of that column of light."
"Don't digi-egg's normally appear at Primary Village?" Yolei asked.
"Yes, but usually not this spectacularly." Halsemon said over his shoulder.
"Wizardmon once told me that this happened once before. When she was born." Nephertimon said.
"Who's she?" Kari asked her digimon.
"One of the guardians of the digital world."
"The digital world has guardians?" Davis asked.
"Hey! Kind of like what Joe's brother and Sora's father told me about? There's four guardian gods. Suzaku, Byakko, Seiryu, and Genbu." Yolei said
"Something like that." Nephertimon said-as they landed just outside Primary Village. All of the digimon de-evolved to their rookie forms. "In the digital world, there is a guardian of the sea, a guardian of the air, a guardian of the land and a guardian of the heart. Umimon, Kuukimon, Rikumon, and Kokoromon Kokoromon disappeared about three years ago. Since then, there has been a kind of unbalance in the digital world-the other digital guardians have tried to maintain the balance, but it's slowly coming undone. Their power is diminishing and without Kokoromon, the balance may come undone."
"Why didn't you tell all of this earlier, Gatomon?" Kari asked.
"It never seemed important. Guardians are kind of solitary. Besides, it's not unusual for them to not be seen for long periods of time. Guardian's aren't re-born as quickly as us regular digimon are. This pillar of light can only mean one thing. Kokoromon was killed-and she's finally felt a connection strong enough to someone to re-appear."
"But why would she re-appear now?" TK asked Patamon, who was sitting on top of his head. "I mean, we've been in the digital world almost every day now for years. What's changed?"
"I wish I knew." Patamon said, shaking his head.
"I think we're getting closer to the digi-egg." Armadillomon said as they reached the center of Primary Village. A circle of baby digimon had formed on the outskirts of the column of light. Armadillomon started running towards the light.
"Hey! Wait up! We don't know if it's safe or not!" Cody yelled, running after his digimon.
"Hawkmon! Not you too!" Yolei shouted at her digimon-who took off flying as soon as Armadillomon did.
"Gatomon!"
"Patamon, come back!"
"Veemon, slow down buddy!"
"It's like they're possessed or something." Cody said, running after his digimon partner. They all stopped just outside the circle of baby digimon. "I've never seem anything like this."
"Look guys! I can see the digi-egg. It's got some kind of weird symbol on it." Davis said-peering at the egg.
"I can't make it out." TK said trying to get a closer look without stepping on any of the tiny digimon that were now jumping up and down excitedly.
"It looks like-two people hugging?" Kari wondered.
"It's the symbol of forgiveness." A familiar voice came from behind them.
"Tentomon? You're here too?" Cody asked.
"It's the strangest thing. It's like I just have to be here." Tentomon said, scratching his head. "I haven't felt a force this powerful since I put too much hot sauce on a taco."
"The symbol of forgiveness." Kari murmured.
"Any idea on why this is happening now?" Cody asked Tentomon.
"I really don't have any idea. You didn't do anything differently today, did you?"
"I can't think of anything." Yolei said, scratching her head. "Ken said Wormmon wasn't feeling too good so he didn't come today-but we've come here without members of our team before. No strange pillars of light formed then."
"There's got to be something different about today." Tentomon said. "Maybe someone new came to the digital world? I'll ask Agumon, Gabumon and the others if they've seen or heard anything out of the ordinary." With that, Tentomon flew off.
"I wonder if one of us is meant to have this thing?" TK walked closer to the light, reaching out a hand towards the digi-egg. "Ouch!"
"What happened?" Cody asked.
"It shocked me!" TK said, looking at his finger as a blister started forming on it. "I guess that means I'm not the person the guardian was looking for."
"Well, let me give it a try." Yolei said. Same thing happened to her. "You know, it could just say "no" or something like that-does it really have to be this painful?" Kari and Cody both ended up being shocked also. Davis walked up and hesitantly put his hand out. Nothing happened.
"Hey, cool." Davis smiled. He tried to grab the egg, but it kept moving out of reach. "What gives?" Davis said, trying to grab the egg again.
"I guess you're not meant to have it either." Veemon said, laughing at Davis' antics.
"But why is he able to at least get inside the light?" Yolei asked, her burned finger in her mouth.
"Let's head back home and see if Izzy has any ideas." Kari said. "I know I'm stumped. Besides, it's getting late."
"Let's head home gang!" Davis said, placing his D-3 next to the computer screen in Primary Village.
"Ooof! Get off of me!" Izzy said, trying to disentangle himself from digidestined and digimon.
"If you know we're going to be coming through here, why don't you move?" Davis asked.
"Because I was typing an e-mail to the other digidestined that I've kept in contact with worldwide trying to see what set off that phenomenon today. You all came falling out of the screen before I had a change to move."
"Any ideas?" Yolei asked.
"Nothing solid so far." Izzy said, staring at the computer screen. "Look! It's gone now!"
"It sure is." Kari said, peering over Izzy's shoulder. "Do you think whatever was causing the light to form has left the digital world?"
"Possibly. I think it has something to do with you guys. The timing of the light disappearing and your coming back from the digi-world is too coincidental. Something about you five has brought Kokoromon back. And when you left-so did the guardian. Fascinating." Izzy said, eyes shining with excitement.
"All of this is giving me a headache." Cody said, rubbing his temples. "I just can't seem to find the missing link."
"Maybe some food would help." Upamon said, jumping up into Cody's arms. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"
"Let's go try out that new burger place near where we live." TK said, picking Patamon up. "I hear they make a pretty wicked eel burger."
"Eel?" Poromon asked excitedly. "I'm in!"
"Let's get Lynn on the way." Yolei said, putting her digimon in her backpack. "I want to ask her how her day went."
"That means we won't be able to eat with you, will it?" Gatomon sighed. "Just bright us back some food."
"Sorry, guys. When the time is right, we'll introduce you to Lynn. Just be a little patient with us, please?" Kari asked.
"Okay." The digimon nodded.
"Hey, Matt. I didn't expect to see you here." TK said, as he came inside his apartment to get some money and drop off the digimon.
"I had to give mom a copy of my contract with the band-she's going to have a lawyer friend of hers go over it and I thought I'd stay just to see how you were doing. You guys just now getting back?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, we're going to kidnap Lynn from unpacking and grab something to eat."
"Count me in. I just need to grab something real quick." Matt smiled and ran downstairs.
A knock sounded on Lynn's door. Ken and Lynn both looked up at the same time. "Looks like we've got company." Lynn said, getting up and stretching. "The door's unlocked. Come on in."
"Hey, Lynn!" Yolei said, as she opened the door. "We were wondering if you were hungry. A bunch of us are going out for burgers. Hey, Ken! What are you doing here?"
"Helping out a damsel in distress." Ken said, pointing to the homework that was strewn all over the coffee table.
"Ugh. Don't remind me. I haven't even started mine yet." Yolei made a gagging gesture. "So, you want to come with us?"
"Who's going?" Ken asked.
"The whole crew-Cody, Davis, Kari, TK, Izzy and of course, me."
"Sounds like fun. Just let me call my mom and let her know I won't be home for dinner. Is it okay if I use your phone?" Ken asked Lynn.
"Go right on ahead."
"So, how was the first day?"
"Not too bad. Although, I did have a pretty bad run-in with the chorus teacher from an alien planet."
"You mean Ms. Yamaguchi? I've heard horror stories about her."
"I can assure you-so far they seem to be true. I don't know what I would have done if Matt hadn't assured me that it wasn't anything personal."
"Matt's in your class? That's cool. Sorry I couldn't walk home with you, but we had some stuff to take care of."
"Don't worry about it. Matt was kind enough to walk me home."
"Really?" Yolei's eyes sparkled with delight. "You're not giving me details-details! I want a full report!"
"There's not much to report. He's a nice guy and I think we're going to be friends. He's fun to flirt with, but I'm not going to take it that seriously." Lynn smiled. "Besides, I don't believe in love at first sight."
"Ah, you're no fun." Yolei laughed.
"You ladies ready to go?" Ken said, hanging up the phone.
"Let me leave a note for my dad just in case he comes home while I'm gone." Lynn said jotting down a quick memo on the dry erase board by the door.
"Let's go!" Yolei said, grabbing Lynn's arm and steering her out the door. "We're trying out this new burger place...we've heard some good things about it." Ken followed them out. Lynn turned to lock the door, when she turned back around she found a bouquet of daisies in front of her, with Matt smiling behind them.
"Oh, Matt! That's so sweet!"
"Think of this as a bribe." Matt laughed. "I'm not letting you get out of Friday night that easily."
"Friday...night...?" Ken turned to Lynn, a bewildered and hurt look on his face.
"Matt has this hair-brained idea that I would be a good addition to his band." Lynn smiled, as she smelled the daisies. "I still haven't decided."
"That would be so cool!" Kari said.
"Yeah, Matt. You'd actually have some talent in your band!" TK laughed, then ducked as his brother tried to get him in a headlock.
"Shows how little you know." Matt glowered at his little brother. "We've gotten even better since the last time you heard us."
"Well, there's no way you could have gotten worse." Izzy grinned as he ducked a half-hearted punch from Matt. Lynn was practically doubled over laughing.
"Come on! I'm practically starving over here!" Davis groaned, grabbing his stomach.
"Yeah, I see you wasting away to nothing." Cody teased. The group walked down the stairs. Ken held back a little as they started walking down the street.
"Ken? What's wrong?" Lynn stopped and turned to face him.
"Nothing. I just lost my appetite. That's all."
"Oh. Well, you'll come to keep us company, won't you?"
"I think it might be best if I just go home."
"Are you coming or not?" Davis yelled to them.
"Give us a minute!" Lynn hollered back, then turned back to Ken.
"Ken? I'd really like it if you came with us, but if you're not feeling well..." Lynn looked at him with concern.
"I'm sorry, Lynn. I'm afraid I'm not going to be very good company tonight." Ken sighed.
"I...I...see. Well, when can we get together again?"
"I'll have to see. I do have other things to do."
"I never said you didn't. Have I offended you or something? It's just that I had a lot of fun this afternoon-and I thought you did too."
"I did. I just..."
"Just what?"
"Look, I really don't feel like having this conversation now. Look, I'll stop by tomorrow if I can."
"Okay. I hope you feel better." Lynn said handing him one of the daisies from her bouquet. Then she did something Ken wasn't expecting-she gave him a hug. "I'll tell the others you starting feeling ill." Lynn turned away and starting walking towards the group, leaving Ken standing there-wondering if he was doing the right thing by leaving Lynn "alone" with Matt.
"I cannot believe you didn't tell me this was eel!" Lynn said as she swallowed the rest of her soda. "I think I'm going to be sick!"
"You weren't complaining when you were eating it!" Matt laughed as she glowered at him.
"Yeah, well that was then. This is now!"
"Hey, if you don't want the rest of it-I'll take it!" Davis said, reaching across to her plate.
"You're welcome to it."
"I told you not to trust Matt to order for you." TK snickered.
"Lesson learned." Lynn said reaching for a french fry. "Um, these are made with potatoes right?"
"They're safe." Kari said, trying to hide back a smile. "I don't think I've seen anyone turn that shade of green in a long time."
"I almost feel bad about it. Almost." Matt winked at Lynn.
"Very funny, Matt. Just remember-payback is hell."
"Thou hast wounded me, fair maiden." Matt put a hand over his heart.
"Whatever." Lynn said, eating a fry.
"Did Ken help you with your homework?" Cody asked, slurping his milkshake.
"Yeah. He made up some flashcards for me so I can memorize kanji. I guess it's easy for people who have been around it all their life, but it's so confusing."
"You'll get better at it." Izzy said. "It just takes practice."
"I hope he feels better." Yolei said. "It was strange how he decided not to go. He looked like he was looking forward to going out to eat with us."
"Yeah." Lynn said quietly.
"Look at the time!" Izzy said, looking at the clock on the restaurant wall. "I still have to type up a paper for World History. I'd better get going." Izzy stood up. "I'll see all of you tomorrow."
"Bye, Izzy."
"I guess I'd better get going too." Kari said; picking up the take-out bag she had gotten for the digimon.
"I'll walk you home, Kari." Davis said, shoving the rest of the eel burger in his mouth.
"She has to stop by my place to pick up her things, remember?" TK sighed.
"Well, I guess that's it for tonight. I have a ton of homework to do." Yolei said, stretching.
"I promised Grandpa that I would practice kendo for at least an hour today. I'd better get going too." Cody said standing up.
"I'll walk back with you guys." Matt said. "Besides, I still haven't gotten an answer from Lynn if she's willing to join my band or not."
"Keep dreaming, Ishida." Lynn said-throwing away her trash. "You've got a lot to make up to me because of that eel burger!"
"Ah, well. Tomorrow is another day." Matt laughed as they all left.
"So." Matt said as they stood outside Lynn's door.
"So." Lynn said back.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Come on-you know what." Matt folded his arms across his chest.
"Alright, already. Let me see if it's okay with my dad. I'll let you know tomorrow."
"Excellent." Matt smiled. "See ya."
"Goodnight, Matt." Lynn shook her head as she opened the door.
"Hey, kiddo! Apparently, you must've had a pretty good day if you already made friends to go out to dinner with." Lynn's father was sitting at the kitchen table-paperwork spread out all over it.
"Hey, dad." Lynn gave her father a hug. "School was pretty mind-boggling, but I think it's going to be okay. I have a lot of new friends-so life is pretty good." Lynn grinned.
"That's good to hear. I know it's going to be tough, kiddo. But we're both in this together. I'm just glad to see your smile actually reaching your eyes again."
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Lynn sighed-sinking into the chair next to her father.
"So, tell me about your friends."
"I don't know what I would have done today without them..." Lynn started talking about her day to her father.
"A band? Are you sure you're ready to start singing out in public again?" Her father's eyes opened in surprise.
"Yeah, dad. I think it's about time. Who knows? It might even build character." Lynn smiled.
"Well, if you want my blessing, kiddo. Go right on ahead. You know? Your mother would be very proud of you." He tousled Lynn's hair.
"I know, dad. I know." Lynn sighed as she stood up to go to her room.
Her father stared as she left. He let out a long sigh. "I just wish she would stop beating herself up over your death, Marie. But I guess it is hard to forgive yourself when you blame yourself for someone's death." He rubbed his eyes and turned his attention back to his work.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Davis said, picking Demiveemon up and putting him in his pocket.
"What's this?" Veemon said, pulling a book out of Davis's pocket.
"Hey! I almost forgot!" Davis said taking Lynn's Japanese/English dictionary from his digimon.
"It's a dictionary. It belongs to Lynn-she dropped it outside of biology and I was going to give it back to her. Guess I forgot. I better drop it by her apartment. She'll be missing it tomorrow."
Davis walked downstairs to Lynn's apartment and knocked on the door.
"Can I help you?" A tall, red haired man opened the door.
"Hi. You must be Lynn's dad. I'm Davis. I got to school with your daughter."
"It's nice to meet you Davis. Lynn's told me about you. What can I do for you?"
"She dropped this outside of class. I forgot to give it back to her earlier." Davis said, handing him back the dictionary.
"Thank you. She was looking for this."
"Good night!" With that Davis turned and left.
"Hey, Lynn!" Her father knocked on her door.
"It's open."
"Your friend with the goggles stopped by. He found your dictionary."
"That's where it went. Thanks, dad."
"Goodnight, kiddo."
"'Night dad." After her father shut the door Lynn quickly flipped the page to the H's. She let out a sigh of relief. It was still there. Lynn pulled out an iridescent purple feather and rubbed it against her cheek. "I miss you, Harumon. If only I had been in the digital world like I was supposed to have been. I knew you couldn't digivovle without me and yet I made you fight him alone. I just hope you can forgive me, wherever you are."
In the digital world a voice echoed in the darkness. "Lynn....please come find me...."
(Hoo boy! This ended up being a lot longer than I had anticipated-I guess I got kinda carried away. Well, I hope you enjoyed the third chapter-if so please R&R. Some feedback-ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated.)