"Ummm, guys?" Tai asked, confused. Matt and Sora stopped kissing. They started to blush, having realized they had been caught. She stood up and stepped to Matt's side and sat down on the ground beside him. He sat up, then leaned forward to rub his foot. Somehow it had managed to stay in the stream. A mischievous smile spread across Tai's face.

"I can't leave you two alone very long, can I?"

"It's not what it looks like-" (Matt)

Tai burst out laughing. "You can't tell me that pawing each other's bodies and exchanging tongues does not look like making out!"

"Ok, so it is what it looks like. PLEASE don't tell anyone!" (Matt)

"I promise I won't tell anyone. Just find a place a little more private next time, ok?"

"Ok." Matt and Sora said relieved.

"Here's your shoe. If the swelling went down enough maybe you could put it on." Tai handed it to Matt, who was still blushing.

"Thanks, Tai." Matt took his sock from inside the shoe and gingerly pulled it over his foot. Then he loosened the laces (a LOT) and put his foot inside it.

"It fits, but I can't tighten the laces much. My foot's still a bit swollen."


------back at the clearing-----




Izzy and Joe found some logs and sat on them on one side of the clearing. The rest of the kids (excluding Matt, Tai, and Sora) were on the other side. Mimi was talking to Arrow about makeup and parties and the like. The digimon were having a tree-climbing contest to see who could climb the fastest. Palmon and Biyomon were cheering them on and doing cartwheels. Kari was lying on the ground staring at the fluffy white clouds in the sky.


~That one looks like a mouse.~ (Kari)

Mimi and Arrow stopped talking and looked over at her. "Wouldn't she and T.K. be cute as a couple?" (Mimi)

"Yeah. They would make an adorable couple, wouldn't they?" (Arrow)

"Well, they're a bit too young, but who knows? When they get older, they could fall in love and get married!" (Mimi) Having heard this, Kari immediately replied "MARRIED? EEWWW!"

Some bushes near Joe and Izzy moved. Tai and Sora came through them carrying Matt like they were before. Joe stood up, wlked to some other bushes, pulled out another log, and put it next to Izzy for Matt to sit on. Tai and Sora carried Matt to it and bent over so he could sit on it. Sora left the guys and walked over to the other girls.

"For a skinny guy like you, you sure are heavy!" (Tai)

"I've got a lot of muscle mass!" boasted Matt.

"Yeah, whatever! I'm going back to the stream. Agumon, wanna help me catch some fish for lunch?"

"Sure Tai! Hey Patamon, bet I catch more fish than you!"

**************

T.K. was sitting in a large room. He was seated on a massive silver throne with a red, velvet cushion. He wore long, silky, silver-colored robes that trailed 5 feet behind him whenever he walked. It was trimmed with red velvet, like that of the cushion. Beside him there was a tall, twisting, gnarly staff. It did not touch the ground, but floated just over it in the air. It too was made of silver. Two large mahogany doors across the room opened and Garudamon appeared through them. He approached T.K.

"Garudamon, I'm bored. Can I go outside and play?"

"Yes. Would you like to play frisbee?"

T.K.'s face lit up. "Yeah!!! I haven't played that in a long time!"

Garudamon then smiled. He held up his index finger, pointed in the air, and began to make circling motions in the air. Yellow 'fog' began to appear around his finger and got thicker, but did not grow, the faster he circled it. Soon, a bright yellow frisbee was spinning on it. He tossed it into the air and caught it with his other hand. "Let's go!"

***************

The kids were now sitting in a circle around a fire. [clockwise, starting with Matt: Matt, Sora, Mimi, Joe, Tai, Izzy, Kari, Arrow. Most of the digimon are somewhere near their Digidestined.] Agumon was upset that Patamon caught more fish than he did. When Tai wasn't eating, he was trying to console his reptilian friend.

Tai: "Agumon, I'm sure you'll catch more fish than him next time!"

Arrow: "Hurry up and eat, guys. After lunch, we need to head towards Ivory Mountain. The sooner we get T.K., the better.

Joe: "Ivory Mountain?"

Matt: "You know, the mountain made of ivory...?"

Joe: "Oh yeah...I get it." He blushed a little. To Mimi, he said quietly, "Now I look like a dork."

Mimi: [whispering in Joe's ear] "Don't worry. Everyone has moments like that."

Just then a sudden gust of wind blew Mimi's hat from her head, over the fire, and near Izzy. Tai jumped up to catch it just as he was taking another bite. He tripped over Agumon's tail, caught hold of the hat, lost hold of the fish, and fell on Izzy's lap. [Fortunately, Izzy had decided to leave his laptop in his backpack today! UNfortunately, Tai had smooshed fish on his face and Izzy had it on his shorts.] Izzy jumped up and dumped Tai on the ground.

Izzy: "YECHH!! OH GROSS! JUST BECAUSE I'M EATING FISH DOESN'T MEAN I WANT TO WEAR IT TOO!" He wiped as much off of himself as he could. He went to his stuff and got out a pair of clean shorts. Then he went behind some really thick bushes to change. Tai used his shirt to wipe off his face. Somehow the hat had survived the whole incident without getting burned or fish on it. Tai walked over to Mimi and handed it to her.

Tai: "Here." He turned and walked to the stream to wash himself.

Mimi: "See, Joe? Maybe not moments exactly like that, but you get the idea. Right?"

Joe: "Yeah." He smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek.

Everyone else was still laughing.

Arrow: "I guess everyone's done eating now."

Kari: "Not me. I'm still hungry."

Arrow: "Here's some more." She handed her another fish.

Kari: "Thanks." She began eating it.

********************

After everyone had eaten, cleaned up, and packed up, they began walking towards Ivory Mountain. Arrow led the way, followed by Tai, then Izzy and Kari, Joe and Mimi, and at the end were Matt and Sora. Matt still needed help walking, so he leaned on Sora.

Arrow: "The shortest way from here to the mountain is across a swamp. It's a very large swamp, and going around it would take months. Going through it should only take about six days. If we don't have any problems.

Tai: "What kind of problems?"

Arrow: She stopped walking and turned to face him. "It's called the Swamp of Sadness. The whole thing is practically quicksand, but you don't usually sink in it. You can walk right on it.

Agumon: "Why's it called the Swamp of Sadness?"

Arrow: "You only sink if you let sad thoughts take over. It's like the weight of the sadness makes you sink." She turned around and resumed walking.

No one noticed, but just then a weird digimon flew over them. Its body was purple and pear shaped. its wings were orange and looked too small to fly with. Its head was orange too, and round. Its bright yellow bill was shaped like one of those bike horns [kinda coney and hollow]. Two slits in the top of the bike-horn bill served as nostrils. It circled them in the sky for a minute, then flew to the mountain.

Kari: "How long will it take to get there?"

Arrow: "To the swamp? We should get there late tomorrow."

Kari: "No, where T.K. is."

Arrow: "About ten days from now. If we don't have any problems."

Izzy: "And if we do?"

Arrow: She looked at him. "Let's hope we don't."

******************

The sun was beginning to set when they reached the edge of the swamp. Waist-high grass grew where there was solid land. There were small bare patches here and there, but not a lot. Nothing but trees and vines grew where the swamp was. Tai was carrying kari because she had gotten tired from walking so much.

Arrow: "We'll camp here tonight." She looked at the sky through the treetops. "There's some clouds, but they aren't rain clouds. Nothing to worry about."

Tai: He set Kari down on the ground. She walked towards a nearby tree. "What are we going to do about food? We're all tired of fish."

Arrow: "I saw a lot of berries over there. We'll have those."

Tai: "Ok." By now, everyone else was setting up their stuff for the night. "Hey guys! Do you want fish again?"

Everyone at once: "NO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Tai: "Then all the digimon go look over there for berries. Get as many as you can!"

All the digimon split up and began picking berries frantically. It only took a few minutes to gather enough to feed everyone, and ten times over. While the digimon were doing this, the kids finished setting up. They lay soft leaves on the ground for beds and took blankets out of their backpacks. Soon everyone was siting on the ground in a circle, in the same arrangement as before. Gomamon immediately began shoving berries in his mouth. Tentomon and Patamon looked at him disgustedly, then did the same. Everyone else took small, polite bites.

Matt: He glanced at Sora. ~Sora's so pretty.~ He sighed, then he looked at the sky. ~Just like that sunset. I know what I'll do.~ He smiled to himself. He looked at Sora again, who had stopped eating. She was looked at him for a second, as if to ask 'What?'. She continued eating. "Sora," he whispered.

Sora: She looked at him and whispered "what?" back. She watched him motion her closer to him. She scootched closer.

Matt: Smiling, he said "Follow me." He stood up, and offered his hand to her. She took it, and he pulled her up. Still holding hands, they walked to some bushes nearby. "There's a trail through here. It leads to a really pretty meadow. I saw it on the way here, and I want to share it with you."

Sora: "Ok.

Matt: He pulled some branches of a bush back so she could walk through, then walked through himself. He let go of a small branch before he was all the way through, and it popped back and smacked his backside. "Ow!"

Sora: Looked at him concerned-ly. "Are you okay?"

Matt: "Yeah, I'm fine. Stupid branch doesn't like me, I guess. Let's go." They walked on the trail for a minute untill it ended at a patch of tall grass. "We're almost in the meadow now. Close your eyes."

Sora: "Why?"

Matt: "It's a surprise!"

Sora: "Well, alright." She covered her eyes wih her hands. Matt walked behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. They started walking like this through the grass. Sora could feel grass brushing against her jeans. She could smell a spicy, yet sweet kind of smell coming from unseen flowers. It surprised her when Matt stopped suddenly.

Matt: "We're here." He moved his hands from her shoulders, and up to her hands. He pulled her hands from her face down to her sides. "You can look now."