Disclaimer: I do not own any of the official Digimon characters.

Last time, the Tamers decided to go skating. Takato didn't know how to skate at first, but the other helped him. Next, Rinkmon appeared and completely spoiled the Tamers' fun. It wasn't until Takato used a card to make Guilmon Digivolve into Growmon and totally fried that speedy Digimon. Let's hope nothing else spoils their fun.

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Chapter 5: THE PRESENCE OF PRESENTS

"I'm glad we got back without too much trouble," said Ryo.

"Yeah," said Takato, "But we at least got Growmon to change back into Guilmon."

"Just eat your dinner and stop blabbering," said Ruki. Takato got up from his seat and walked over to the buffet to get some more food.

"Tomorrow's Christmas day," thought Takato as he filled his plate, " Tomorrow's Christmas day. TOMORROW'S CHIRSTMAS DAY!"

"I wonder what he's all excited about?" asked Kazu.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Lee, "Tomorrow's Christmas, so of course Takato's happy about it. Aren't we all?"

"So who's going to stay up until midnight?" asked Ryo. Everyone who was sitting at the table raised their hands. When Takato returned, Ryo asked him if he were going to stay up until midnight.

"Sata won't come if we stay up all night," said Takato.

"Santa will drop your presents at your house, not here," said Juri.

"But he won't if I stay wake all night," said Takato.

"But you're not," said Ryo, "You're just staying up until just past midnight."

"Good point there," said Takato. He sat down and ate his food.

"We should all be together in one place," said Kazu, "How about our room?"

"We've been in there before," said Lee, "It stinks and your clothes are all over the floor, beds, and furniture."

"How about our room?" suggested Ryo.

"That sounds good," said Lee.

"Oh no!" said Takato, "Not our room! I don't want Kazu to go through my underwear!"

"You threw it in my face on that camping trip!" said Kazu.

"Did not!" yelled Takato.

"Did too!" Kazu yelled back.

"Did not!" yelled Takato.

"Did too!" yelled Kazu.

"Did not!" yelled Takato.

"Did too!" yelled Kazu.

"Did not!" yelled Takato.

"Did too!" yelled Kazu.

"Boys, boys, boys! Can't you two just get over it?" asked Lee.

"He started it!" whined Takato.

"Did not!" yelled Kazu.

"Did too!" yelled Takato.

"Did not!" yelled Kazu.

"Did too!" yelled Takato.

"Did not!" yelled Kazu.

"Did too!" yelled Takato.

"Did not!" yelled Kazu.

"Did too!" yelled Takato.

"Did not!" yelled Kazu.

"Did too!" yelled Takato.

"This is ridiculous," said Ruki, "Renamon."

"With pleasure," said Renamon.

"Cyberdramon?" said Ryo.

"I'll help her," said Cyberdramon. He walks over to the two boys and picked up Kazu by his collar. Renamon did the same with Takato.

"I think it's time that these two boys had a little timeout," said Renamon.

"Are you in trouble, Takato?" asked Guilmon. He remembered how Takato's mother said the same thing to Takato whenever he was in trouble.

"Takato, you'd better be nice or you'll find a big lump of coal in your stocking when you get home," warned Lee, knowing full well that this would surely calm Takato down. To Lee's expectations, it did. Takato stopped yelling and kicking around and Renamon was able to put him down. Kazu, on the other hand, wasn't going to be calmed that easily. Fortunately, Ruki had the solution. She walked right up to Kazu and punched him in the nuts. Cyberdramon let go of Kazu and the boy sank to he floor.

"Well, now that that's all been settled, let's all go get ready," said Lee, "Oh, and bring your presents over, too." Takato decided that if they were going to have their mini-party in their room, he had best go get things cleaned up. Takato got up from his chair and walked over to the elevator with Guilmon right behind him.

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"I still don't like the idea of the others coming over to our room for half the night," said Takato from the shower.

"It won't be that bad," said Lee.

"It could be," said Takato, "I mean, they're all going to see me in my pajamas."

"Don't tell you're scared," said Lee as he finished combing his hair.

"Come on, Takato. Lighten up," said Ryo. Takato shut off the water and dried himself with a towel. He quickly pulled on his pajamas and grabbed the hairdryer. About that time, there was a knock at the door. Lee answered it.

"Glad you could come, Ruki," he said.

"Hello, Takato," said Juri. Takato blushed with embarrassment. Juri was standing in front of him fully dressed and there he was, wearing only his pajamas. He felt really awkward.

"Just pretend it's nothing more than a regular sleepover with regular friends," thought Takato as he exited the bathroom. He slowly walked over to his bed and sat down. He saw that Juri was sitting at its foot. "Just my luck," he thought. He slipped under the covers and pulled them over his head.

"You're not going to sleep before midnight. Are you, Takato?" asked Juri.

"Just try me," said Takato from under the covers. Juri reached down and yanked the covers off Takato's bed, leaving the boy lying on his back in his pajamas.

"And they just HAD to be yellow pajamas!" thought Takato, "This is embarrassing." He placed his hands over his face and blushed his guts out.

"Looks like someone's having a bad night," said a voice. Takato opened his eyes to see Kazu and Kenta standing near the TV.

"Leave me alone," said Takato.

"Gee. Kenta, do you wonder why Takato's pajamas are yellow?" asked Kazu.

"I knew it! I knew that Kazu was going to comment on my pajamas!" thought Takato, "He's going to say the color is supposed to hide anything in case I ever wet the bed."

"It's because the color will hide anything if he ever wets the bed!" said Kazu, laughing.

"Check," thought Takato. He turned over onto his stomach and pulled a pillow over his head. Juri thought she had just heard him moan.

"Come on, Takato," said Juri, "If it makes you feel any better, I can let you open the present I got for you." Takato immediately pulled the pillow off his head and looked at Juri.

"Seriously?" he asked.

Juri reached into the bag she had brought along and took out a box, which was covered with bright blue wrapping paper and topped with a red bow. There was a card taped to the top right next to the bow. Takato took the present and plucked the card off the top. He opened it and read what was inside.

"Merry Christmas, Takato. I hope you like your present. It'll help you keep track of things." -Juri.

Takato took off the bow and slowly undid the wrapping paper. His hands shook a little as he did so. The others watched him carefully. What Takato saw took his breath away.

"That is nice," said Lee.

"Well, Takato. Do you like it?" asked Juri.

"I love it, Juri. It's beautiful," said Takato. He reached into the box and slowly pulled out a shining silver watch. The second hand ticked rhythmically and steadily. Takato noticed that it was set for Tokyo time. The face of the clock was gold with little white numbers. There was a small meter just below the center of the watch with several numbers. Takato guessed that it was the date.

"Well, try it on. See if it fits!" said Ryo. Takato slipped the watch onto his left wrist and fastened it. It fit perfectly and it looked nice on his wrist, too.

"Thank you, Juri," said Takato. He leaned over and gave Juri a thank you hug without even giving a thought that everyone was watching them.

"Ugh! Too much love in this room for my taste," said Kazu. He made gagging sounds and pointed to the back of his mouth while holding his throat with his other hand.

"Isn't that sweet," said Lee.

"Takato and Juri sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," sang Terriermon.

"Knock it off, Terriermon," said Lee.

"What?! What?!" asked Terriermon.

"That's rude," scolded Lee. Ryo crawled over to Lee's side of the bed, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV.

"How much time have we got until midnight?" asked Ryo, "Takato! Why don't you tell us with your new watch?"

"Okay," said Takato. He lifted his wrist and pulled back his sleeve. "We've still got another five hours."

"So let's just settle down and watch something until then," said Ryo as he flipped through the channels.

"Give me that remote," said Terriermon, "I can flip through channels faster than that." And with that, he grabbed the remote from Ryo's hand and began to flip through the channels at lightning speed. Everyone only had a split second to see what was on one channel before Terriermon switched to the next one.

"Slow down!" said Kenta.

"I can't!" said Terriermon, "Once I go into hyperdrive, I can't stop!"

"Please excuse me while I go have a seizure," said Lee.

"Give me that stupid remote," said Ruki. She grabbed the remote from Terriermon and flipped through the channels as a slower speed.

"STOP!" cried Ryo, "This channel's showing 'The Phantom Menace'!"

"The Star Wars movie?" asked Kenta.

"Cool! Let's watch!" said Takato.

"All those in favor," said Lee. Seven human hands went up. It was a unanimous vote.

"It's decided," said Lee, "Who brought the party kit?"

"Got it," said Ruki. She reached into a shopping bag and pulled out a rolled up cloth. She spread it out on the bed and on it were bags of chips, pretzels, and Chee-tos, as well as cans of pop/soda (I'm Canadian, so I say pop) and several containers of dip.

"Did anyone bring the games?" asked Lee, "I brought chess."

"I brought Twister," said Takato.

"I brought along Yahtzee," said Kenta. (Did I spell that correctly?)

"Monopoly," said Ryo.

"Connect Four," said Kazu.

"Perfection," said Juri.

"Something's missing," said Ruki, "I get the feeling that everyone brought at least one additional game." The Tamers each reached behind themselves and pulled out a stack of cards.

"Digimon Card Game," they all said in unison.

The Tamers spent the next several hours playing games board games, watching TV, eating snacks, and battling each other with their cards. Of course, nobody could beat Ryo.

"Left hand, red," called Ryo. Immediately, Takato, Juri, Lee, and Ruki (all of whom were in awkward positions) tried to move their left hands over the row of red dots. Takato found himself right overtop of Juri. It was then that he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to tuck in his pajama top in before playing. He looked down at himself and saw that the waistband of his boxers was visible. This was all interrupted when they heard the beginning of "Duel of the Fates" on the TV. Everyone collapsed and rushed over to the TV. This was the Tamers' favorite part of the movie. They watched as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn dueled with Darth Maul. Kazu and Kenta began jumping on the beds when Anakin flew through space in a Naboo Starfighter.

"That was good," said Ryo as soon as the movie was finished, "How much time have we got?"

"Still another two and a half hours," said Takato.

"Let's take a look and see what else is on," said Lee. He picked up the remote and flipped through the channels.

"Hey, look! 'Princess Mononoke!" said Kazu.

"All those in favor," said Lee. Seven hands went up. It was another unanimous vote.

Again, the Tamers spent the next several hours watching TV, eating food, and playing games. When the movie was over, Takato looked at his watch. "We've still got three minutes left," he said.

"Time to turn to the news," said Lee. He flipped through the channels until he came up to a news broadcast.

"It's now three minutes until midnight," said the newscaster, "And here we are live at the Tokyo Christmas parade."

"Clock's ticking," said Takato. They waited for two more minutes. Then the Tamers got out all their Christmas presents.

"Forty seconds," said Takato, "This is going to be great!"

"It's coming," said Lee.

"Thirty seconds!" said Takato. His excitement was rising. "Twenty seconds!"

"A little further," said Kazu.

"Get ready for the countdown!" said Takato, "Start now!"

the Tamers began the countdown, "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" The Tamers and their Digimon cheered and sang Christmas carols. They began to exchange gifts.

"Merry Christmas, Ruki," said Lee as he handed Ruki a large package, "I hope you like it." Ruki undid the wrapping paper and looked inside.

"A kick-boxing bag?" she asked, "You know what I like. Here." She handed Lee a large box, which he unwrapped immediately.

"A DVD player!" exclaimed Lee.

"Hey, Ryo! Here!" said Kazu. Ryo excitedly opened his present.

"A PS2!" he said, "Thanks, Kazu. Hey, Takato! I got something for ya!"

"Thanks," said Takato and opened Ryo's present, "A Nintendo GameCube! Thanks, Ryo! Here, Lee!" Lee unwrapped Takato's present and took out a portable CD player.

"Nice," said Lee, "Oh! And you even got me that CD I wanted! Thanks, Takato!"

"And Ruki, here," said Takato. Ruki tore off the wrapping paper and took out a rock CD. She thanked him and put it away.

"Takato, do you have anything for me?" asked Juri.

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Takato. He took out the present he had been hiding behind his back and gave it to Juri. Juri opened her present and gasped. Inside was a golden locket on a small chain.

"Do you like it?" asked Takato.

"I love it!" said Juri.

"Here. Let me help you put it on," said Takato. He moved behind Juri and placed the chain around her neck. He fastened it at the back and then returned to Juri's side. After a half-hour of exchanging gifts, the Tamers decided that it was time for bed.

"Good night, Takato," said Juri, "Thank you for the locket."

"Good night, Juri," said Takato, "Thanks again for the watch." Juri gave Takato a quick peck on the cheek before returning to her room.

"That was a lot of fun, wasn't it?" said Lee.

"Yep!" said Takato, "Now for my presents back home." Takato quickly brushed his teeth and went to the bathroom before climbing into bed. "Good night, everyone. See you in the morning."

"good night, Takato," said Ryo and Lee.

"night-night," Takato," said Guilmon.

"Merry Christmas, Guilmon," said Takato.

"Merry Christmas, Takato," said Guilmon. The two of them fell fast asleep.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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I know that this seemed more like New Year's than Christmas.

Anyway, please read and send me your reviews.