Elusive Angel
-By Yo-yo
Disclaimer: if I owned Digimon, I'd put my money into one of the greatest reality shows ever: Survivor in Afghanistan! It would air all around the world... all girls, in tank tops and shorts, wearing only three colors, red white and blue. It'd be the greatest show on earth; it'd go down in the record books as the most watched show in the world! ...But since I don't own them, I just daydream about the money I could make, and the ratings I would get... hmmm...
A/N: don't think of me as morbid, but I would actually watch Survivor if it was in that location! It would be so cool! Oh yeah, sorry it takes so long to upload and write my chapters, but skool is starting to get intense, and I'm reading my first skool book for English. Pride and Prejudice, it's a really good book, I can't stop reading it! If you've read it, tell me how you feel about it.
ULTIMATE ROWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAIORA 4 LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter V
She folded her sweater carefully, and stuffed it inside the blue teardrop shaped backpack. Her sandals and clean underwear were already inside.
She felt out of it, slightly disoriented. It was as if there was a TV set playing in her brain, and each of its channels were of a different memory of Biyomon. The first time that Bi smiled at Sora on one channel, and the last time that she'd seen that look of concern on another. The first time that she'd saved Sora on an additional channel, and the last time that she had digivolved on yet another.
Each memory that played itself in Sora's mind was like a blow to the chest, each memory more painful than the last. Her heart was throbbing now, and with each pump, she was wincing. By the end of the first day she was told, she had felt battered and bruised.
"Sora, there's a problem in the Digiworld. Biyomon has been abducted, they think she's dead..."
Tai's word rang in her ears like an annoying bell... she's dead... big trouble... hurry please... The only thing that she could think about was Biyomon. Is she alive? Is she ok? Did she really send me that message from the beyond? Would she be upset with me for taking so long? Was she even conscious?
Sora sat on her bed silently wondering if the Digidestined would arrive in time to save the beloved Biyomon. She looked around the familiar bedroom, letting out a huge sigh. The room had been designed to remind Sora of Biyomon, to make her happy, but now it was so painful it seemed to suffocate her.
From the blue walls, the exact color of her feathers, to the pink and blue stripped borders. The Biyomon shaped piñata hanging from the wall in a whicker birdcage and the oil painting on the wall she'd done when she was thirteen of her and Bi lying on the sand at night watching the stars. Even each dream catcher with their pink and blue died feathers made her upset.
Pushing her hair back with one hand, she pulled out a picture with the other. It was of her and Bi standing in front of a waterfall in the Digiworld. They were both so happy, laughing without a care in the world, except for one another.
Their faces blurred together as her eyes filled with tears. She fought them back, not wanting to cry, not wanting to let Bi go. No! She fought herself. I can't cry until I know for sure. Biyomon would never have wanted me to give up, even if I believed it were true...
She wiped her eyes as she thought. She was so deeply immersed in her thoughts that she didn't even hear the knock on her door.
"Sora..." Ms. Takenouchi said softly, waiting for Sora's reply. She could tell that she hadn't heard her from the way that she pushed back her hair.
"Sora honey," she repeated a little more loudly.
She turned around to face her mother. She knew what she must look like; her eyes, nose, and lips red and puffy although she hadn't really cried.
"Yeah mom." She whispered.
Ms. Takenouchi's face softened. "Tai just called, you have to leave in an hour."
"I haven't finished packing yet." She laughed to herself.
She walked cautiously over to her daughter. She knew how she felt; she had felt the same way when her husband had been found murdered when Sora was only five. The feeling of not knowing was terrifying, not knowing what to expect; it was nerve-wracking!
She gave Sora a reassuring hug and smiled, "I'll help."
"Can you..." she began, her voice soft as she looked away.
"What? I'll do anything for you honey." She smiled.
Sora stared at her mother, she was beautiful. She had Sora's big, bright crimson eyes, and her nicely curved lips. She was tall and lean, and very curvatious (can't spell), but unlike her daughter, her features were ample."
"Can I have a picture of you?" she looked into her mother's eyes, so much like her own, "When we went to the..." she paused, "when I was thirteen, we wee gone so long, that your face stared to fade from my memory..."
Ms. Takenouchi laughed, "Sure."
She stood up and brushed off her khakis. "Well, I gotta' finish, my... I gotta' finish."
"I'll be back, so you finish your checklist and I'll pack your food sack."
"Thanks mom." She smiled pulling on one of her gym shoes.
"Put a cool towel over your face." She commented before she left.
Sora let a small chuckle escape her lips as she turned towards her bathroom. Finally, after she'd been restored back to her familiar self, she went back into her room and rechecked her checklist.
"Everything fine?" asked her mother as she entered her room again.
"Yeah, did you finish?" she asked her mother.
"Yes, and my picture is inside, but I want to give this to you..."
Sora watched as her mother dug deep into her pocket and recovered a tiny silver chain. Hanging from the intricately cut silver was an exquisite locket in the shape of her crest: a heart.
"Your grandmother, Tink, gave this to me at my wedding, a few months before she died. She told me that when I had finally had my daughter, pass it on when I thought you might have needed it... before I didn't...I didn't...no, that's not it...I didn't try to listen, so I was oblivious to the obstacles that you were facing..." her eyes began to well with unshed tears. She took one look at the crimson face of her daughter, and wiped away the single tear that escaped her eyes. "...You make me so proud...I'm so happy that you trusted me enough with this... I know that I haven't been the best mother..." she spoke with a choked voice, "...but you forgave me, and I owe you so much for that." She whispered, the tears gushed free from their ducts now.
"Please don't make me cry!" Sora laughed, suddenly overcome with emotion.
She remembered the times long ago when her mother had shut her out and made her wish she were dead. She remembered the workaholic her mother had become, not even speaking to her, days at a time. Those times she'd left her home alone, making her fend for herself; letting her cook her own food, and making her grow up way before her time.
"Mom, I love you, and I understand what you were going through. Don't ever doubt for one minute that I resent you, because I don't, and I never will."
"Oh, my darling, loving Sora!" her mother smiled pulling her into a warm embrace.
Sora closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her mother. She couldn't remember the last time that a hug had felt so good, so comfortable. Her mother smelled like White Silk, making her feel like she'd drank a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day, warming her whole body from head to toe, making her fingertips tingle.
"White Silk." She whispered against her mother's long brown hair.
"What?" her mother asked.
"Nothing," she whispered finally opening her eyes.
"Turn around," she whispered.
Touching the locket as her mother clasped it around her neck, she let out a deep sigh. Life hadn't felt this calm for a while.
Standing up, she turned to her mother, "Time to go."
Pulling on her backpack, and then her messenger bag, Ms. Takenouchi helped her as she limped out of her bedroom.
"Does it hurt?" he mother asked as they got into her mother's dusty old VW Beetle.
"No, it's just a little tender."
~***~
"Ready?" Tai asked the group.
"Yeah." Sang the chorus of kids.
"Five...four..." he said while taking Kari's hand, "...two... one..."
And suddenly they were being sucked into a portal. Sora and the others opened their eyes wide. The swirls of color, stars, galaxies, and planets were incredible. The way that they caught their eyes for a spilt second then disappeared the next. The colors wrapped around one another to form an endless string. Some colors so violent that it gave the gazer a headache, while other colors were so beautiful that the beholders eyes followed it as it sailed behind them until it was long gone. Each heavenly body was more interesting that the last. A huge green one with small orange dots splashed across its surface, a small white one with one huge yellow ocean covering half of it. Each star different, one big white one, and one small red one. A galaxy swirling around the huge green planet, another galaxy just there, no heavenly body present, just stars...
They all fell to the ground with a loud thud. Then they stood up and brushed themselves off.
"Ow," Izzy groaned, "I descended on my laptop."
He stood up, his legs shaking as though he hadn't walked on them for months.
"What do we do now?" asked Mimi, "and how are we going to find Biyomon?"
Sora involuntarily flinched at Bi's name.
"First..." Izzy said while he regained his balance, "... we need to determine our exact location, and contact Gennai... so that he may explain where we should be."
He sat himself on the hard dusty ground. Pulling out his laptop, he began to type away furiously. "Let's see," he muttered to himself, " no vegetation, and water for miles. Dry heat, no sign of habitation, and directly under the sun."
He clinked enter, but found ten hits. "Guys, can you try to find something peculiar or significant in this huge desert?" he asked, not looking up from the screen, trying to locate their exact coordinates.
"Apparently, there are ten different light sources here, other than the sun. There are nine other stars...Diana...Apollo..." he muttered to himself, naming each of the ten suns.
"Hmmm..." he whispered to himself after the last sun, "each sun was named after a Roman God or Goddess, curious... very curious..."
"Uh, Izzy..." Said a small voice behind him.
Izzy turned to find himself face to face with Kari. He had to blink twice, it'd been so long since he'd last seen anyone, much less her, he didn't expect her to look so mature. Her burnt umber tresses were cut short and framed her almost cherubic face. Her chocolate eyes, with their generous flecks of gold were full of hope and vitality. She'd grown tall and lean, resembling the models he'd frequently seen on the covers of British Vogue.
"Yeah." He said, a smile protruding on his face.
"Haven't you noticed the weird thing about this place? The ground..." she whispered sitting next to him.
He stared into her brown eyes. She was so beautiful and untouched. As she drew in a shaky breath, he concentrated on her lips as they opened slightly, making him want to touch her. He wanted to softly touch her with his index finger, and kiss her as though as though she'd never been kissed before.
"... Isn't that weird?" she finished.
He looked at her blankly, his green eyes wide with wonder.
"Did you hear me?" she asked putting her hands in front of his eyes, "Earth to Izzy!"
"Huh?" he asked blankly.
"Did you hear me?"
"No, I'm sorry, the temperature... it's affecting my concentration."
"Oh, I said that the cracks in the ground, every peace is like a puzzle, they seem to be forming some kind of picture. I don't know but, isn't it-"
"Mosaic!" he exclaimed, "Were in the Mosaic Desert!"
He turned back in his seat, and began to type away loudly. "This desert was found 1800 years ago. It you see it from an elevated ground, it forms a picture of..." he stopped suddenly.
"What?" she asked peering into the computer screen. "Whoa!" she breathed.
"Yeah." Was his response.
"The picture that it forms is a picture of us, ... the Digidestined!" Whispered Kari.
"What is it?" Tai asked coming behind them, peering into the screen with interest. Soon the whole group was crowded around the laptop staring in disbelief.
"Hmmm..." Izzy whispered sending the scroll bar further down the page, "... it seems that the Mosaic Desert has a twin sister, Jumeaux... apparently, Jumeaux has a mosaic too. It's a collage of something called..."
Izzy gasped, his eyes grew wide, and his face flushed. The information was shocking.
"What?" Asked Tai and Matt at the same time.
"Jumeaux was actually named after the platoon that it resembles." He began to read the screen.
"Jumeaux (Mosaic's twin sister) was named after the group Jumeaux, or Digidestined II, which like Mosaic's art, resembles its group. While the Mosaic displays the original Digidestined: Tai, Sora, Joe, Kari, Matt, Izzy, T. K., and Mimi, Jumeaux exhibits the new Digidestined..."
"New?!" Exclaimed Matt.
"...Alex, Sebastian, Giovanni, Ahmad, Jacob, Jade, Lily, and Soliel-"
"Soliel!" Sora, Tai, and Matt repeated together.
"...They, along with the original Digidestined were prophesized to have diminished all the evil Digimons of the Digital World, and make it the most powerful of the other worlds..."
"So wait, were supposed to work with these guys?" Joe asked, his voice carrying a little hostility.
"Guys c'mon, we've gotta' contact Gennai in order for us to decipher where exactly we need to be."
"Ok," Sora drawled, "I'll go explore the perimeter, see if there's anything useful here..."
"I wish I had Tentomon, he would have been a lot of help..."
"I'll help you Sora." Tai called as she walked away.
~***~
They'd been walking for about two hours when Tai reached out and grabbed her arm. "Hey Sor, let's have lunch."
She sat down on the hard cracked surface of the desert. Reaching up to fan her neck with her long hair, she grasped the air. A frown set itself upon her face as she yearned for her tresses back.
Tai, seeing her distress, smiled at her. "Sora, I like your new haircut, it's cute."
She glared at him, even though when she'd seen the finished product, she thought it was cute too, she didn't want him to admit it.
"I like the blonde highlights!" he smiled, trying to recover himself.
"Sorry," she smiled, "it's just weird. I'm so used to this long orange stuff flowing down my back, but I guess it was my own fault; I shouldn't have gone into the forest with long, loose hair." She smiled fingering the short locks, they were cute but they were shorter than she'd wanted them to be. They fell only about two inches from the bottom of her ears, and sort of feathered out at the tips. Her hair was so straight and stylish now; she didn't even know what to do with herself. And the gold highlights brought out the orange of her hair and the crimson of her eyes. She looked glamorous with the new haircut.
"I think my mom packed some sandwiches." She smiled.
"My mom packed some fruit." Tai smiled pulling out a container and showing it to her.
She took off both her messenger bag and backpack, which had both been packed surprisingly light. Rummaging through her messenger bag, she began to produce each item packed.
"Lookee what mom packed!" she smiled.
One by one she produced items. Fishing line, a pack of pens and two journals, a camera and ten rolls of film, a pack of batteries, a wallet of money and a credit card, a cell phone, a mirror, picture book, box of matches, etc...
"Your mom sure knows what one needs for a trip."
"Yeah," she grinned as she pulled out the Swiss army knife. Going inside her mess kit, she uncovered the elusive sandwiches.
Tai watched as she took a half of the sandwich and lifted it to her lips. She slowly parted her lips, sticking out her tongue; she enticingly licked her lips, although oblivious to his gaze. She opened her lips widely, as she lifted the sandwich to her mouth. She sank her teeth into the bread and tore away.
He licked his lips, wishing he were that piece of bread, rolling around her tongue, letting her savor the moment. Just to satisfy her by touching her was all that he wanted to do.
"What's up?" She asked, her mouth full. She noticed the way that he was staring at her, licking his lips ever so slowly. "Wanna' bite?" she asked offering him the already bitten sandwich.
"No," he whispered looking away.
~***~
"Guys, we should set up camp here. Gennai says that tomorrow morning we should commence our expedition to Lo Wai city." Izzy continued, "...but there are some things that you guys need to know about this desert."
"What?" they all asked sitting amongst him as if he were a storyteller.
"This desert is deserted because a lot of strange things happen here..." Izzy began, "... first of all, every night it rains here. The ground becomes this gargantuan field of wet clay, but when the sun comes back, it all dries up, and it's as if nothing happened. The cracks are the same shape, size and form the same mosaic..."
"Wow!" Mimi breathed.
"The problem tonight is the rain. It comes down violently, and usually rises about three inches from the ground. That means we must eat now and set up camp as soon as possible; where's Sora and Tai?" he asked finally noticing their absence.
"They're exploring." Explained Matt.
"Oh man!" Izzy groaned, "This is not good. This is not good at all!"
"Why?" asked T. K.
"Well, they better return soon, legend has it that a prince and a princess from different galaxies fell in love and ran out here to be together. The girl's grandmother was a gypsy, and she placed a spell on the two lovers that made them separate. Apparently the two galaxies hated one another that they'd rather kill the two lovers rather than let them stay together. So a great wind blew them apart, to the two farthest corners of the desert, and cursed them. They spent years upon years searching for one another, when they finally reached each others arms, they just dropped dead-"
"What does that have to do with Sora and Tai?" Mimi interrupted.
Izzy glared at her, a look of disgust betraying him, "If you'd just shut up and listen then I'd tell you!" he reprimanded, then turned to the rest of the group, his voice calm again, "no single male and female can travel this desert alone at night. The winds will think it's the doomed lovers and separate them. If that happens, when Sora and Tai meet again..." a grim look veiled his face as he looked past them and at the sun, "...when the sun touches the horizon, they'll be thrown apart."
"Call her..." Matt urged, "I'm sure that Ms. T packed a phone with Sora!"
"But..." T. K. began.
Izzy pulled out his laptop and placed it carefully on his crossed legs. He typed away madly, every couple of minutes he glanced up at the sun, then his watch while mumbling inaudible things to himself.
After a couple of trys, Izzy looked at the rest of the group. The look on his face confirmed their troubles, and weighed down their hearts with worry and guilt.
"Trouble?" asked Mimi unbelievably.
"At this rate, the sun will touch the horizon in exactly two hours and five minutes. But according to my calculations, they're exactly two hours away; with Sora's turned ankle, it'd take twice as long for them to get here..."
"Call her!" Matt shouted.
"No reception..." Izzy whispered looking longingly at the computer screen.
"Send her an instant message!" Matt growled.
"I can't, her phone...I can't..." Izzy cried, pushing his laptop away and staring into Matt's ice blue eyes, "...I can't Matt."
Matt softened; the look on Izzy's face was one of grievance. A tear escaped from his tear ducts and slid down Izzy's soft face. For the first time in Izzy's life, he felt completely out of control. He usually took care of the situation, but this time his attempts were fruitless, he had absolutely no jurisdiction over what was happening.
"Don't worry," Matt sighed sitting beside him and patting his shoulder, "I'm sure they know to be back before nightfall."
~***~
"...And how are we going to get there before nightfall?" asked Sora as she limped behind him slowly.
They walked a little farther as Tai dissected the dilemma in his head. He stopped abruptly, and took off his luggage.
"What?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Put this tuff on and get on my back..."
"Nice try..." she laughed.
"No really, it'll take a long time for us to get back, but if I ..."
"OK," she interrupted, "you're explanations usually take years." She smiled pulling his bags over her head.
Putting her on his back piggyback style, he trudged through the desert, to him it feeling much more slowly.
A/N: I think I've got Carpel Tunnel. Sorry it's taken me so long, but I'm really happy with this one, it only took me a couple of hours to type this. I'm so happy. R&R please, I suffer from low self-esteem and these reviews make all the difference in the world. I was on retreat this month, so I was bored to death, that's how come I could write this one so fast.
P.S. happy b-days to my amigs: Sparky, Brinklei, Liliangel, and Sherlyn whose b-days are all this month. Oh yeah and Brinklei, happy President's Day!
P. P. S. I'm going to Michigan next Friday, so wish me luck; we're going to visit colleges and then race in tanks (rowing) so I hope we win!
P.P.P.S. oh yeah, pray for me, I've got two major tests on Tuesday, one in Global Studies on the Middle East, and the other in Chemistry. Pray that I pass them both please. And Celena if you're reading this, stop wishing me death! J/k
P. P. P. P. S. and before I forget, Jameaux means twin in French, it's the feminine of the word b'cuz it's mosaic's sister. And Soliel is Sunny's real name. Soliel means Sun in French, that's how she got her nickname. And if you don't get it by now, I've got French in my family, and I'm taking it in skool.
Buh bye
Yo-yo
-By Yo-yo
Disclaimer: if I owned Digimon, I'd put my money into one of the greatest reality shows ever: Survivor in Afghanistan! It would air all around the world... all girls, in tank tops and shorts, wearing only three colors, red white and blue. It'd be the greatest show on earth; it'd go down in the record books as the most watched show in the world! ...But since I don't own them, I just daydream about the money I could make, and the ratings I would get... hmmm...
A/N: don't think of me as morbid, but I would actually watch Survivor if it was in that location! It would be so cool! Oh yeah, sorry it takes so long to upload and write my chapters, but skool is starting to get intense, and I'm reading my first skool book for English. Pride and Prejudice, it's a really good book, I can't stop reading it! If you've read it, tell me how you feel about it.
ULTIMATE ROWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAIORA 4 LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter V
She folded her sweater carefully, and stuffed it inside the blue teardrop shaped backpack. Her sandals and clean underwear were already inside.
She felt out of it, slightly disoriented. It was as if there was a TV set playing in her brain, and each of its channels were of a different memory of Biyomon. The first time that Bi smiled at Sora on one channel, and the last time that she'd seen that look of concern on another. The first time that she'd saved Sora on an additional channel, and the last time that she had digivolved on yet another.
Each memory that played itself in Sora's mind was like a blow to the chest, each memory more painful than the last. Her heart was throbbing now, and with each pump, she was wincing. By the end of the first day she was told, she had felt battered and bruised.
"Sora, there's a problem in the Digiworld. Biyomon has been abducted, they think she's dead..."
Tai's word rang in her ears like an annoying bell... she's dead... big trouble... hurry please... The only thing that she could think about was Biyomon. Is she alive? Is she ok? Did she really send me that message from the beyond? Would she be upset with me for taking so long? Was she even conscious?
Sora sat on her bed silently wondering if the Digidestined would arrive in time to save the beloved Biyomon. She looked around the familiar bedroom, letting out a huge sigh. The room had been designed to remind Sora of Biyomon, to make her happy, but now it was so painful it seemed to suffocate her.
From the blue walls, the exact color of her feathers, to the pink and blue stripped borders. The Biyomon shaped piñata hanging from the wall in a whicker birdcage and the oil painting on the wall she'd done when she was thirteen of her and Bi lying on the sand at night watching the stars. Even each dream catcher with their pink and blue died feathers made her upset.
Pushing her hair back with one hand, she pulled out a picture with the other. It was of her and Bi standing in front of a waterfall in the Digiworld. They were both so happy, laughing without a care in the world, except for one another.
Their faces blurred together as her eyes filled with tears. She fought them back, not wanting to cry, not wanting to let Bi go. No! She fought herself. I can't cry until I know for sure. Biyomon would never have wanted me to give up, even if I believed it were true...
She wiped her eyes as she thought. She was so deeply immersed in her thoughts that she didn't even hear the knock on her door.
"Sora..." Ms. Takenouchi said softly, waiting for Sora's reply. She could tell that she hadn't heard her from the way that she pushed back her hair.
"Sora honey," she repeated a little more loudly.
She turned around to face her mother. She knew what she must look like; her eyes, nose, and lips red and puffy although she hadn't really cried.
"Yeah mom." She whispered.
Ms. Takenouchi's face softened. "Tai just called, you have to leave in an hour."
"I haven't finished packing yet." She laughed to herself.
She walked cautiously over to her daughter. She knew how she felt; she had felt the same way when her husband had been found murdered when Sora was only five. The feeling of not knowing was terrifying, not knowing what to expect; it was nerve-wracking!
She gave Sora a reassuring hug and smiled, "I'll help."
"Can you..." she began, her voice soft as she looked away.
"What? I'll do anything for you honey." She smiled.
Sora stared at her mother, she was beautiful. She had Sora's big, bright crimson eyes, and her nicely curved lips. She was tall and lean, and very curvatious (can't spell), but unlike her daughter, her features were ample."
"Can I have a picture of you?" she looked into her mother's eyes, so much like her own, "When we went to the..." she paused, "when I was thirteen, we wee gone so long, that your face stared to fade from my memory..."
Ms. Takenouchi laughed, "Sure."
She stood up and brushed off her khakis. "Well, I gotta' finish, my... I gotta' finish."
"I'll be back, so you finish your checklist and I'll pack your food sack."
"Thanks mom." She smiled pulling on one of her gym shoes.
"Put a cool towel over your face." She commented before she left.
Sora let a small chuckle escape her lips as she turned towards her bathroom. Finally, after she'd been restored back to her familiar self, she went back into her room and rechecked her checklist.
"Everything fine?" asked her mother as she entered her room again.
"Yeah, did you finish?" she asked her mother.
"Yes, and my picture is inside, but I want to give this to you..."
Sora watched as her mother dug deep into her pocket and recovered a tiny silver chain. Hanging from the intricately cut silver was an exquisite locket in the shape of her crest: a heart.
"Your grandmother, Tink, gave this to me at my wedding, a few months before she died. She told me that when I had finally had my daughter, pass it on when I thought you might have needed it... before I didn't...I didn't...no, that's not it...I didn't try to listen, so I was oblivious to the obstacles that you were facing..." her eyes began to well with unshed tears. She took one look at the crimson face of her daughter, and wiped away the single tear that escaped her eyes. "...You make me so proud...I'm so happy that you trusted me enough with this... I know that I haven't been the best mother..." she spoke with a choked voice, "...but you forgave me, and I owe you so much for that." She whispered, the tears gushed free from their ducts now.
"Please don't make me cry!" Sora laughed, suddenly overcome with emotion.
She remembered the times long ago when her mother had shut her out and made her wish she were dead. She remembered the workaholic her mother had become, not even speaking to her, days at a time. Those times she'd left her home alone, making her fend for herself; letting her cook her own food, and making her grow up way before her time.
"Mom, I love you, and I understand what you were going through. Don't ever doubt for one minute that I resent you, because I don't, and I never will."
"Oh, my darling, loving Sora!" her mother smiled pulling her into a warm embrace.
Sora closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her mother. She couldn't remember the last time that a hug had felt so good, so comfortable. Her mother smelled like White Silk, making her feel like she'd drank a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day, warming her whole body from head to toe, making her fingertips tingle.
"White Silk." She whispered against her mother's long brown hair.
"What?" her mother asked.
"Nothing," she whispered finally opening her eyes.
"Turn around," she whispered.
Touching the locket as her mother clasped it around her neck, she let out a deep sigh. Life hadn't felt this calm for a while.
Standing up, she turned to her mother, "Time to go."
Pulling on her backpack, and then her messenger bag, Ms. Takenouchi helped her as she limped out of her bedroom.
"Does it hurt?" he mother asked as they got into her mother's dusty old VW Beetle.
"No, it's just a little tender."
~***~
"Ready?" Tai asked the group.
"Yeah." Sang the chorus of kids.
"Five...four..." he said while taking Kari's hand, "...two... one..."
And suddenly they were being sucked into a portal. Sora and the others opened their eyes wide. The swirls of color, stars, galaxies, and planets were incredible. The way that they caught their eyes for a spilt second then disappeared the next. The colors wrapped around one another to form an endless string. Some colors so violent that it gave the gazer a headache, while other colors were so beautiful that the beholders eyes followed it as it sailed behind them until it was long gone. Each heavenly body was more interesting that the last. A huge green one with small orange dots splashed across its surface, a small white one with one huge yellow ocean covering half of it. Each star different, one big white one, and one small red one. A galaxy swirling around the huge green planet, another galaxy just there, no heavenly body present, just stars...
They all fell to the ground with a loud thud. Then they stood up and brushed themselves off.
"Ow," Izzy groaned, "I descended on my laptop."
He stood up, his legs shaking as though he hadn't walked on them for months.
"What do we do now?" asked Mimi, "and how are we going to find Biyomon?"
Sora involuntarily flinched at Bi's name.
"First..." Izzy said while he regained his balance, "... we need to determine our exact location, and contact Gennai... so that he may explain where we should be."
He sat himself on the hard dusty ground. Pulling out his laptop, he began to type away furiously. "Let's see," he muttered to himself, " no vegetation, and water for miles. Dry heat, no sign of habitation, and directly under the sun."
He clinked enter, but found ten hits. "Guys, can you try to find something peculiar or significant in this huge desert?" he asked, not looking up from the screen, trying to locate their exact coordinates.
"Apparently, there are ten different light sources here, other than the sun. There are nine other stars...Diana...Apollo..." he muttered to himself, naming each of the ten suns.
"Hmmm..." he whispered to himself after the last sun, "each sun was named after a Roman God or Goddess, curious... very curious..."
"Uh, Izzy..." Said a small voice behind him.
Izzy turned to find himself face to face with Kari. He had to blink twice, it'd been so long since he'd last seen anyone, much less her, he didn't expect her to look so mature. Her burnt umber tresses were cut short and framed her almost cherubic face. Her chocolate eyes, with their generous flecks of gold were full of hope and vitality. She'd grown tall and lean, resembling the models he'd frequently seen on the covers of British Vogue.
"Yeah." He said, a smile protruding on his face.
"Haven't you noticed the weird thing about this place? The ground..." she whispered sitting next to him.
He stared into her brown eyes. She was so beautiful and untouched. As she drew in a shaky breath, he concentrated on her lips as they opened slightly, making him want to touch her. He wanted to softly touch her with his index finger, and kiss her as though as though she'd never been kissed before.
"... Isn't that weird?" she finished.
He looked at her blankly, his green eyes wide with wonder.
"Did you hear me?" she asked putting her hands in front of his eyes, "Earth to Izzy!"
"Huh?" he asked blankly.
"Did you hear me?"
"No, I'm sorry, the temperature... it's affecting my concentration."
"Oh, I said that the cracks in the ground, every peace is like a puzzle, they seem to be forming some kind of picture. I don't know but, isn't it-"
"Mosaic!" he exclaimed, "Were in the Mosaic Desert!"
He turned back in his seat, and began to type away loudly. "This desert was found 1800 years ago. It you see it from an elevated ground, it forms a picture of..." he stopped suddenly.
"What?" she asked peering into the computer screen. "Whoa!" she breathed.
"Yeah." Was his response.
"The picture that it forms is a picture of us, ... the Digidestined!" Whispered Kari.
"What is it?" Tai asked coming behind them, peering into the screen with interest. Soon the whole group was crowded around the laptop staring in disbelief.
"Hmmm..." Izzy whispered sending the scroll bar further down the page, "... it seems that the Mosaic Desert has a twin sister, Jumeaux... apparently, Jumeaux has a mosaic too. It's a collage of something called..."
Izzy gasped, his eyes grew wide, and his face flushed. The information was shocking.
"What?" Asked Tai and Matt at the same time.
"Jumeaux was actually named after the platoon that it resembles." He began to read the screen.
"Jumeaux (Mosaic's twin sister) was named after the group Jumeaux, or Digidestined II, which like Mosaic's art, resembles its group. While the Mosaic displays the original Digidestined: Tai, Sora, Joe, Kari, Matt, Izzy, T. K., and Mimi, Jumeaux exhibits the new Digidestined..."
"New?!" Exclaimed Matt.
"...Alex, Sebastian, Giovanni, Ahmad, Jacob, Jade, Lily, and Soliel-"
"Soliel!" Sora, Tai, and Matt repeated together.
"...They, along with the original Digidestined were prophesized to have diminished all the evil Digimons of the Digital World, and make it the most powerful of the other worlds..."
"So wait, were supposed to work with these guys?" Joe asked, his voice carrying a little hostility.
"Guys c'mon, we've gotta' contact Gennai in order for us to decipher where exactly we need to be."
"Ok," Sora drawled, "I'll go explore the perimeter, see if there's anything useful here..."
"I wish I had Tentomon, he would have been a lot of help..."
"I'll help you Sora." Tai called as she walked away.
~***~
They'd been walking for about two hours when Tai reached out and grabbed her arm. "Hey Sor, let's have lunch."
She sat down on the hard cracked surface of the desert. Reaching up to fan her neck with her long hair, she grasped the air. A frown set itself upon her face as she yearned for her tresses back.
Tai, seeing her distress, smiled at her. "Sora, I like your new haircut, it's cute."
She glared at him, even though when she'd seen the finished product, she thought it was cute too, she didn't want him to admit it.
"I like the blonde highlights!" he smiled, trying to recover himself.
"Sorry," she smiled, "it's just weird. I'm so used to this long orange stuff flowing down my back, but I guess it was my own fault; I shouldn't have gone into the forest with long, loose hair." She smiled fingering the short locks, they were cute but they were shorter than she'd wanted them to be. They fell only about two inches from the bottom of her ears, and sort of feathered out at the tips. Her hair was so straight and stylish now; she didn't even know what to do with herself. And the gold highlights brought out the orange of her hair and the crimson of her eyes. She looked glamorous with the new haircut.
"I think my mom packed some sandwiches." She smiled.
"My mom packed some fruit." Tai smiled pulling out a container and showing it to her.
She took off both her messenger bag and backpack, which had both been packed surprisingly light. Rummaging through her messenger bag, she began to produce each item packed.
"Lookee what mom packed!" she smiled.
One by one she produced items. Fishing line, a pack of pens and two journals, a camera and ten rolls of film, a pack of batteries, a wallet of money and a credit card, a cell phone, a mirror, picture book, box of matches, etc...
"Your mom sure knows what one needs for a trip."
"Yeah," she grinned as she pulled out the Swiss army knife. Going inside her mess kit, she uncovered the elusive sandwiches.
Tai watched as she took a half of the sandwich and lifted it to her lips. She slowly parted her lips, sticking out her tongue; she enticingly licked her lips, although oblivious to his gaze. She opened her lips widely, as she lifted the sandwich to her mouth. She sank her teeth into the bread and tore away.
He licked his lips, wishing he were that piece of bread, rolling around her tongue, letting her savor the moment. Just to satisfy her by touching her was all that he wanted to do.
"What's up?" She asked, her mouth full. She noticed the way that he was staring at her, licking his lips ever so slowly. "Wanna' bite?" she asked offering him the already bitten sandwich.
"No," he whispered looking away.
~***~
"Guys, we should set up camp here. Gennai says that tomorrow morning we should commence our expedition to Lo Wai city." Izzy continued, "...but there are some things that you guys need to know about this desert."
"What?" they all asked sitting amongst him as if he were a storyteller.
"This desert is deserted because a lot of strange things happen here..." Izzy began, "... first of all, every night it rains here. The ground becomes this gargantuan field of wet clay, but when the sun comes back, it all dries up, and it's as if nothing happened. The cracks are the same shape, size and form the same mosaic..."
"Wow!" Mimi breathed.
"The problem tonight is the rain. It comes down violently, and usually rises about three inches from the ground. That means we must eat now and set up camp as soon as possible; where's Sora and Tai?" he asked finally noticing their absence.
"They're exploring." Explained Matt.
"Oh man!" Izzy groaned, "This is not good. This is not good at all!"
"Why?" asked T. K.
"Well, they better return soon, legend has it that a prince and a princess from different galaxies fell in love and ran out here to be together. The girl's grandmother was a gypsy, and she placed a spell on the two lovers that made them separate. Apparently the two galaxies hated one another that they'd rather kill the two lovers rather than let them stay together. So a great wind blew them apart, to the two farthest corners of the desert, and cursed them. They spent years upon years searching for one another, when they finally reached each others arms, they just dropped dead-"
"What does that have to do with Sora and Tai?" Mimi interrupted.
Izzy glared at her, a look of disgust betraying him, "If you'd just shut up and listen then I'd tell you!" he reprimanded, then turned to the rest of the group, his voice calm again, "no single male and female can travel this desert alone at night. The winds will think it's the doomed lovers and separate them. If that happens, when Sora and Tai meet again..." a grim look veiled his face as he looked past them and at the sun, "...when the sun touches the horizon, they'll be thrown apart."
"Call her..." Matt urged, "I'm sure that Ms. T packed a phone with Sora!"
"But..." T. K. began.
Izzy pulled out his laptop and placed it carefully on his crossed legs. He typed away madly, every couple of minutes he glanced up at the sun, then his watch while mumbling inaudible things to himself.
After a couple of trys, Izzy looked at the rest of the group. The look on his face confirmed their troubles, and weighed down their hearts with worry and guilt.
"Trouble?" asked Mimi unbelievably.
"At this rate, the sun will touch the horizon in exactly two hours and five minutes. But according to my calculations, they're exactly two hours away; with Sora's turned ankle, it'd take twice as long for them to get here..."
"Call her!" Matt shouted.
"No reception..." Izzy whispered looking longingly at the computer screen.
"Send her an instant message!" Matt growled.
"I can't, her phone...I can't..." Izzy cried, pushing his laptop away and staring into Matt's ice blue eyes, "...I can't Matt."
Matt softened; the look on Izzy's face was one of grievance. A tear escaped from his tear ducts and slid down Izzy's soft face. For the first time in Izzy's life, he felt completely out of control. He usually took care of the situation, but this time his attempts were fruitless, he had absolutely no jurisdiction over what was happening.
"Don't worry," Matt sighed sitting beside him and patting his shoulder, "I'm sure they know to be back before nightfall."
~***~
"...And how are we going to get there before nightfall?" asked Sora as she limped behind him slowly.
They walked a little farther as Tai dissected the dilemma in his head. He stopped abruptly, and took off his luggage.
"What?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Put this tuff on and get on my back..."
"Nice try..." she laughed.
"No really, it'll take a long time for us to get back, but if I ..."
"OK," she interrupted, "you're explanations usually take years." She smiled pulling his bags over her head.
Putting her on his back piggyback style, he trudged through the desert, to him it feeling much more slowly.
A/N: I think I've got Carpel Tunnel. Sorry it's taken me so long, but I'm really happy with this one, it only took me a couple of hours to type this. I'm so happy. R&R please, I suffer from low self-esteem and these reviews make all the difference in the world. I was on retreat this month, so I was bored to death, that's how come I could write this one so fast.
P.S. happy b-days to my amigs: Sparky, Brinklei, Liliangel, and Sherlyn whose b-days are all this month. Oh yeah and Brinklei, happy President's Day!
P. P. S. I'm going to Michigan next Friday, so wish me luck; we're going to visit colleges and then race in tanks (rowing) so I hope we win!
P.P.P.S. oh yeah, pray for me, I've got two major tests on Tuesday, one in Global Studies on the Middle East, and the other in Chemistry. Pray that I pass them both please. And Celena if you're reading this, stop wishing me death! J/k
P. P. P. P. S. and before I forget, Jameaux means twin in French, it's the feminine of the word b'cuz it's mosaic's sister. And Soliel is Sunny's real name. Soliel means Sun in French, that's how she got her nickname. And if you don't get it by now, I've got French in my family, and I'm taking it in skool.
Buh bye
Yo-yo