Chapter Three...

lol, thank you everyone who's sticking with me this long...writing three fanfics at once is kinda a toughie...but I love pressure! Anyway, I'm sorry to everyone that it took so long to get this chapter up! Please forgive! *begs* Please? Okay, here it is.

It wasn't the smell of ordinary food that woke up the ever-sleepy Tai, no, not at all. It was the smell of great food. He hadn't smelled something quite as good since they found the refrigerator of eggs in the middle of the woods, and then he'd been almost starving! Following his nose, he practically sleep-walked down to the dining room, where a huge dining table was set up with eight places. Drool would have been running down his mouth, but it was completely dry from just waking up. Half asleep, he jumped when Destiny's voice said from behind him, "Go on, sit down and eat...you look terrible, by the way."

Turning to her, he saw that he had no argument. She looked as if she'd been awake for a while, her black hair flowing over her shoulder as she stood in a light coat and gloves, for show, obviously, and looked ready to go out. He couldn't help but stare just a moment longer than was necessary before he asked, "Where're you going?"

"To get some medicine for Uncle Jeni. You all can visit with him until I return; he's resting on the sunbed in the living room. And I suggest you prepare to go see Agumon and the others until I get back. We're leaving as soon as possible to avoid difficulties."

"Yes, ma'am," Tai replied mockingly, rolling his eyes as she sighed and turned around. For the lack of hair covering the back of her neck, his eyes caught onto a heavy mark, and narrowed in suspicion as he observed it aloud, "Some scar...looks like a digimon attacked you head on..."

Destiny spun around, eyes locking onto his and boring angrilly into them, "Don't say anything about the scar again, please." Her voice was laced with heavy warning, she was obviously infuriated that she had let him see the scar. Throwing her hair over her shoulder, she glanced back at him once more, face tense, "And I'd prefer it if you'd not tell any of the others about it..."

"Riiight, okay, Miss Secretive...I get it," Tai mumbled, nodding in agreement. With a small sigh of what could have been relief, she waved, as if to say "thank you" and went back outside. Tai sat down at the table, and devoured his breakfast. It wasn't long before the delicious smell drew some of the other digidestined downstairs, all looking just as ragged and sleepy-eyed as he did. "Goo moanin," he said through a mouthful of food, offering a closed-mouth grin to Kari, T.K., Sora, and Joe as they joined him.

"Good morning!" they chorused. Then Kari added, "Hungry, are you?"

"Grrmmm," he growled, giving her a warning look as she laughed playfully.

"Where's Destiny?" Joe asked, as Matt and Izzy came in as well. Tai paused long enough to explain to them the girl's whereabouts, and Joe and Izzy both sighed sadly.

"Darn it...we missed her," Izzy said, looking across the table at his fellow depressed gentleman.

"Yeah..."

"Wait, do I sense two crushes on our Digital Guardian, here?" Matt asked, grinning.

"You said she was hot yourself, remember?" Sora grumbled, elbowing her boyfriend.

Finally, Mimi joined them, yawning, "I had an awful dream..."

"Oh?" Joe asked, suddenly interested in Mimi. "What was it?"

"Well, in the dream, there were three Destiny's, but one had green eyes, the other had blue. And Destiny was crying, and then every one of us died."

"O...kay..." Everyone decided to pitch in with cleaning up, then went into the living room to see Jeni waiting for them. He was sitting up in bed, but with his usually closed eyes, they couldn't tell if he was looking outside or just staring off into space.

"Hey, Jeni," Kari said, jumping up onto the sun bed beside of him and giving him a hug. Jeni looked at her, and his look could have been called a grin.

"Oh, hello, children! I didn't realize you were here already! Seems my niece is more efficient than even I!" he said bashfully.

"Yeah, you could say that again," Tai muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Also seems like she's shown you her cold, distant side, eh?" Jeni chuckled tiredly.

"That doesn't matter right now, Jeni...how are you?" Sora said, shooting Tai a look that said to stop the current conversation.

"I've been better, I'll admit," Jeni replied, clearing his throat.

"Destiny says you're very ill...do you know what it is you have?" Izzy asked curiously.

"Doesn't matter, I'm dying. It's as simple as that." Jeni scared them all by saying that, but he scared them more by smiling at the fact. "It's about time too. Destiny has trained her entire life in case this happened...hell, she's trained to keep it from happening."

"To keep it from happening? Whaddaya mean by that?" Mimi questioned.

"You'll know of what I speak when it's time for you to know. Leave it rest with that. I'm so glad to see all of you...make no comments, Tai. I still continue to see even if my eyes are closed." Tai shut his mouth quickly. "Destiny has been taking care of me...eh...she has to have tissues beside my bed constantly, because she cries all over me..." Everyone there looked at him in shock. Destiny, crying?! It seemed rather impossible. "...Now don't look so surprised! She's human, she has emotions! I'm dying! At least she has the decency to cry. I don't see any of you shedding tears."

"Not fair, we're upset about your illness!" Mimi wailed.

Jeni laughed, "I know you are, I know!"

"Okay, then."

"Anyway, when are you going to go visit the digimon?" Jeni asked.

"Destiny said as soon as she got back..." Sora mumbled.

"Well, then, you'd better get ready...she'll be arriving shortly," Jeni informed them, looking out the window, and dozing momentarily. The children took this as their cue to tuck him in and go prepare for Destiny's return. She was home sooner than they'd thought; she waited sitting beside her uncle when the group gathered at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's about time you got back," Tai muttered annoyedly.

"Hm," Destiny's hum was one of complete indifference toward Tai's feelings, and he narrowed his eyes as she stood, going to the door and opening it for them. "Must I give each of you a proper invitation or can you take a hint?"

"Okay, okay, we're coming!" Joe and Izzy said in unison, practically floating behind her. She raised an eye brow, sighed, and went out ahead of them, making the same bubble-path thing that she'd made when they'd arrived, and the Digi-Destined stepped into it just as carefully as before.

After they reached the surface, and the ice re-settled, Destiny commented with a smirk in her voice, but not on her face, "I must say, they'll be glad to see you. They've been talking about you endlessly...it's quite pathetic, really."

"Pathetic? You mean emotion is pathetic?" Tai inquired, then added with a note of mocking, "Miss Teary-Eyes."

Destiny glanced at him over her shoulder, but that one second made him shudder, and not from the cold of the Digital World's winter storm. Having accomplished what she'd set out to do, Destiny merely said, "Step aboard."

The Digi-Destined gasped. Out of nowhere, they were stepping onto a dock that was in midair, and a huge ship, floating on a cloud. Yes, floating. Izzy was bewildered, "How the he--"

"Let's just say I have connections," Destiny interrupted him, throwing looks toward Kari and T.K. Izzy nodded breathlesly, and, when everyone was on the ship, and the docking board dissapeared, a jolt signaled that they were moving forward. Destiny looked up at the sun, barely able to be seen through a flock of snow clouds. "We should be there in about an hour. Being as it's apparently cold out, you'd all better go below the deck."

The already shivering crew nodded, and took her orders...all but Tai and Kari, who weren't about to show her any weakness. They both agreed silently, this girl had some sort of pain in her life, and Kari, being the little generous girl she was, wanted to help, and maybe get Tai and Destiny to be better friends, while Tai just wanted to bring out that pain and use it against her for payback of her coldness toward him. So the trio stood on the ship, sailing through the clouds; one calm and superior-looking, one planning revenge, and one planning the futures of her comrades...

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Hah...hah...yeah...um...