She Loves Me She Loves Me Not: Part 6
LeaMarie F. Metallium

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, and Tiki owns herself. SC and Lucky do too. The only things that I own are LeaMarie. And I didn't own them in the last three chapters, either.

Lea opened the apartment door and walked in. Almost, imminently she came face to face with Tai. "You're late."
"No, I'm not. If you'd looked out the peephole, you'd seen me standing at the door with Matt."
"Oh, and what were you two doing that you couldn't come inside?" Tai asked.
Lea smiled. "Telling each other things."
"Like what," Tai asked crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Like, I love you," Lea responded grinning.
"He told you that?" Tai asked looking surprised.
Lea nodded her head. "Yes! I've got to go use the phone!" She took off running for the phone.
Lea grabbed the phone and dialed the number.
"Hello?" Joe asked sounding half-awake.
"Hi, Joe! I need to talk to Tiki!" Lea announced excitedly.
"Sure. Tiki, Lea's on the phone and she sounds really hyper."
Lea could hear the phone being moved around. "What'd you do?"
"Guess!"
"Broke your boyfriend?"
"NO!"
"Made kissy faces."
"Yes, but that's not it."
"Confessed your undying love for each other."
"Practically!"
"YEAH! TELL TIKI!"
"Well, after our date Matt walked me home, and when we got to the door, I was just about to walk in when he stopped me. Then he stuttered a bit, and then he told me he loved me! I told him I loved him back then we kissed!"
"Oh that's so sweet!"
"Then before he left I gave it to him."
"Gave what to him?"
"The crystal!"
"Oh..."
"I finally did it!" Lea announced excitedly.
"Second!" Tiki covered the phone. "Joe! They finally confessed they're undying love for each other!" Tiki yelled, excitedly.
"WHO?"
"Lea and Matt!" Then back to Lea. "He looks surprised," she whispered.
Lea giggled, smiling. "This is so cool!"
"Well you sound really happy! Wouldn't it be nice to have JOE confess his undying love for me?"
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? TIKI-"
"He's blushing," Tiki whispered into the phone.
"I AM NOT!" Joe screamed, obviously hearing her comment.
"Joe, honey, you are too much fun to pick on."
"Give him a couple of more days," Lea told her.
"I don't think a couple days will inspire love all of a sudden," Tiki murmured.
"Maybe not love, but a least a kiss."
Tiki fell silent.
"You're blushing, aren't you?" Lea giggled.
"I AM NOT!" Tiki cried, childishly.
"YES YOU ARE!"
"I AM NOT!"
"YES SHE IS!" Joe cried out.
"JOE, YOU MEANIE!"
Lea heard the phone drop and hit soft cushions. Feet running from the phone.
Joe picked up the phone. "She...eh...ran from the room. So what was she blushing about anyway?"
"You mean she really was blushing? I was just kidding!" Lea asked in amazement.
"So, what was she blushing about?" Joe insisted.
"Oh, just something about kissing," Lea said smirking.
"Oh, I can see why she left then."
"You're blushing too, aren't you?" Lea asked.
Joe hung up the phone.
"Hello? Dork," Lea muttered, when she realized she'd been hung up on. Shrugging she hung up the phone.

Matt sat down on his bed. Once again, he was the only one home. It was starting to get kind of lonely, having no one to tell the latest news too. Well he could tell Lea, but she already knew. Matt looked at the box she'd given him. He opened it up and pulled out a long, red crystal, attached to a black cord by a silver wire wrapped artistically around the top. Inside there was his crest, with little flames at the bottom.
"Wow," he whispered. He slipped it around his neck. He continued to look it over until he noticed the colors of the room had changed slightly. Looking up he saw what looked like to be Lea, but her hair was tinted red, as were her eyes. The red, tank top style dress she wore went down to her feet.
"Hello, Matt," She said simply.
"Who are you?" He asked standing up.
"I'm called FireSoul," She responded.
"You look like Lea," Matt muttered.
"Yes. She's the Elemental DigiDestined of Fire."
Matt sat down on the bed. "Why are you here?" He asked looking her over.
"I was asked to be."
Matt sighed. "You and Lea...Are?" Matt asked.
"She has the body, I have the soul."
"Whah?"
"Don't worry." FireSoul moved closer to Matt. "Everything will be explained to you when the time comes." FireSoul smiled a bit. "I'm glad you were chosen."
The phone rang, snapping Matt awake. "Was that a dream?" He asked himself. He looked down at the crystal. "I don't think it was..." The phone continued to ring. "Coming!" Matt yelled at the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Matt."
"Hey, TK. What's up?"
"Just making sure you're home alone," TK responded.
Matt rolled his eyes. "I am. I dropped Lea off at the apartment about-" Matt glanced at the clock. "2 hours ago!" Matt blinked.
"You sound surprised, what's going on?"
"I could've sworn that I just got home," Matt muttered.
"Did you fall asleep?" TK asked.
"I must have," Matt concentrated, trying to remember just when he got home.
"So what did you guys do on your date?" TK asked, politely.
"We went out for dinner, then we took a walk. Then I walked her home. We didn't do a whole lot of stuff." Matt thought about telling Lea he loved her and the crystal that she gave him.
"Kinda sounds like you're not telling me something," TK replied suspiciously.
"Well, the two of us are going to be an item for quite sometime," Matt responded.
"Oh? Why's that?"
"I told her I love her."
"YOU TOLD HER THAT?" TK demanded.
"Yes, I did!"
Matt could sense TK trying to gather his thoughts. "Did you mean it?" He asked finally.
"Yes. And I still do."
"How'd she respond?"
"She told me she loves me too." Matt smiled remembering those three words.
"Sounds like you're happy, so I am too," TK said smiling.
"Thanks, little bro...Shouldn't you be in bed? You've got school tomorrow."
"And you don't?"
"Ok, ok. I'll go to bed too. Night TK."
"Night Matt."
The two brothers hung up the phones.

Lea opened her eyes. The phone was ringing.
"Who in the worlds would be calling now?" Lea asked.
"I don't know, and I don't care!" Kari responded sticking her head under the pillow.
"Lea, phone!" Mrs. Kamiya yelled.
"They're gonna die!" Lea muttered getting up.
"Hello?"
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Lea! Happy birthday to you!"
Lea smiled. "Thanks, Sis. Thanks, Joe."
"You didn't sing it right!" Tiki complained. "You didn't sing 'dear'!"
"So?" Joe could be heard asking in the background.
"Anyway, happy birthday, Lea!" Tiki chirruped.
"Thanks," Lea said still smiling.
"We'll I'll let you get ready for school, now."
"OK, did you get registered?"
"Yep! So I'll see you at school."
Lea hung up the phone, and went back to her room.
"Who was it?" Kari asked, still under the pillow.
"Tiki and Joe," Lea responded pulling on some clean clothes.
"What did they want?"
"To wish me a happy birthday. You'd better get up. You're going to be late."
"Time?"
Lea glanced at the clock. "About half an hour."
"Yikes!"

Lea opened her locker, to find it stuffed with balloons. They covered most of her books. One balloon had written in black marker, 'Happy Birthday, Lea'
Lea laughed. "How did you get my com?" She asked, shaking her head.
"Hey, Cutie!" Matt called out to her.
"Hi!" Lea walked up and wrapped her arms around him.
Matt leaned in and kissed her. "So, how are you doing?"
"Good. I'm having a pretty good day."
"Oh? And why's that?" Matt asked pulling her closer.
"Tiki's enrolled in school now, and I'm being held by you. I don't think this could get any better."
Matt smiled "Could it get better if I told you that I love you?"
"Yes, and I love you too," Lea responded.
"Shall we get going?" Matt asked. "I'm supposed to be at a soccer meeting in five minutes."
"Sure. I'm supposed to meet Tiki outside the main office."
"We're going to eat lunch together, aren't we?" Matt asked nervously.
"Of course! I love eating lunch with you."
"Good, I'll leave you here," Matt told her, motioning to the office.
"Thanks, Hon! I'll talk to you at lunch."
"Great! See ya!"
Lea waved as Matt walked away.
Lea only had to wait a few seconds when Tiki walked out of the office followed shortly by the principal.
"Thank you, Sir." Tiki replied politely.
"Should I assign a student to show you around?"
Tiki noticed Lea standing about a yard away. "No, that's alright. That girl looks like she can show me around. Can't you?" Tiki raised her voice.
"That depends on if you were the one that jammed my locker with balloons." Lea replied walking up to her.
"Um...can I plead the fifth?" Tiki asked grinning.
Lea shook her head. "Nope! Wrong country." Then to the principal, "Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't get too lost."
"Great. You do know where the gym is, don't you?" He asked.
"No, but my friends can show us the way," Lea responded politely.
"Good! Now you two, don't be late for class," He said and walked off.
"I wonder why we have to know where the gym is. You don't have gym do you?" Lea asked Tiki.
"No."
"Oh, well. Let's get going."

Matt smiled at the two girls sitting at the table.
"Whoa! Who's the chick next to Lea?" Torri asked Matt.
"Her name's Tiki. And she's already got a boyfriend," Matt warned him.
"Oh? Who's the lucky guy?"
"Joe Kido," Matt tossed over his shoulder. "Is this seat taken?" Matt asked Lea playfully.
"Sadly, yes. It's taken for my boyfriend, not some hottie like you," Lea kidded.
Tiki rolled her eyes. "You two don't flirt all lunch hour do you?"
"No, not the whole time," Lea responded.
"Did you guys hear about the assembly?" Matt asked.
"No, what's up?" Lea returned.
Matt chuckled, "Well with all the things that've been happening I kinda of forgot this is our soccer team's homecoming."
"Really? Fun!" Lea exclaimed happily.
"They're going to be going through everything at the assembly," Matt exclaimed. "I've even heard about a dance."
"Now, that sounds like fun!" Tiki exclaimed.
"I ran into the others, and the girls said they'd save you two a coupla seats." Matt smiled.
Tiki took a bite of her food. "I hope Joe can go to the dance," she mused.
Matt and Lea looked at her slightly surprised.
"That would be you," Lea commented.
Matt shook his head and started eating.
"So, Lea?" Tiki asked grinning. "How does it feel to be 17?"
Lea shrugged. "Same as it did to be 16."
Matt choked, "When did you turn 17?" He demanded.
"Some time during first hour," Lea responded taking a bite out of a cookie.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Matt yelled.
Lea shrugged, "It's no biggie."
"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! OF COURSE IT'S A BIGGIE!" Matt yelled even louder.
Lea covered the side of her face with her hand. "Not so loud," she whispered to Matt.
"Sorry, but why didn't you tell me?" Matt asked sounding hurt.
"Not many people have ever cared about my birthday. Having people who haven't known me vary long and caring is still new."
Matt scooted closer to her and took her hand. "Lea, I love you! I care about stuff like this!"
Lea and Matt looked at each other for a little bit, until Tiki said, "Is it time to go, or do people just like getting up?"
"Oops! Come on time for class!" Matt announced standing up. "The assembly's scheduled for ten minutes into the class," Matt told them as they threw the trays in the pile. "I have to go report to Coach," Matt explained running off.
"Are you sure you two aren't always that mushy?" Tiki asked.
"Ok, we're not usually that mushy!" Lea giggled.

Matt sat between Tai and Davis watching the people walk into the gym.
"So what's new, Matt?" Tai asked.
"Did you know that today's Lea's birthday?" Matt asked suddenly.
"Yeah, Mom's planning on making a special dinner for her," Tai responded.
"She never told me about it," Matt replied.
"Don't worry about it. She's still adjusting to everything around here."
"This is making me nervous," TK announced for the other side of Davis.
"Why, PK? Don't like all the attention?" Davis asked sarcastically.
TK just ignored him, and continued to look for the others.
"Hey look! There's the girls!" Tai yelled pointing at the stands.
"Matt!" June's voice rang out through the gym. "I love you!"
"Oh, gawd!" Matt muttered. "Lea! Hey!" Matt yelled spotting his girlfriend.
She waved to him, and smiled.
"Meet me after!" Matt called to her.
Tiki suddenly pulled Lea down, pointing in the direction of June.
Matt smiled noticing how Lea didn't seem worried as Davis's sister glared daggers at her.
"I don't think I'd be so calm after ticking off June," Davis muttered to Matt. "She's scary when she's mad."
"I don't think Lea has to worry any," Matt replied as the girls sat huddled together talking.

"Who'd think, down there is our little soccer stars!" Lea beamed down at the group.
Tiki rolled her eyes. "You hardly even cared about soccer before. I mean, you use to play then you just dropped it!"
"It got to hard to keep it up. Oh, Matt's waving!" Lea suddenly waved back.
"Meet me after!" Matt yelled up to her.
Tiki noticed a girl with spiky brown hair glaring at Lea.
"Lea, sit!" Tiki ordered pulling her down to the bench.
"What?" Lea demanded.
"That girl's giving you the death glare," Tiki pointed down to the girl.
"I wonder who she is?" Lea asked looking the girl over.
"Don't know, but she kinda looks like she could be Davis's sister," Tiki replied looking down at her.
"Which one?" Kari asked looking around.
"That one!" Tiki continued to point. "With the hair."
"Oh, yeah. That's his sister alright."
"Oh, damn. Here comes Mimi," Lea growled softly.
Mimi sat down in front of Yolei.
"Hey ever one! Isn't this exciting?" Mimi bubbled.
"Look at all the cute boys!" Yolei cried out looking at the soccer team.
"Matt!" Mimi yelled causing Tiki and Lea to wince.
Matt looked up and waved a little.
Tiki glanced at Lea. "Lea, chill," Tiki whispered.
Lea nodded her head. "Right, chill. Calm."
Mimi glanced over at Lea. "So, how are you and Matt doing? I heard you two had a fight at lunch," she fished.
"Just a minor misunderstanding," Lea forcefully smiled.
"Oh dear! Did you two make up?" Mimi asked with false concern.
Tiki was begging to think she was going to have to pin Lea down.
"Of curse we made up! After all, we are in love," Lea commented slyly.
"Oh? And has he said as much?"
"Yes, and he repeated it at lunch," Tiki told her.
Mimi glared at Lea. "How sweet."

Matt stood by the door waiting for Lea.
He smiled as he saw her coming.
"Hey, Lea!"
Lea ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Hey, Hon, you wanted to see me?"
"Yeah, I was wond- oh, hi, Mimi," Matt cut off his question.
She smiled triumphantly at Lea.
Matt noticed and pulled Lea closer to him and wrapped his arms around her waist and shoulders.
Mimi's smile faded.
"So, what's going on?" She asked cautiously.
"Nothing much. I was just about to ask Lea about a date," Matt old her giving Lea squeeze.
Mimi looked into Matt's eyes for a second. "Well I guess I'll let you two talk," Mimi told them leaving.
"Before we're interrupted again, would you like to go out for dinner and then some clubbing on Friday night?" Matt asked smiling down at her.
"Sounds-"
"Matt!" June yelled running up to them.
"Hello, June," Matt responded tiredly.
"Who's this?" She asked glaring at Lea.
"This is LeaMarie, my girlfriend," Matt proudly told her, giving Lea another squeeze.
"Girlfriend! But I thought I was your girlfriend!" June cried eyes starting to fill with tears.
"June, you're too young for me," Matt told her gently.
"I see." Then June took off running.
"That was awkward," Lea muttered dryly.
"I've tried telling her gently, but she never listens," Matt offered.
"I know. But some times you got to be a little hard on people."
"I suppose. So what were you going to say?"
"I was saying, sounds great!"
"Great! Is it ok if I ask Tai if he and Sora want to come too?"
"Only if I can ask Tiki and Joe," Lea responded.
"Great! We'd better get going. I don't want you to miss the bus," Matt told her as he released her.
"Alright. I have to get going, I guess."
"Oh, by the way do you want to go to the school dance with me?"
Lea smiled at him. "I don't know. I mean I guess I could," Lea smiled suddenly. "Of course I want to go. Did you really even have to ask?"
"Ok."
"Now, I guess I really should get going before I miss the bus," Lea told him as she left.
"I really wonder if this school's ready for her and Tiki," Matt muttered.

Lea smiled at the array of food. There was yaki soba, green tea ice cream, a white cake with chocolate icing, and udon soup. "Wow! This looks great!" Lea gushed.
"Thanks. I hope it's all right. I've never used some of those recipes," Mrs. Kamiya said looking a little nervous.
Tai looked the food over as Lea took a bite.
"It's good," Lea commented.
"Wow! You're right!" Tai exclaimed.
Tai's mom smiled happily. "Thank you."
The family started to talk, and talk about the past.
Lea looked around at the happy family. Tai and Kari's dad was picking on Tai about Sora, and their mother was telling Lea some of the things Tai had done in the past.
Is this really what a family is? Lea asked herself. Could I ever be part of something like this?

Lea sat on her bed reading a book.
"Lea, I'm bored!" A familiar aura filled the room.
"Go start a forest fire some place," Lea commented dryly still reading the book.
"It's too wet outside!" FireSoul whined.
Lea set the book down. "What do you want to do?" She asked like you'd ask a small child.
"Play?"
Lea chuckled.
"What?"
"You sound like a five year old."
FireSoul glared at her.
"I'm sorry! There's really nothing to do around here."
"Wanna talk?" FireSoul asked bouncing onto the bed.
"Sure. I don't see why not," Lea responded scooting around to see FireSoul better.
They both sat there staring at each other.
"How was your day?" FireSoul asked looking to start some sort of conversation.
"Pretty good. Matt yelled at me, though."
"Why did he yell at you?" FireSoul demanded.
"I didn't tell him about my birthday," Lea explained.
"Well that's no reason for him to yell at you! He'd better have apologized or I'll-"
"We made up!" Lea said loudly interrupted FireSoul. "He was more hurt than anything that I didn't tell him."
FireSoul's eyes filled with confusion. "Why was he hurt?"
Lea smiled at the somewhat innocent element. For being related to passion, she didn't always get it. "I think it's like this. He wants to know as much about me as he can. And he wants me to trust him with that information. And he wants me to be happy," Lea explained a bit.
"So...he wants your trust?" FireSoul asked tipping her head to the side slightly.
Lea smiled. "Yes. That's mostly it."
"Oh! But isn't that something that has to be earned?"
"Yeah. And I think he has, don't you?" Lea asked smiling at her.
"Has he? I'm not totally sure about that," FireSoul told Lea nervously.
"I think he proved it today. He asked me out again, and we were interrupted several times, but he told off some girl who thought that he was hers, and then he got Mimi to leave us alone," Lea recalled.
"He got rid of Mimi! Good I really hated that girl!" FireSoul announced.
Lea laughed. "You and me both!"
The two looked at each other again for a bit. "You look different," FireSoul pointed out. "Did you do something different with your hair?"
"No, I don't think so," Lea glanced at the tips of her hair.
FireSoul studied Lea's face, peering close enough to startle Lea and then stepping back again, critical look making Lea nervous.
"What?" Lea cried, finally getting annoyed.
"It's bothering me now! I've never seen you look like this! It's... weird..."
"Bad weird, or good weird?"
"Still just unsettling," FireSoul sighed, sitting down on the bed again. "What's wrong with this picture?"
Lea smiled a little nervously. "Come on, it can't be that bad..."
FireSoul looked at her. "I don't know what's wrong and it is therefore bad. When I figure it out, I'll tell you."
"Okay... Have it your way..." Lea sighed, Sitting down on the bed next to her and flopping backwards. She stared at the ceiling, smiling faintly to herself.
A good five minutes passed in silence, in which Lea had closed her eyes and started to fall asleep. She was snapped awake, however, by the victorious cry of FireSoul.
"I know what it is!" she cried.
"What what is?" Lea asked, irate.
"Why you look different!" FireSoul bent down in front of the now sitting Lea, nose barely two inches away from her, and said, "For once, you actually look happy." She giggled her excitement, spinning in the center of the room and disappearing in a swirl of flames and a faintly sulfuric smell.
Lea blinked in surprise at the verdict, then realized that it was true. She smiled, amused at her counterpart's excitement, and lay back in the bed properly. She took comfort in the heat left where FireSoul had sat moments before as Lea fell asleep.

Tai stood in the opening of the hall, watching Lea and Kari rush around trying to finish getting ready. He couldn't believe the girls hadn't crashed into each other yet in their hurried states.
"I'm going to go pick up Sora now," Tai called, wondering if they even heard him in their rush. "Matt and TK should be here in about ten."
"Thanks, Tai!" Lea called, then turned to Kari and asked, "Could you snap me?" She raised her arm and indicated a hook on the dress just outside of reach.
"Yeah, sure," Kari responded, beginning a battle that would reserve the next two minutes of their lives.
Tai shook his head and laughed.
Neither of the girls noticed he'd left until the doorbell rang.
"Coming!" Lea yelled, jumping over a small pile of clothes on her way to the door.
She flung it open and stopped dead in her tracks.
"Matt," she sighed in amazement. "You look great!"
Matt was wearing a sharp, black tuxedo, hair still comb-streaked from the shower. He had one hand resting on his hip, the other hanging down behind his back. He looked uncomfortably nervous. Then he saw Lea.
His eyes widened, and his cheeks colored slightly.
"Lea, you look... Really good... REALLY good..." He said, unable to get his mouth to close.
Lea blushed a little. "Tiki and I got these from Uncle David. He'd asked us our sizes and then had them tailor made for us." She glanced down at herself. It was a black dress that stretched to half way down her shins, with a slit going up her right side to her hip. There were frog buttons holding it closed along her left side, slitting the rest of the way down from her hip. It was lacking in sleeves, except for cuffs acting as bracelets on her wrists, and the front was held up by a Chinese style collar. The cloth on her shoulder wrapped around to cover her back. The hem of the dress and the buttons were a blood red color. All in all, she looked beautiful.
TK looked at his brother, at Lea, and back to his brother. "Will one of you get out of the doorway before I push both of you into a bedroom?"
"Sorry!" Lea said, almost jumping out of the way. Matt stepped quietly out of the doorframe to let his brother pass, obviously embarrassed.
Turning to the interior of the apartment, Lea called, "Kari, they're here!"
"Just a second!" She called back.
"Yeah, I need to go finish fixing my hair," Lea told them.
"Just a second," Matt cut in. "I want to give you this." He held out a small box. "It's for your birthday," he explained shyly.
"Thanks!" She quickly unwrapped the present: Two silver butterfly clips.
"Oh! They're beautiful!" she cried, jumping up to kiss his cheek.
"I'm glad you like them," he said, hugging her.
"I do! Let me go put them in!" With that, she rushed off into the apartment.
Matt stepped inside and closed the door, then turned to see TK shaking his head.
"You're taking her out tomorrow. You couldn't just leave it at that?"
Kari stepped out, silencing any further argument.
"Wow, Kari, you look wonderful!" TK told her, looking at her pink, tank top- style dress.
"It's not too short, is it?" She asked, glancing down quickly. TK looked at the end of the skirt, which stopped at mid-thigh.
"No!" he exclaimed. "Not at all! Why do you ask?"
"Tai was giving her a hard time about it," Lea explained, stepping out with her hair pulled nicely back.
"Shall we go?" TK asked, looking at his watch.
Matt grabbed Lea's coat, holding it up for her to pull it on, and TK mirrored his brother's actions for Kari. Lea hooked her arm around Matt's, and led the small procession out the door.

TK, Kari, Matt, and Lea stood just inside the gym doors.
"Wow! This place looks great!" Kari exclaimed in amazement.
Matt smiled and took Lea's coat off her shoulders and handed it to the coat check.
"Wanna go dance?" Matt asked Lea.
"Yeah." Matt wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Those two are sure cute together," Kari commented.
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right," TK sighed. "She does make him happy."
"I think they make each other happy," Kari said, smiling at the two as they danced. "C'mon, let's go join them!"
They took a step towards the floor, then stopped dead when they saw Joe.
"Look at him!" Kari exclaimed.
"Look at Tiki," TK added, eyes wide.
Joe was dancing in a shiny blue shirt that moved like liquid as he danced, black slacks trying to keep up with his steps, hair pulled out of his face with a black hair tie. Tiki was wearing a dress identical to Lea's, except where Lea's dress was red, Tiki's was green, and the buttons were on the opposite side. Both were dancing surprisingly close to each other.
"I didn't know he could dance," Kari said.
"Wanna go see if we can dance better?" TK asked, grinning slyly at her. She smiled back, and the pair hurried out onto the floor.
Davis stepped inside just ahead of Sora and Tai. They'd arrived at the same time, and he'd gaped in awe at the pair. Tai was wearing a simple black outfit, and Sora was wearing a pale blue dress held up by spaghetti straps that looked about ready to snap. It conformed to her body, Davis's reason to gape and Tai's reason to threaten a hard smack to the back of his head.
He skipped ahead and through the doors, immediately starting to scan the crowds for Kari. He glowered at TK when he found her- the two were dancing close, not enough to be touching but too close for Davis's comfort. He was about to run in and interrupt when June stopped him.
"Daviiis!" She wailed. "Matt's not dancing with me!"
"Do you ever think maybe that's because he's got a girlfriend?" He snapped, trying to look past her for any sign of Kari.
June glared at him, miffed, and said, "Well what about Kari? She's got a boyfriend!"
"That's different!" He snapped. "Guys are supposed to steal the girls away from evil boyfriends! Girls get in catfights!"
" Davis!" She cried. "Don't be so insensitive!" With that, she ran to the bathroom.
Davis turned back to the crowd, but Kari had disappeared with TK. (He never found out, but Kari had seen him and dragged TK off to a distant area of the gymnasium.) He spun in a circle, trying to find her, then walked back to Tai and Sora.
"Did you see where Kari went?" he asked. They didn't answer. "Hello?"
" Davis," Tai started. "Look..."
Davis looked. "Whoa! Joe can DANCE!"
At this point, Joe looked up to see everyone looking at him. He waved nervously, grabbed Tiki's wrist, and pulled her close to whisper something to her. They saw her nod, and the two took off to the back of the gym and disappeared altogether.
"That was... surreal," Sora muttered. "I didn't know he could dance!"
"He can! Tiki unlocked that special part of him that makes him confident that way!"
The three turned in surprise to see Tom, one of the boys from Soccer, standing behind them.
"Oh? And how do you know?" Davis asked.
"Because I was there when she did it. They were at a club, and she taught him how to loosen up." He shrugged. "It was pretty cool to watch, needless to say..."
"I can imagine!" Sora exclaimed. "He's really loosened up since we were kids, but not that much!"
"Well, apparently he has," Tai murmured. "Wow, that's cool!"
Meanwhile, Lea and Matt were having quite a time in a verbal war someone- they forgot who- started with TK and Kari.
"Yeah, well, my girlfriend is wearing a better dress!"
"Nuh uh! Kari's is WAY better!"
"Why do I feel like a victim all of a sudden?"
"I'm with you... How'd we get into this?"
"I don't know... Wanna switch dresses?"
"That would fix this argument for a while... But Tiki and I kinda planned to wear our better dresses tonight, the matching ones, so..."
"Ah, loyalty to a friend. Understood! Personally, I like your dress better."
"Thanks, Kari! I would like yours, but..." Lea smiled apologetically, "I'm not much of one for pink..."
Kari giggled. "That's all right. TK likes it, don't you TK?"
"It's a great dress on you, way better than LEA's dress!" he said pointedly, glaring at Matt.
"What's wrong with my dress!" Lea cried indignantly. "Keep picking on it and you'll hurt its feelings!"
"What? Uhm, There's nothing wrong with it, I just like Kari's better!" TK hadn't counted on Lea getting involved.
"Oh, come on, Lea, you might look cute in pink," Matt said, not paying attention to his brother anymore.
"Oh really?" She said, feigning annoyance. "Come on, Kari, we're gonna go switch dresses!"
"What about Tiki?"
"She'll understand! I've got to make a point that Lea doesn't look good in pink!"
"I think she's pushing this a little too far," TK said to Matt. The brothers launched towards their girlfriends as Lea and Kari began a mad dash for the bathrooms.
"What?" Lea cried as Matt ensnared her in a hug.
"Don't change, I like this dress way better," He said softly.
Lea blushed faintly. "Really? Thanks."
TK had grabbed Kari's shoulders and spun her to face him. "Don't change your dress! I like the one you have on!"
"Why? Do you like pink that much?"
"Yes! Er, no, I mean... It looks good on you, okay?"
She giggled at him. "Okay."
They were about to return to dancing when their digivices started to beep at them.
"What's this?" Lea wondered aloud, holding hers up and looking at the screen.
"I think we need to find a quiet corner," Matt said.
"This is not the time for that, Matt!" Lea responded sharply.
"That's not what I meant!" He cried. "I meant that we need to investigate this where other people can't see it!"
The four ran for a corner of the gym behind the bleachers to find Tiki and Joe already there, their digivices flashing. It wasn't much longer until Sora, Tai, Davis, Yolei, Mimi, Izzy, and Cody gathered in, all thinking the same thought.
"What's going on?" Tiki asked, giving Lea a questioning look.
"I don't know," she was about to respond, but at that point, their small machines began projecting a message through the screens and speakers to them.
"This is the Digimon Emperor, Ken!" Came the voice. On the screen, Ken smiled wickedly out. "I thought you DigiDestined would like to know that I've discovered a power great enough to destroy you all with its hands tied behind it's back! That will teach you to mess with me!" His cackle faded out, and the digivices stopped glowing. The group looked up and around at each other.
"Now what do we do?" Kari asked softly.
"I... don't know..." Tiki responded, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I suppose all we can do is wait..."

Author's note:
Tiki: Incase you couldn't tell, Tiki came in and helped out again!
Lea: Only the last like, three pages...
Tiki: That's not the point, I still helped.
Lea: rolls eyes whatever. And by the way, how is it that you and Joe got behind the bleachers so fast?
Tiki: ... We were already there?
Lea: clicks tongue you are not a very good girl.
Tiki: Joe knows!
Lea: Too much info!
Tiki: Need I remind you of that little scene with Matt a little while ago?
Lea: Shut up!
Tiki: Keep an eye out for Tiki's side of the story, soon to be posted at FF.N, and remember: Big sister's watching you... "Spooky eyes" the reader Oh yeah, and Chapter 7 will be coming out soon...