Princess Viv: Yay. Another chapter.
Leafmon: At least you've calmed down now…
Princess Viv: (sheepishly) Sorry.
Chikomon: Crazy, demented wombat!
Princess Viv: hey! I am crazy and demented, I admit, but I am not a wombat!
Chikomon: Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Princess Viv: Oh, shut up. To the reviewers:
Anonymous: Thanks for the review.At least I respect your opinion of J.P. And I didn't get my info from the show cos I haven't watched all the show. I've only watched the first, third, fourth and fifth episodes. How the hell am I supposed to get all the info then, eh? Out of nowhere? And yeah, I am biased. But that's none of your business, is it? If you find this a problem, well shrugs deal with it. I'm certainly not gonna worry. I'm entitled to have my damn opinion. I just don't like the way J.P. acts in the Chinese version (which is the only version I have). The Chinese, by the way, is more accurate than the English version (s), cos they don't miss anything out. You should see him in the Chinese version…maybe you'll have different opinion of him. I just happen to LOVE Kouji/Izumi. And no one can change that. I am a die-hard Kouzumi fan.
LonelyBlueWolf03: Yay, you found it good and funny! Thank you! And I'm really grateful for your review.
SoratoL.O.C.Fan: Hiya…are you the guy that reviewed my Golden Sun story known as BlueRag?!? Well, thanks for the review. I don't actually understand what you're saying, but thanks all the same.
SoJoHunter/Stephanie: Thank you for the review. And yes, you're right.
yUmMyCoWs891: Thanks for the encouragement. And the second movie was so good! I have it on CD!
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digimon: Return To MeChapter 3: Stuck on a mountain
"Okay class, there is a ski trip to Italy soon, so I want you to take this letter home and give it to your parents to read." Miss Hida announced, getting Eva and another girl, Francesca, to pass out the small leaflets of paper. "You must bring this permission slip back too, with your parent's signature, if you wish to go."
"Are you going?" Eva asked Izumi when she read it.
"Well…maybe. I'll see what mum says first."
At Izumi's home after school…"Hello honey. You're home early today." Izumi's mother smiled at her only daughter.
"Hi. Yeah, we were let out early. Hey mum, there's a ski trip coming up at school. Can I go?" Izumi said, sitting down to have snack.
"Really? Where is this ski trip going to be?"
"Italy."
"Really?" Izumi's mother beamed. "Of course you can go, if you want. You haven't been to Italy for many years now. I'm sure you miss it!"
"Okay." Izumi was happy. She would be going back to Italy. She went to phone Eva immediately.
At school the next day…"I can't believe we're both going!" Eva squealed as she talked with Izumi.
"I wonder if the others are going…" Izumi pondered.
At that minute, Kouji walked in with Kouichi. "You know, I can't believe how alike those two look." Eva commented to her best friend. "They could be twins, especially if Kouji took off that bandana and let his hair down. But they can't be related. They have different surnames."
Izumi fidgeted nervously, knowing that the two really were twins. "Yeah, funny, eh?"
Kouji and Kouichi walked up. "Hey girls." Kouichi smiled particularly at Eva, who blushed slightly.
"Hi Kouji, Kouichi." Izumi smiled, glad that the subject was off the twins.
"So, you two gonna go on the ski trip?" Eva asked.
"Yes." Kouji replied, putting his bag down.
Izumi tried not to look too happy. "Really? That makes three of us then."
Kouji looked up, saw her pretty face, and his heart flipped. "God, help me, what is going on?" Kouji groaned inside.
"I should be going too." Kouichi smiled.
Suddenly, Takuya and Keira walked in, silent, and avoiding each other. "Hey Keira, Takuya, over here!" Eva waved. The two came over. Takuya stood beside Kouji and Kouichi, whilst Keira sat with the girls. They didn't argue.
Kouji frowned. He was the only one who noticed his friend's silence. Though he hadn't seen Takuya for almost three years, he still knew him well. Izumi was too wrapped up in her thoughts. Maybe that was for the better.
"Wow Takuya, you're not late today!" Kouichi joked. Takuya managed a small smile.
"We were just talking about the ski trip." Eva announced to the newcomers. "Are you guys going?"
"Yeah." Takuya nodded.
"Great." Keira thought, annoyed, but at the same time, she felt glad. "Yeah." Keira glared at Takuya. "I have to go too."
Takuya rolled his eyes, and muttered something. Miss Hida came in, the teenagers handed their slips to her, and sat down, ready to start their Japanese class.
At lunch break in the cafeteria…"You get to go on a ski trip?" Tommy was listening to Eva.
"Yep." She seemed very enthusiastic, occasionally glancing at Kouichi across the table.
"We went last year." J.P. said to the others. "You have to be in a group of six."
"I guess us guys are sticking together then." Kouji suddenly spoke up. "Takuya and Keira included."
The two of them blushed a little. "Great." Takuya tried to appear annoyed. "Why am I so pleased? Must be because I can torture her more. Yeah, that's why." He thought, trying to convince himself.
Izumi once again didn't seem to notice anything. "Hey, Izumi, you okay?" J.P. frowned, concerned.
"Yeah." she was daydreaming again.
Kouji also frowned. "She's acting weird again." He thought. He looked at J.P. "And recently, J.P. has also been…less clingy towards her…strange. I wonder…" (1)
On the plane to Italy a month later…The three girls were sitting on the window seats. Eva sat in the middle, Izumi by the window, and Keira next to the sidewalk. The boys were behind them. Kouji in the middle, Kouichi on his left, beside the window, and Takuya was behind Keira.
Izumi was looking out of the window, gazing at the sky, thinking of Italy; Eva was reading a book; Kouji was doing nothing, just sitting there; Kouichi was eating a chocolate bar; Takuya was playing his game boy; and Keira sat there, looking very green.
"I don't feel so well…" Keira ran to the toilets, holding her mouth.
"Oh dear." Miss Hida sighed, making an attempt to get up. She sat in the middle row of four seats, with three other teachers.
"It's okay, I'll go." Takuya sighed. He couldn't seem to get past that certain level on his game boy anyway.
Eva looked up at Takuya moving away, as did the two twins. "Scary." Eva muttered. She turned to face her best friend looking out of the window. "What's happening between you and him?" she thought. "You two haven't even kissed, or been on a date since the start of term…since Kouji and Keira arrived…"
Meanwhile, Takuya had reached the toilets. The door was bolted, and he could hear Keira throwing up. "Hey, Keira, you alright?"
"Yeah, I think…" she groaned. She unbolted the door, and stepped out. Keira still looked slightly green. "Oh god…" she started to swoon, and fall.
"Keira!" Takuya cried, and caught her in his arms just in time. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" Keira whimpered. "I know I should've looked at the slip…I didn't know we'd be on a plane…"
Takuya half helped, half carried, and half dragged Keira back to their seats. Izumi suddenly noticed, and seemed alarmed. "Keira, are you okay?" she asked, worried.
"Yeah, thanks." Keira smiled bleakly. She fell asleep, her eyelids slowly closing. Takuya grabbed a blanket and covered her with it.
"I think she'll be fine. Let her sleep." Miss Hida said, coming up. "You did a good job, Takuya. You're being very helpful today. Makes up for your lateness everyday at school." She added.
Takuya sat down again. He looked for his game boy. "Hey, where's it gone?" he frowned.
"What? This thing?" Kouji asked him, holding up a silver, once inch thick box.
"Yeah, thanks." Takuya took it off Kouji, and was about to start again on level seven, when he noticed the writing "game completed" in white on the screen. "What? How come it's completed?"
"Sorry man, I was bored, so I completed the game…hope you don't mind." Kouji answered, getting his small MP3 out of his bag, and beginning to listen to it.
"No, that's fine." Takuya was gob smacked. "But I've been on that level for…about five months now! Wow…"
In Italy the next day…"Right boys and girls." The ski coach, David said. He was pale, and had spiky, fair hair, and pale blue eyes. He wore a white ski suit, and smiled a lot, showing several white teeth.
The whole class was outside, in the snow, on the mountains. For now, the sky had stopped snowing. They wore the same ski outfits, but everyone wore different colours. "This is your first lesson in skiing. Has anyone been skiing before?"
Only Izumi, in her lilac suit, and Kouji, in his navy suit, put their hands up. (2)
"Well, good." David seemed pleased, looking at Kouji, Izumi, Kouichi, Eva and Keira. A group of six…no…wait a minute…five.
"Where is Takuya?" Eva hissed, standing next to Kouichi. She wore a pale pink outfit; he wore a sky blue one.
"Duh, late" Keira rolled her green eyes, which showed a hint of worry. She wore bittersweet reddish orange, matching her hair, and she didn't seem to so sick anymore.
Suddenly, Takuya ran up to the group, panting. "So…sorry…" he was dressed in the ski outfit everyone had, but his was red. The class turned to look at him, amused.
"It's okay laddie." David beamed; his teeth on show again, while Miss Hida glared at Takuya. "Right, as we were saying…"
An hour later…Takuya, Keira, Eva and Kouichi had managed to fall flat on their faces many times; Takuya had fallen the most, and his face was almost numb. "Oh, I am so cold." His teeth chattered.
"Well, I think I'm getting the hang of it." Kouichi smiled, wobbling slightly on his skis.
"You're quite good at it now, Kouichi." Eva complimented. He blushed.
Keira rolled her eyes at the two, then rolled them once more as Takuya shrieked, and fell, yet again. She slowly made her way over to him, and helped him up, blushing at the contact.
"Where are Izumi and Kouji?" Eva asked.
"They went up there." Kouichi replied, pointing at the top of the mountain." You know that they ski so much better than us. They've skied before."
"When?" Keira asked him.
"Well, Kouji knows pretty much every sport. But he started skiing in Switzerland when he was seven. Then when he left us, and went to live in Italy for a year, he did plenty of skiing. Izumi, well, she used to live in Italy. What did you expect?"
"How do you know so much about Kouji?" Keira asked, suspicious.
Kouichi tried not to appear too unconcerned. "Ah, well, we were, and still are best friends." He turned to look at the mountains again.
Everyone followed his gaze and looked up at where the high peaks were. Takuya frowned. "You know, I have a bad feeling about something…"
"Your imagination." Keira dismissed.
But she would soon come to trust Takuya's instinct. Kouichi, however, didn't ignore his warning. Instead, the two boys began to talk, muttering in low voices.
Up on the mountain…"Oh god, this feels so good." Izumi whooped as she threw herself off the top with Kouji behind her. "I haven't done this for years!"
Kouji smirked, then frowned. His danger senses were suddenly alert, and he could feel them revitalised, and tingling. The last time they told him that peril was near was in the Digital World. "I can't let Izumi be harmed." He narrowed his eyes. "And my instinct has never been wrong. The wolf in me has never been extinguished. And never will be."
Suddenly, he heard a shriek. "Izumi!" he yelled, and raced ahead to see her just able to hold onto the cliff's edge. She was slipping.
He cursed. "S###!" and ran towards her as fast as possible. She slipped some more.
"Kouji!" she screamed. He dived for her hand just as her hand lost its grip on the edge. "AH!" she cried.
"Izumi!" Kouji grabbed her hand as she fell…and caught it. Both panted.
"Oh my god." Izumi breathed.
Kouji pulled her up and grunted from the effort. "Hold on." He said.
After he pulled her up, she gave him a big hug, making him and her blush. "Thank you so much!"
"Hey, it's okay." Kouji patted her on the back, her arms still wrapped around him. He was enjoying the feeling of her in his arms, though he denied it inside himself.
Meanwhile, back at the bottom…"I wanna go up there." Keira pointed at the top, her eyes were orbs of steely determination.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Kouichi said, always the sensible one. "A snow storm may brew up any minute.
"Don't care." Keira stuck her chin out defiantly.
"Hey, I like your determination." Takuya grinned. "I'll go with you. Anyway, Miss Hida instructed us that we had to be with at least someone else. So I'll accompany you."
"Fine." Keira made her way to the cable cars. "But keep up!"
"Yes ma'am." Takuya smirked.
As they went off, Eva was left with Kouichi. "You know, I'm worried about Takuya and Izumi." Eva suddenly said to Kouichi.
"Why?"
"Their relationship…" Eva trailed off.
"Ah, I see." Kouichi reflected on the last month. Takuya and Keira definitely seemed to have a thing for each other…but where did that leave Izumi? Well, she hadn't been acting normal lately. Actually, since Kouji and Keira had arrived. Suddenly, it hit Kouichi. And the way Kouji looked at her…obviously no relationship, but…
"Hey, Eva, listen up." Kouichi grinned. "I think it's time we helped them out a bit."
In the cable car…"Hey, Takuya," Keira began, awkward.
He looked at her. "Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For coming up here with me." Keira was embarrassed, and blushed a little.
"You're welcome." Takuya smiled.
Suddenly, the cable car began to rock. "Oh god, what the hell is happening?" Keira gasped.
Takuya was alert. "There's a snow storm coming our way." He seemed calm as he looked at the snow billowing across, but inside, he was worried. Especially for Keira.
"Great. Why did Eva have to be right?" Keira groaned.
"We have more important things to worry about right now." Takuya showed grim determination on his face. "We have to get out of here."
"How?" Keira suddenly seemed frightened.
"We jump." Takuya said, and forced the door of the cable car open.
"Are you kidding?" Keira looked down, gulped, and turned to Takuya. His face was very serious.
"No I'm not." Takuya got into the frame of the now-open door. "We either risk our lives by going into this crazy snow storm, or we can jump. I think I prefer the latter."
"I don't prefer either." Keira was looking pale and green, like she did on the aeroplane.
"I'll go first." Takuya was suddenly the captain. "I'll drop, then you can. I'll be there to catch you."
"What if something happens to you?" Keira was really alarmed, and didn't bother trying not to show it.
Takuya looked grim. "That won't happen." He looked below him. The area was empty, no trees, just snow. "Perfect." He thought. "See you later." He smiled encouragingly to Keira. He then launched himself out of the door. Keira restrained herself from screaming.
Takuya fell into the soft snow, which prevented too much damage. But after jumping several metres, Takuya felt sore. Very sore. "Ow…" he groaned as he forced himself up. The cable car was still moving. Moving right into the snowstorm. He could see Keira's scared face peeping out. He beckoned her to jump, and ran underneath the moving machinery.
Keira felt so scared she was paralysed. Takuya prayed she would hurry up and jump. Suddenly, the cable car rocked from another large gust from the storm, and Keira fell out, screaming. Takuya ran and caught her just in time, crushing them both. Takuya groaned again. "Ow…"
Meanwhile on the top…"Izumi, look." Kouji pointed at something in the distance.
"What is it?" Izumi narrowed her eyes at the grey and white dust that was coming their way.
"It's a snowstorm." Kouji replied, grabbing her hand. "We have to get out of here!"
"How? The snowstorm is coming from the place we need to get to-our shelter!" Izumi was on the verge of panicking, not noticing her hand in his.
"Come, we have to battle out way through, or else we'll freeze to death." Kouji was starting to feel the cold, even though their suits were thickly padded and warm.
So Kouji and Izumi, hand in hand, started to run towards the snowstorm. "Oh my god, so cold." Izumi shivered as they neared it."
Kouji turned to her, grabbed her hood and pulled in over her face and hair. "Better?" she nodded.
"What about you?"
"I have to see where we're going. Just follow me." Kouji turned and once again began to walk forward.
Down at the shelter…Eva and Kouichi stood worriedly beside Miss Hida and David. "Oh dear…" Eva was worried.
"I thought the forecast said today would be fine." Miss Hida's voice was on the verge of breakdown.
"Well, they obviously got it wrong." David was for once not smiling.
Suddenly, Kouichi yelled, "I see two people coming down!"
"Where?" Miss Hida and Eva asked at the same time; everyone surged forward.
They met a cold and bruised Takuya, and a shivering and upset Keira. "Let's get them inside." Miss Hida ordered. "And you two, I want a full explanation tomorrow. Takuya was too chilly to care. Eva took them both in.
Kouichi frowned and stayed beside the two adults. "Where are Kouji and Izumi…?"
On the mountain…Kouji and Izumi were now right in the middle of the snowstorm, in the forest. Snow lashed in their faces mercilessly; the white snow rose up to their knees bit by bit. Izumi huddled closer to Kouji for warmth.
Suddenly, a large blast of air blew in their faces; both teenagers stopped, and Izumi cried out. Then a tree on their left blew over, and was about to fall on top of her.
Kouji acted quickly. He grabbed her, dived to the floor with her tense body, and rolled through the snow, away from the falling tree. The two were pretty shocked, especially Izumi.
"I don't know how to thank you." She sighed, as they lay on the floor, soaked, too close for comfort, and face to face with her friend.
The two blushed. "Time to carry on." Kouji stood up, brushed snow off him, and helped Izumi up.
An hour later…
Kouichi had been waiting for over an hour for his brother and friend. But they hadn't turned up. David was still there, standing beside him; Miss Hida had retreated to the lodge half and hour ago. She couldn't take the freezing temperature.
"Not one for the cold, are you?" David joked as she went.
"I prefer the beach." Miss Hida shivered, and left.
Suddenly, Kouichi saw two figures coming. "David!" he alerted his coach. "I think it's them!" The two ran forward, and indeed it was. It was Kouji and Izumi hand in hand, ice and snow all over them. Izumi, especially, was trembling non-stop. Kouji was just breathing a little heavily.
"Come inside." David ushered.
Kouichi stayed close, him and Kouji's eyes met for a brief moment of acknowledgement, relief and seriousness, and then they walked into the shelter's living room. Izumi's hand never left Kouji's; her grip was like steel. And it wouldn't come off.
"Now, dear, slowly…" David got her hand and gently prised her frozen fingers off Kouji's. Miss Hida ran to them with Eva and Takuya. Keira was asleep, exhausted after her little escapade with Takuya.
"Oh, where have you been? Oh dear, oh dear, look at you!" Miss Hida fussed. Kouji rolled his eyes. This was the last thing he needed.
Then, Izumi's hand was off his, and suddenly, his hand seemed colder than when he was on the mountain.
"Thanks Kouji…" Izumi shuddered as Eva led her away to her dorm.
Kouji looked at his hand while Miss Hida discussed some stuff with David. Takuya approached him and Kouichi. "You okay man?" Kouji nodded mutely.
Unexpectedly, everyone heard a small cry, and turned around to see Izumi faint into Eva's arms.
"Izumi!" Kouji was the first to run to the two girls, followed by the rest.
Princess Viv: Ah well, you'll have to see later what happens later!Chikomon: (grumbling) Go leave it on a cliffhanger will you…
Leafmon: What happens, what happens?
Princess Viv: Well, I'm not going to tell you…you'll just have to read it for yourself!
Both: Aw…
Princess Viv: And don't even try the puppy dog eyes thing. It won't work. And all you readers out there, PLEASE review!
Chapter 4: New love bonds made = guilt