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"A Couple You Wish Existed"

Mimi scanned the hallway as she stepped off the elevator, not at all surprised to find the floor was empty. After all, the workday had ended a decent while ago, and she wasn't about to shame anyone for not burning themselves out with the extra hours. If anything, she had arrived to confront someone who was doing the exact opposite.

Before Mimi could take a step forward, a familiar buzzing sound piped up, followed up by a nervous Tentomon flying around a corner. He landed himself right in front of her, though hesitated before giving any kind of verbal greeting, something Mimi could not remember him ever failing to do.

"Fancy meeting you here," Palmon called out as she stepped forward from behind Mimi.

"Indeed..." Tentomon replied halfheartedly, rubbing his arms together, almost like he was was wrestling with saying something else.

"Where is he?" Mimi asked.

Tentomon cleared his throat. "Izzy has requested that I inform any visitors of his busy schedule and that he promises to reach out to them as soon as he is available."

"Should we go?" Palmon looked up at Mimi.

Tentomon averted his gaze from both of them, a clear indication to Mimi as to what she needed to do.

Izzy had essentially locked himself in his office after Eosmon was defeated, which wasn't the main issue on its own. The battle and the many revelations that came out of it hadn't been easy on any of them, and they each were coping in their own way. The problem was that Izzy had had next to no communication with any of their friends, and history was proof of what happened when he was left to his own devices for too long.

With all this in mind, Mimi marched forward, not slowing down until she reached the door to Izzy's office.

The boy in question turned his head at the sound of the door opening. He was more disheveled than Mimi had ever seen him, with a wrinkled shirt and crooked tie complimented by dark circles under his eyes. It was a couple seconds before he broke the silence between them.

"Hey, Mimi," Izzy said, trying to put on a personable face. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm in the middle of something."

"What exactly?" Mimi asked, herself trying to keep any accusation or judgment from sneaking into her voice.

"Well, I've been going over what Menoa told us, plus everything Tai was able to gleam from Gennai," Izzy explained confidently.

"And...?" Mimi felt her heart sink. She had a guess as to where this was going.

"Neither of them said anything about our partners being gone. Just that our partnership would end. There's no reason that I can think of that confirms Agumon, Gabumon, and Biyomon aren't still out there somewhere."

"Izzy, how long have you been at this?"

Izzy gestured to his computer monitor, almost as though he missed the question. "So what I've been doing is running a series of tests and scans across the Digital World."

"Did you find anything?" Palmon asked eagerly, earning her a sideways glance from Mimi.

Not that Mimi could blame her partner for her interest in the topic. None of them were ready to accept the ticking clock they were each carrying, and all of them were willing to jump at any shred of hope given to them.

"Not yet," Izzy answered, his eyes momentarily drifting from his screen. "But there's still ways I can adjust the search parameters, and that's not even accounting for the Dark Ocean and other dimensions we've encountered."

"Do you think you could use a break?" Mimi suggested. She wanted to say more, and every fiber of her wanted to outright tell him to step away from the computer. Fear kept her quiet. She didn't want to be the one to discourage him if he was right, as he so often was, but she couldn't tell if his conviction was just the form his denial was taking.

Izzy's eye twitched as he looked at her. "I appreciate the thought, Mimi, but I still have a lot to get through."

Mimi felt heat start to build up in the corners of her eyes. "Look, I know you're hurt. We all are, but-"

"You think I'm being emotional and irrational, but that's not it," Izzy shot back, no longer hiding his frustration and impatience. "On the contrary, I'm just working through the facts."

Bits of anger started to mix with Mimi's sadness. Izzy seemed to have a unique talent for doing this to her, in some ways not having changed at all since they were children. His unique brand of of stubbornness sometimes made her simultaneously want to plant her feet and scream at him and storm off and leave him alone with his computer.

"It's just..." Izzy continued, though his conviction seemed to be dropping off. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

Mimi's anger withdrew as Izzy turned away from her. Looking into his eyes, she knew yelling or running away wasn't what either of them needed. Understanding and communication were, as cliché as it felt for her to even think it.

Having made her decision, Mimi marched forward again. With no hesitation, she leaned forward and gently wrapped her arms around around Izzy's neck.

"I'm not fine," Mimi said softly as a couple tears finally left her eyes.

She felt Izzy begin to heat and stiffen briefly before relaxing. He brought one of his hands up to hold onto her arm.

"As far as tactics to win an argument go, that's a little unfair," Izzy said calmly.

Mimi held onto him a bit tighter. "None of this is fair."

"Mimi..." Palmon breathed, her and Tentomon standing side by side, watching them.

"All I can think about is how I'm going to wake up one day and Palmon's not going to be there. How a part of me is going to disappear. Just imagining it tears me up inside."

"I'm sorry," Izzy said after a brief pause.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." Mimi tried taking a deep breath, to keep herself from breaking down completely. "Just stop pretending you don't feel the same way."

Izzy shivered briefly but noticeably. "I don't want them to go."

"I know."

"There has to be some way to stop this."

"Maybe, or maybe not." Mimi relaxed her grip so they could face each other. "If anyone can figure this out, though, it's you."

Izzy stood up. "I think I could use a break after all."

"Perfect!" Mimi quickly wiped the tears from her face. "I know just the place!"

She grabbed hold of Izzy's hand, interlacing their fingers together, and pulled him out of the office. Palmon and Tentomon followed close behind, questions and comments about their destination going back and forth between them. They were all far from being done grieving, but maybe they could be done with doing so alone.

Author's Note:

Ended up with a batch of shipping chapters between this one and the next two prompts. I find it funny how the challenge's original creator felt the need to include both this one and Day 8 (simply "Favorite Pairing"). While I can distinguish between the two (this one being one I would want to see more of in canon and 8's being my favorite to write and read in relation to fandom), I have to imagine a number fans would look at them as one and the same.