Disclaimer: I don't own nothing. That's all I'm gonna say.

A/N: Well, I'm finally back with another chapter and...okay, I admit it, it's not the best. In fact, to put it bluntly, it's really just a filler chapter before we get on with what's going on in the Digital World. I never actually get writer's block, so to speak, I always know what I want to write, but sometimes I fall into this slump where I don't know how to write it, and thus we end up with stupid filler chapters like this where I was clearly stalling for time while I tried to come up with how the story's going to proceed next. I'm sure you've all noticed there have been a couple of these spattered throughout the story. The good news is, they do actually help me to get back on track, which was the case here, and then I'm usually good for another twenty-five chapters or so before I fall into another slump. Don't worry, though, like I said, after this chapter there's tons of good stuff coming up where I had that sudden light bulb over my head spark of inspiration and things start to get pretty intense! Look for those chapters after this one! And in the meantime...roll your eyes over this one. I won't be offended.

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 211: Testing the Waters

Sam Ichijouji

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

Sam felt like he couldn't breath.

Perhaps it was only his imagination, but regardless of how much he tried to ignore the unpleasant sensation, his chest felt tight and every breath felt like a struggle.

At first, he had tried to convince himself that it had absolutely nothing to do with his father, but that was, of course, a complete lie. It had everything to do with his father and in only mere moments he would once again have to face said father, whether he wanted to or not. The elementary school would no longer be a convenient hiding place now that they were on the verge of entering the Digital World yet again to search for a Spirit Chip.

Maybe I should just pretend I'm sick so I don't have to go. Now that I think about it, I do feel a little sick...

Unfortunately, though, that would not solve his current dilemma. Sadly, it would merely delay the inevitable, which he was going to have to face sooner or later no matter what his feelings towards his father might be.

"Are you guys going to go in sometime today or should we just come back next week?" an amused voice asked from the walkway below.

Sam whirled around in surprise, and smiling sheepishly at the four teens standing behind him, he said weakly, "Hey, Ren."

His cousin Renmi gave him a look and turning to Taka, Makku, and Rumi, who stood around her in a semi-circle, she made a face and said, "No offence, Sam, but you look horrible today."

"How nice of you to say so. Thanks a lot, Ren."

"I thought it might cheer you up."

"We were just about to go in," Takara explained, smiling at the older female. "How are you guys doing?"

"We're doing great," Rumi replied in a polite voice, beaming at Takara. "I hope the same can be said for you six."

"We're okay," Mickey said softly, smiling shyly at Rumi.

"I'm guessing you guys came for the show?" Dai asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"You bet we did," Makku grinned, pumping his fist into the air. "I'm totally ready for some action! You guys had better not disappoint me!"

"Ignore him," Taka advised, elbowing his older brother in the ribs and shaking his head in amusement.

"Ouch. You wound me, little brother."

"I think you do a good job of that yourself."

Instead of responding, Makku grabbed his brother around the neck, ruffling the younger teen's hair, and letting out a yelp of protest, Taka tried unsuccessfully to squirm away, resulting in a scuffle that nearly knocked both boys over onto the front walkway.

"Will you two quit goofing off?" Ryoko scolded, glaring at the two brothers. "We should hurry up and get inside. I bet everybody else is already here."

"Are you ready, Sam?" Matty asked quietly, slipping an arm around his shoulders for support.

Sam blushed when he realized everybody was staring at him, and ducking his head, he took a deep breath and said, "I'm ready. Let's go."

Dai quickly led the way into the Motomiya residence and climbing the stairs they crowded their way into the small office across from Dai's bedroom, which stood next to the master bedroom that belonged to Davis and Noriko. Ami's bedroom was next to Dai's and there was also a bathroom at the end of the hall.

Not surprisingly, the room was crowded. Mina, Izzy, their digimin partners, and their daughter were all crowded around the computer and next to them seated on the floor huddled together were Taysuke, Rina, Kenzo, Ema, and Nao. Ami, Noah, and Miya were scrunched up in a corner with Shadow and DemiVeemon, holding what appeared to be a whispered conversation, and Matt, Mimi, Noriko, and their partners were seated in chairs across the room. Sora, T.K., Joe, Tai, Kari, and their partners were sprawled on the floor with Cody, Jun, Rosa, and Davis, and with a gulp Sam realized that left only his parents and Wormmon huddled together on Izzy's right side, who were talking quietly to each other. It was a full house, and for some reason that made Sam feel even more nervous about having to be in the same room with his father.

"There you are!" Noriko exclaimed, giving them all a suspicious look. "Took you long enough to get here. We were starting to worry."

"Actually, Dai, it was your mother who was worrying, not me. I just figured you must have gotten stuck in detention again," Davis joked, grinning at his son.

Dai rolled his eyes, feigning a look of hurt. "Thanks a lot, Dad. Doesn't anybody around here have any faith in me? Sam's the one who was holding us up. It had nothing to do with me."

Sam blushed as both his parents turned to look at him and lowering his eyes to the ground, he mumbled, "It wasn't me."

Dai raised his eyebrows at that. "Really? Then why were standing there staring at my front door for like ten minutes?"

"He's got you there, Sam," Ren pointed out, smirking slightly.

Sam glared at his cousin, but before he could reply, Nao bounced to his feet and beamed at Rumi, Ren, and the Inoue siblings. "Oh! I didn't know you guys were coming. Is Hikaru coming too?"

"Sorry, Nao, but my mom had to take him to the dentist," Renmi said, smiling apologetically at her younger cousin.

Nao immediately looked disappointed and ruffling the younger boy's lavender hair, Makku said, "Cheer up, Nao. You've got something even better!"

"I do?"

"Me, of course!" Makku exclaimed, puffing out his chest with an air of superiority.

"Right," Taka muttered, shaking his head in amusement. "The rest couldn't come either."

"Yes, Tams already had plans with Hana so they weren't able to make it," Rumi explained.

"Which is probably a good thing," Makku added. "Hana would just annoy us all anyways, and plus this room is already way too crowded as it is. Having her around would be a nightmare."

"You won't hear any arguments from me," Renmi snorted.

At this outburst, Rumi sent the two troublemakers a disapproving look, but they both ignored her.

On Rumi's left, Taka shook his head at Renmi and Makku and said, "You two are terrible."

"I did really want to see Hikaru," Nao mumbled, making a face.

Makku pretended to look offended, and scooping Nao up off the floor, he began to swing his younger cousin in circle through the air, causing Nao to burst into a fit of giggles.

"Good, now that we're all here, it's time to put our plans into action," Izzy said briskly, turning from the computer to gaze around the room at large.

Immediately the occupants of the room fell silent and Sam quickly took a seat on the floor as far away from his parents as possible. He could feel his father's deep blue gaze burning into him, and it was making him feel extremely self-conscious.

He's probably wondering what Dai was talking about earlier. Does he suspect how much I didn't want to come here today?

Judging from the haunted look in his eyes, the former Emperor appeared to understand completely, and Sam was pretty sure his mother suspected the same thing.

They can tell I don't want to be near my dad right now, but I can't help it. I'm just...I'm not ready to face him yet. Help me, Uncle, what should I do?

It was silly, really, to ask. There was no way the late Sam Ichijouji would be able to hear him, but despite that he still felt a little bit better remembering what it had felt like to have his uncle by his side.

"Well, as you all know, today is Friday," Izzy continued, his dark eyes sparkling with that ever present manic Digital World gleam, "which means-"

"It'll be the weekend tomorrow," Tai interrupted, glancing meaningfully at Matt.

"Exactly. Daichi and the others don't have school tomorrow, which will definitely work in our favour."

"What do you mean by that, Izzy?" Matty asked, frowning in confusion.

"We don't know how long it's going to take us to find this Spirit Chip. I know Vampiramon and her allies can't really do anything with the Spirit Chips until we release them from their seals first, but even so I think it's best if we find them as soon as possible."

"You won't hear any arguments from me on that point," Matt replied, exchanging a look with his wife. "So...are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Basically, it's like this. If we don't find the Spirit Chip before the day is over, I think it's best if we just stay in the Digital World until we do find it."

"Or in other words, we'll be spending the night in the Digital World," Cody interrupted, leaning forwards to gaze solemnly at Izzy. "We'll have the whole weekend to look since Dai and the others won't have to worry about school."

"Exactly. As long as it's safe for us to remain in the Digital World, we might as well stay until we recover the Spirit Chip. No sense in wandering back and forth when we don't have to."

"That's true," Ryoko agreed, nodding his head for emphasis.

Almost everyone in the room appeared to think it was a good idea.

Everyone except Sam, that is.

Spending the night in the Digital World would mean spending more time with his father and that was something he most definitely did not feel up to at the moment.

What am I going to do?

"Sam, you okay?" Taka asked quietly, nudging him in the shoulder to get his attention.

"Sam?" Mickey echoed, peering anxiously into his eyes.

Without thinking, Sam blurted, "Do we have to? What if I don't want to stay overnight?"

Everybody in the room stared at him, and he felt his face heat up. He hadn't meant to voice his thoughts out loud, but unfortunately it was too late to take back his words now.

Both his mother and his father were staring at him, and though he wanted to meet their eyes, he found himself unable to do so.

"Sam, honey," his mother said hesitantly, "Izzy's suggestion is a good one, and if we're lucky we'll only have to stay one night, or maybe not at all."

"Don't worry, I'll leave you in peace," his father said flatly, turning away.

Sam stared at his father with his mouth hanging open, shocked by such a blatant dismissal, and glancing at the rest of the crowd in the room he realized that they, too, were staring at the former Emperor in astonishment.

Ken Ichijouji, the former boy genius, did not look at all like himself at the moment. His sapphire eyes were dull and lifeless, and the flat expression on his face held no emotion at all. He looked like he'd given up, and Sam knew it was all his fault.

The Spirit Chip of Compassion...It can't be mine. Look what I've done...

"Um...well, if you guys are going to be staying overnight in the Digital World then all us kids who aren't going will just stay here for the night," Ema said quickly, clearly anxious to change the subject. "We girls can stay in Ami's room and the guys can just camp out in Dai's room while he's gone."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Dai agreed, looking to his father, who also nodded in agreement.

"I don't think there's enough room in the house for all of us adults who are staying behind, so we'll just leave and come back in the morning," T.K. said quickly, looking towards Izzy. "Make sure you keep us up to date on what's going on, though, while we're gone."

"I will."

"Do we have everything we need to get going?" Mimi asked, standing up and stretching her arms over her head.

"Izzy and I packed a bunch of supplies before coming here, so you should be good to go," Mina replied.

"Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Gotsumon are waiting for us, so we should probably get going," Izzy added, standing up as well. "Remember, we have to make a stop at Gennai's before we can start searching for the Spirit Chip."

"Good luck, Sam," Taka whispered softly in his ear, giving his shoulder a quick reassuring squeeze.

"All of you be careful," Jun warned.

"Don't come back without the Spirit Chip!" Makku said boldly, giving Daichi the thumbs up.

"Before we leave, is everyone caught up on what's going on?" Izzy asked, motioning for Ryoko to step up to the computer.

There was a general murmur of assent, and Joe said, "News travels fast between Digidestined. We're all up to speed. Be careful, Izzy."

"You know I always am. It's not me you should be worried about."

"Or even me," Dai added, a slight smile on his face.

Sam felt himself starting to blush again when he realized the goggle-headed leader was looking at him, and scurrying over to the computer, he took his place next to Ryoko, who raised his eyebrows but did not comment.

"If you would do the honours," Izzy said, smiling at Ryoko.

Ryoko quickly raised his D-Coder and as soon as the group travelling to the Digital World were all crowded around him, he said, "Take us to Server. Digi-port open!"

Sam just had time to see his father's tormented gaze watching him before he was swept through the gate, the Digital World and who knew what else waiting for him on the other side.