Digimon Adventure 02 – Summer in Alaska

Day Seven

BRRRIIINNNGGG! BRIIINNNGGGGGGGGG!

Skyy bolted upward as the shrill sound of the phone in the stateroom filled her ears. The darkness that greeted her eyes seemed almost natural now. Skyy groggily slipped from her bed. She could tell that Sora and Mimi were awake because their breathing was light. When they slept their breathing got heavier. Skyy cursed them for pretending not to hear the phone. She tiredly picked up the receiver and greeted the voice.

"Hello, this is Skyy Tsutsumi speaking how may I help you? If you wanted to speak to my parents they're busy at the moment but if you hold on a second longer I'm available to give you their names and cell phone numbers so you can further contact them, if so—" Skyy blathered on, not realizing she was still half asleep.

"Skyy…Skyy!" Tai's voice interrupted her speech. Skyy blinked stupidly a couple times.

"Oh...Tai? how'er you this morning?" Skyy yawned. Tai laughed on the other end of the phone.

"Dude, wake up!" Tai said. Skyy nodded to herself.

"Yes…waking up…please leave a message after the beep….beep," Skyy mumbled. Tai laughed again.

"We're at the Tracy Arm, tell Sora and Mimi to wake up and for all of you get up here," Tai said. Skyy cocked her head.

"Why does you phoning in the morning and asking us to come up to the deck seem like déjà vu?" she asked. Tai sighed.

"That's because it is, now just come up here! You'll love it the view is amazing!" Tai said. Skyy smiled.

"Pictures?" she mumbled.

"Lots, now come up!" Tai urged. Skyy nodded again even though he couldn't see her.

"Okay…bye-bye, see you soon," she said. Tai chuckled and said goodbye. She hung up and wandered over to the end of Sora's bed. Skyy grabbed the end of the bed sheets and pulled sleepily as she headed for the bathroom, dragging the sheets with her. Sora moaned as the sheets slipped off and the air brushed her skin.

"Skyyyyyy…what the frigggg" Sora whined. Skyy cracked a smile and turned on the lights in the stateroom. Mimi now groaned as well as the light flooded the room in a split second.

"Lord Taichi Kamiya is summoning us to the upper deck," Skyy said and she slipped into the bathroom to wash her face.

"What the hell for?" Sora asked and she sat up and tried feeling around for her sheets.

"We're at the Tracy Arm; Tai says the view is amazing. Sora you missed the whales the other day so I'm forcing you to come see this glacier," Skyy's voice echoed from the tiny bathroom. Sora groaned, finally giving up on finding her sheets. Mimi was silent as she climbed down from her bed and sleepily joined Skyy in the bathroom.

The girls got ready quickly. They were feeling sluggish this morning so they just put on some track pants and sweaters. Even Mimi succumbed to wearing her pink track pants and big baggy light pink sweater. As the girls put on their shoes they didn't bother putting on their coats- they had sweaters on so they figured they wouldn't need coats.

As they slumped up stairs to the deck the boys were on, Sora was half asleep and kept bumping into the walls. Mimi and Skyy laughed at her and eventually took her arms and linked them with their own so Sora could have some support and didn't fall over in the hallway. When they arrived outside Skyy closed her eyes as the cool air hit her face.

"Hey! There you are! We were waiting for you," Matt's voice rang out. Skyy opened her eyes and looked around. Matt, Tai and Izzy stood waiting for them right by the doors. Skyy smiled.

"Oh hey! Here, Matt can you grab Sora? She's gonna collapse soon, and she's heavier than she looks," Skyy said and her and Mimi dropped Sora's half asleep form into Matt's surprised arms. Matt chuckled and lightly shook Sora awake. She mumbled something and he laughed and hugged her lightly. Tai kissed Mimi as a greeting and once again Skyy and Izzy seemed to be third wheels together. Izzy smiled sheepishly at her.

"C'mon, the view is really impressive, did you bring your camera?" he asked as the two sets of couples walked further ahead. Skyy grinned and held up her camera and took a picture of Izzy. Izzy blinked stupidly then rolled his eyes. Skyy chuckled.

"Yep!" she said. Izzy smirked as Skyy skipped past him and over to the deck railing.

As Skyy looked at the view her breath was taken away yet again. The glacier was huge, and so, so blue. It was like looking at something from a postcard! Skyy immediately started clicking pictures. Small chunks of the glacier floated around the in dark blue waters below. The glacier was almost the same height as the mountain it was attached to and every time a chunk of ice would fall off a loud crack echoed throughout the area and the ice would slowly fall into the water creating a wave of water to ripple out from it. On some of the larger ice berg chunks floating in the water some seals were busy lounging and lazing around on top of them. Skyy laughed and took pictures of the seals as well. The smaller chunks of ice brushed against the ship and floated away lightly. The water was so crystal and shined off of the floating ice chunks.

At one point another cruise ship came up and was about three miles away. The six teens could hear the yells of the passengers on the other boat skipping across the water. They shouted and waved back, even though the passengers on the other boat were nothing but little specks. Skyy didn't stop taking pictures until she felt Izzy come up beside her.

"It's really pretty isn't it?" he asked. She nodded and lowered her camera.

"It's amazing! I'm definitely going to paint something like this when I get home!" Skyy said excitedly. Izzy grinned at her. She smiled back at him. Somehow this morning was déjà vu all over again. It was like the other day when they came up to see the whales.

Skyy glanced at her other friends and snapped pictures of them. Matt was holding on to Sora's waist as she sluggishly looked at the glacier. Her arms were dangling over the side and her eyes were drooping as Matt tried to keep her awake. Tai was hugging Mimi from behind and they were talking to each other. Tai's head was resting on her shoulder and her head was resting against his. Skyy's stomach became warm looking at them. She wanted that so badly. The warmth of being with someone you love, and having them return your feelings. Skyy glanced at Izzy. He was leaning on the railing and gazing out at the scenery. Skyy pouted. She hit him over the back and he jumped, surprised. The hit caused him to buckle forward a little and he coughed.

"W-what?" he asked, whipping around to look at her. Skyy pouted and sunk down onto her knees.

"GAH! Why does my love life SUCK?" she whined. Izzy stared at her wide-eyed. The other four looked over at her too with surprised and confused looks. Tai laughed.

"Oh, don't mind her she's lost it this morning," Tai said and turned back to look at the glacier. Matt shrugged and turned around as well. Skyy frowned.

"Oh shut it," she muttered. Izzy held out his hand.

"Um, are you alright?" he asked. Skyy 'humph'd and grabbed his hand as he pulled her up to her feet.

"Just wallowing in self-pity," she muttered.

"I don't understand."

"Never mind…"

Skyy leaned on the railing and put her camera away. Izzy did the same but kept glancing back at her. Skyy was still pouting angrily and was chewing on her bottom lip. Suddenly a gust of wind came and she shivered lightly. Oh great. Now she was cold. The other two girls were probably fine because they had their male heat warmers stuck to them. Skyy wished she had brought her coat. Skyy then heard a zipping sound and looked over at Izzy. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed him unzipping his jacket.

"Iz, aren't you cold? why're you—" but she was cut off when Izzy held out his coat to her.

"Here," he mumbled, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Skyy felt her face get warm.

"Huh?" was all she could say.

"Your cold right? You can wear my jacket for a while if you wish," he muttered, "but I understand if you don't want—"

"Okay," Skyy said simply and took the coat. Izzy smiled. Skyy slipped the coat over her sweater and sighed as Izzy's scent enveloped her. She zipped the large coat all the way up to her chin. She then glanced over to Izzy and noticed that he was just wearing a light sweater. She grinned and moved behind him. Izzy didn't notice but jumped as soon as Skyy's arms wrapped around his torso.

"H-hey what're you?" he asked, his light blush deepening. Skyy laughed.

"You're cold too right? Don't think that you'll get away with saying your not," Skyy said over his shoulder. Izzy was about to argue.

"So now I'll warm you up!" Skyy said happily. Skyy moved back beside him and unzipped the zipper. She took out one of her arms from the sleeves and enveloped half of the jacket around Izzy's shoulders. Izzy was hesitant but soon melted beside her and put his arm through the empty sleeve.

"Ha, HA! Now we're like the people whose bodies are stuck together," Skyy said. Izzy chuckled.

"Siamese twins?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Skyy said. She tried zipping up the jacket but it wasn't big enough to fit both of them, despite how thin they both were. She ended up giving up and Izzy laughed at her efforts. They both ended up just leaning on the railing, enjoying each other's body heat. What they both didn't realize though was that Mimi and Tai had seen both of them and conspired to take pictures of them.

Skyy grinned triumphantly to herself. Maybe self-pity wasn't so bad? Especially if every time it she did pity herself these kinds of things were going to be the outcome.

Finally the teens got a little tired of the scenery; there were only so many pictures you could take when the photos all started looking the same. They decided to go get some breakfast as the buffet was now open. Skyy and Izzy tried to walk whilst still being in Izzy's jacket. They waddled about two meters before almost tripping over each other's feet. They both gave up in a fit of laughter and Skyy slipped out of the jacket, albeit unwillingly.

When they found a table they all grabbed some plates and got in line for food. Izzy kept putting too much food on Skyy's plate as a joke before she started putting more food on his plate. It was when they decided they didn't want the food and left it on a random table that the waiters gave them shameful looks. Izzy and Skyy just ducked their heads, hiding their grins and went back to the beginning of the line to get their real breakfasts.

The six teens ate breakfast happily and watched as the boat drifted away from the big glacier. Since the rest of the day was at sea they mulled over things they wanted to do that day. Skyy bit her fork as she gazed at the daily log.

"Ummm, there isn't much going on that's we'd be into…" Skyy said. Mimi was leaning over her looking at the schedule as well. Suddenly her face lit up.

"Oh! Look! A Rumba lesson! Oh can we go? Please! Pleaaaaase?" Mimi said pouting. Skyy stared at her. Mimi had the puppy dog eyes and her hands clasped together. Skyy sighed.

"Well, I don't care, the boys are your biggest challenge, ask them," Skyy shrugged. Mimi squealed and turned her attention to Tai. He jumped as he knew what was coming.

"Tai can we please go? You want to dance with me riiight?" Mimi said resting her head on his shoulder and pulling the puppy dog eyes again. Tai's face was blank and had a somewhat resistant look on it.

"Uhhhh…"He mumbled. He pleaded Izzy and Matt for input with his eyes. Matt grinned.

"I don't know, a Rumba lesson sounds like fun, would you dance with me Sora?" he asked sweetly. Sora beamed.

"Yes! It would be fun!" she said happily and Matt smiled back at her. Tai glared at the two of them slightly. Skyy glanced at Izzy who had an indecisive look on his face. She looked back over to Tai and Mimi, who was still pulling the pleading face. Suddenly Tai sunk into his seat sighing loudly.

"Arrgh, fiiine! For your birthday I will," Tai said smiling, almost grudgingly. Mimi beamed.

"Yaay!" she squealed wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek. Tai smiled and a light blush hit his cheeks. Skyy grinned at them. She looked back down at the planner.

"Well, it's in an hour and a half so we still have some time to kill," Skyy said still biting her fork and twirling it in her mouth because she had no food left on her plate.

"We can go play ping-pong?" Matt suggested. Skyy perked up.

"Oh yeaaaah! Let's go do that! I haven't gotten to play ping pong yet! I wanted to play!" Skyy said clapping her hands.

"Oh! The kid's happy, better do what she wants," Tai teased. Skyy glared at him. He stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

"Well I'm up for it, we played yesterday and I still have to whoop Tai's butt," Matt challenged. Tai grinned.

"You wish blondie, I'll whoop your ass all over again," Tai replied. Matt laughed. Sora and Mimi and Izzy agreed as well and the six set off to find the ping pong tables beside the pool.

When they all got there they were pleased to find that there were two empty ping pong tables. Skyy grabbed a paddle and found a ping pong ball on the ground. Izzy went over to a spare chair with his laptop and opened it up, turning it on. Skyy eyed him slyly.

"I challennnge…Izzy!" she declared loudly. Izzy looked up from his laptop, startled.

"W-what?" he stuttered. Skyy grinned.

"I challenge you to a ping pong match! Get your butt up here and face me like a man!" Skyy said. Izzy blinked stupidly a few times.

"….But I suck a ping pong…actually any physical activity in general…" Izzy said, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. Skyy shrugged.

"Whatever, I probably suck at it too, I've only ever played once in my life and I lost," she said laughing. Tai and Matt had already gotten into a heated match with Sora and Mimi cheering happily on the side lines and making crude comments trying to get the two boys to slip up.

"I don't know..." Izzy mumbled. Skyy sighed and walked over. She pushed his laptop down so that it clicked shut and brought her face right up to his. She had a fake glare in her eyes and Izzy backed away slightly, his blush turning red.

"If you don't play ping pong with me I'll come into your cabin at night, steal your laptop and do scary things to you whilst you innocently slumber," she said, trying to not crack up. Izzy's eyes widened and his face suddenly went crimson red. Something just clicked in Skyy's mind after she saw his reaction.

"Oh wait! Don't think about it in a dirty way!" she yelled, turning red and backing away. Izzy laughed.

"Too late! Okay, okay, I'll play you," he sighed in defeat and put his laptop back into his bag.

"That's what she said!" Tai yelled suddenly. Both Skyy and Izzy turned bright red. Izzy whipped around to face Tai who was laughing.

"T-that's not what I meant!" he yelled. The other four laughed and even Skyy let out a giggle. Izzy turned away in a huff and grabbed a ping pong paddle.

Neither Skyy nor Izzy really knew the rules so they just kind of hit the ball back and forth, seeing how long they could keep hitting it before someone messed up. Eventually an hour passed by. Skyy and Izzy got tired after half an hour and Izzy went back to his laptop and watched the rest of his friends play over the top of the screen. Skyy got into a couple games with Mimi and Sora but Tai and Matt kept dominating the second ping pong table. They kept going "okay best two of three, okay best three out of five, okay best four out of six!" and the list went on. Eventually Tai held his own and beat Matt four games out of seven. Of course this only caused Matt to challenge Tai to another game at some point.

Mimi glanced at her pink wrist watch.

"Heey, the Rumba lesson is going to start in ten minuets!" she said. Tai and Matt looked over from their ping pong table.

"Oh okay, do you want to head over there now then?" Tai asked. Mimi nodded. Skyy glanced at Izzy who was packing up his laptop. If Matt was dancing with Sora…and Tai was dancing with Mimi, does that mean she'd get to dance with Izzy. She smiled lightly to herself at the thought of it.

As the teens put the paddles and ping pong balls away Skyy saw a flash of blonde in the corner of her eyes. She looked over and saw Jeremy waltzing over with a big goofy smile on his face.

"Hey!" he said, waving. Sora and Mimi perked up seeing him.

"Hi Jeremy!" they said smiling enthusiastically. Izzy looked up and frowned somewhat. Tai and Matt high-fived Jeremy happily when he came up to them. Skyy smiled.

"Hey! What's up?" she asked giving him a little hug as a hello.

"Not much, I saw you guys playing ping pong and decided to come see you," he said.

"Oh we're actually going to a Rumba lesson right now," Skyy said. Jeremy cocked his head.

"You? A Rumba lesson?" he chuckled. Mimi stepped forward a little.

"Do you want to come?" she asked. Jeremy looked at her. He shrugged.

"Sure! Sounds interesting," he laughed. Skyy smiled.

"Ahh, but who shall I dance with? Are you free Skyy?" Jeremy said winking. Skyy looked up at him.

"Oh…uh well, yeah I guess," she laughed nervously. She glanced over to Izzy.

"Oh! But then who'll Izzy dance with?" she said quickly. Izzy looked up.

"Oh! Me? Dancing? Haha nooo thanks, I think I'll just watch," he laughed. Skyy's heart sank a little.

"Aww, but everyone else is dancing, c'mooon" Skyy whined. Jeremy put an arm around Izzy's shoulders.

"Yeah c'mon man, you'll get to dance a sexy dance with a sexy girl!" Jeremy said enthusiastically. Izzy grinned but shook his head.

"Yeaah, I'm good, I'll take pictures of you guys with Skyy's camera, is that ok?" Izzy asked, looking at Skyy. Skyy pouted a little.

"Yeah I guess," she said. She didn't want to force him to do anything. Though, she wanted to dance with him. The seven headed to the Vista Lounge and arrived just as the instructor was setting up. As the instructor introduced herself, she turned on the music and showed a couple of moves. All the couples got onto the dance floor. Skyy and Jeremy were giggling the whole time and didn't seem to take it seriously. First the instructor would show them a step, they'd mimic it, and then they'd do the move to music. It was all very repetitive. And Skyy couldn't help but laugh a little at the couples taking it a little too seriously. Mimi and Tai seemed to be doing well. Mimi kept laughing when Tai messed up a little but over all he got the hang of it very well. Sora and Matt were good too. Skyy and Jeremy were okay…..yeah...okay. Skyy kept smiling when she saw Izzy snapping pictures or them. He laughed behind the camera at their efforts.

In the middle of the lesson Skyy looked over to the entrance of the lounge and saw a group of teenage boys come in. she stopped for a second when she recognized one of the boys in the group.

"Hoodie boy!" she mumbled, startled. Jeremy looked at her.

"What?" he asked. Skyy snapped her head to him.

"Oh, nothing, never mind," she mumbled, Jeremy just shrugged. Skyy tried getting Mimi or Sora's attention by waving her hand. Mimi finally saw and gave her a confused look. Skyy jabbed a finger in the direction of the Hoodie boy. Mimi followed her finger and when her eyes landed on the guy she gasped. She looked back to Skyy and mouthed, "It's him!" Skyy nodded.

Skyy looked back over at the boy and was startled yet again. He was looking right at her! Skyy blushed a little but kept watching him from the corner of her eye. The group of boys sat at the bar with their backs to the dance floor. Only the Hoodie boy sat with his back to the bar and facing the Rumba lesson.

He was wearing an orange t-shirt and his hair was still that messy, floppy kind of style. Skyy started feeling self conscious as the Hoodie boy kept looking at her through the whole lesson.

When the lesson was finally over Skyy quickly got off the dance floor with Jeremy. Mimi stretched her arms in the air.

"Ahh! That was fun! Thank you Taii!" she sing-songed and she kissed him. Tai smiled against her kiss.

"No problem Meems," he said against her mouth. She smiled and kissed him again. Skyy went over behind Izzy's chair and leaned on his shoulder.

"So did you get any good pictures?" she laughed. Izzy fumbled with the camera in his hand.

"Oh! Uh yeah! We can look at them afterward though right?" he said quickly. Skyy cocked her head.

"Uh, yeah I guess, anyway what do we want to do now?" she asked turning to face the others. Sora and Matt shrugged. Skyy quickly glanced over to the bar. She noticed that the group of boys had left. She assumed they left near the end of the lesson without her knowing. She scanned the room and was surprised when she was the boys in a group by the entrance. They were all looking over at her with big goofy smiles on their faces. She raised an eyebrow. What on earth were they looking at?

Suddenly someone cleared their throat behind Skyy and she turned around.

"Huh?" she said. She jumped when she saw who it was behind her. Mimi and Sora were smiling slyly and Jeremy had raised eyebrows.

"Uh, hello, you don't know me but my name is Brayden," the Hoodie boy was standing right behind her with a light blush on his face. Skyy's eyes widened. Izzy looked at the boy with a surprised and confused look. His look mirrored both Tai and Matt's as well. Jeremy grinned and Sora and Mimi kept smiling slyly. Everybody was watching Skyy now. She suddenly felt awkward.

"Oh, uh, hello…?" she said in English. The Hoodie boy, now known as Brayden, smiled lightly. Skyy noticed he was quite good looking. And now that he was up close she noticed his eyes were a dark, mint green.

"Well I just wanted to say that I think you're super cute and to save me a dance next time at the teen center okay? If your friends don't mind?" he said grinning. Skyy stared blankly at him.

"Uh…okay?" she mumbled. Brayden beamed.

"Okay! Well, see you around," he said and shyly started to walk away. Skyy stared stupidly at his back. Mimi and Sora squealed lightly and rushed over to Skyy's side. Mimi had translated what Brayden said lightly to the others. Tai and Matt looked a little worried. Izzy had a shocked and a little jealous expression on his face. Jeremy just stood their beaming at Skyy.

"Wait!" Brayden's voice suddenly said and he came rushing over again. Mimi and Sora quickly shut up and Skyy looked up at Brayden.

"Wow, I'm super lame, I didn't even ask your name!" he said laughing and scratching the back of his head shyly.

"Oh, I'm Skyy, Skyy Tsutsumi," she said. Brayden's eyes sparkled.

"Cool! Pretty name, though I don't think I'll be able to say your last name," he laughed. Skyy smiled lightly.

"Anyway, I'm leaving for real this time, so see you around Skyy!" he said and rushed off towards his friends. Mimi translated quickly to Sora and Sora started squealing beside Skyy.

"Aww Skyyy! He's soo super cute!" Sora squealed. Mimi nodded.

"Yeah! He's seems so honest too!" she sighed. Skyy finally shook her head to get rid of the shock.

"Yeah, he was, but I don't know him guys! Jeeez," she said, a light blush dusting her cheeks. Izzy stayed silent and looked at the ground with a mixture of emotions running through his eyes. Tai watched Brayden's back as he met back up with his friends. Skyy peeked over at him too. He was getting a bunch of high-five's and noogies from his friends. Brayden was laughing lightly but still had that embarrassed blush on his face. The group of boys walked out of the lounge with Brayden in the middle still receiving congratulations.

"Well, whatever, Skyy says she doesn't know him so don't try to go setting her up with someone she doesn't want to be with," Tai said. Mimi and Sora frowned. Skyy gave Tai a look that said "thank you," Tai saw it and nodded back.

"Aww, but they'd be so cute together," Mimi whined.

"Well he's got his hopes too high because we're on a cruise ship and we're all leaving in three days so it's not like anything will happen anyway," Matt said, he kept giving Izzy glances to see his reactions. Sora and Mimi pouted.

"You guys are stingy," Sora said, frowning. Tai and Matt shrugged. Skyy was grateful for them, even if Matt didn't know that she liked Izzy he seemed to get a hint from Tai. Thought Skyy was positive Tai didn't tell anyone, he wouldn't do that.

"Well anyway, it looks like we're left with nothing to do…want to wander?" Skyy piped up. Jeremy perked up.

"Yeaah, my feet are tired from those moves, I need to stretch them out," Jeremy said. Izzy got up from his seat.

"Yeah, a walk sounds good," he said and started heading for the exit. Skyy watched his back worriedly. He seemed to be acting funny all of a sudden, was he okay? The others followed suit and they walked around for a little while. They mostly walked in silence, well Izzy and Skyy did anyway. She kept looking at Izzy and wanting to talk to him, but never could.

Eventually Mimi's said her feet got tired and they retired on a staircase for a while. Skyy sat a couple stairs up and Izzy slumped down on the stair in front of her. Suddenly she thought of an idea.

"Hey Iz, you seem tense," she said. Izzy lazily looked back at her.

"Oh?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Want me to give you a head massage?" she asked sweetly. He blinked stupidly a couple times and grinned, leaning against her legs and resting his head on her knees.

"Sure, sounds great," he said. Skyy's heart lifted and she started kneading her fingers into his hair. The teens all chatted lightly and as Skyy worked her fingers through Izzy's soft red hair. Eventually thought her fingers got tired and she just ended up playing with his hair. He didn't seem to mind though. Skyy gazed down at his hair.

"Man Iz…your hair is sooo red," she said. Izzy chuckled.

"Thanks?" he replied.

"Yeah, it's like not a normal red, it's like a deep maroon red," Mimi said looking at his hair.

"It's actually really pretty," Skyy said smiling. Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"I have pretty hair? That's not exactly manly," he joked. Skyy laughed.

"Nah, it's just a rare shade, it's cool," she said. Izzy blushed lightly and smiled proudly.

"Its natural right?" Skyy joked.

"Yes!" Izzy said. Skyy laughed.

"Skyy I want to see your natural hair color!" Sora said. Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" she asked.

"Becaaause, we've never seen your natural hair color, you always re-dye it before your roots grow in," Mimi pouted. Skyy grinned.

"I don't know why you guys care so much, it's just a normal brown color," Skyy shrugged.

"Somehow I can't see you with brown hair," Tai chuckled. Jeremy laughed.

"She didn't even have it natural the whole time she lived in Canada so I've never seen it either," Jeremy said.

"You should get the dye out of it when we get home!" Sora said excitedly. Skyy sighed.

"Whhyy though? I like it blonde," she said.

"I think you'd look really pretty with brown hair…" Izzy mumbled but everyone heard him. Tai grinned widely and Skyy blushed.

"Oh…then I might try to un-dye it," she muttered. Tai laughed.

"Ohh so easily persuaded! Izzy must have a power over her that we don't! No fair!" Tai teased. Izzy and Skyy turned bright red, but a smile crept up on Izzy's features.

"A-anyway! What are we going to do tonight?" Skyy asked to change the subject.

"Well, since its Mimi's birthday today, I say we party till dawn!" Sora cheered. Jeremy perked up.

"Oh? It's Mimi's birthday? Well happy birthday!" he grinned. Mimi blushed and thanked him. Tai smiled and hugged her lovingly.

"That sounds good, just the same thing we do every night would make me happy!" Mimi said happily. Tai grinned.

"Oh? The thing we do every night would make you happy?" Tai teased and he kissed her neck. Mimi blushed a deep red and swatted him away.

"Jeez! No dirty jokes!" she said nervously. Tai laughed and kissed her cheek.

"So we'll just hang out at the teen club like normal?" Skyy asked. Everyone nodded. The seven of them sat on the stairs for a little while longer before getting up to walk around again. They realized that it was close to seven o'clock and parted ways with Jeremy to head to dinner. When they were at dinner they all had crab legs which were a real treat for all of them.

As per usual when they finished dinner they were really full and they walked out

groaning because they were too full. They decided to quickly go down and change into some different clothes so they headed down to the rooms. When they got there Skyy changed into a white tank top with a black corset-type vest over top. She wore black shorts that sort of poofed out and bit and some grey leggings that stopped at her knees. She put her hair into two messy pinktails at either side of her head that framed her face and long neck.

When the girls finished getting ready Skyy quickly called Jeremy at his stateroom to meet up with him again. He was happy that she called and she told him where they would all meet. The girls then met the boys out in the hallway and headed out for the night.

Skyy had flipped through the daily log again whist she was in her stateroom and saw that there was a big quiz game in the Explorer's Lounge. She told the boys about it and they agreed to go.

On their way they passed through main Piazza and a horrible stench filled the air. The girls all gagged as soon as the smell hit their faces. Tai looked down to the bottom floor of the Piazza and saw staff was handing out cheese samples. He laughed and he and Matt went down to get some. They came back up with a couple of samples. Mimi and Sora were too grossed out to try it. Skyy was willing to try it but couldn't get past the smell before gagging first, so she passed. Tai and Matt had a piece and they actually seemed to like it. Izzy had some too and liked it as well. The girls still refused to try it anyway. The three girls skidded away from the Piazza with the boys laughing and following after. Mimi and Sora were saying there was no way either Matt or Tai were getting kisses tonight until they brushed their teeth.

As they reached the Explorer's Lounge there were already a couple groups of people sitting there. A staff person was standing at the front with a microphone and taking groups. Skyy quickly skipped up and registered her team. When he asked her what the team name was she didn't realize they needed to have a team name and was a little surprised. But she thought quickly and told him their team name was "Team Asia". He looked past her and saw that all of her friends were Asian and chuckled as he wrote down their team name.

The point of the game was that the announcer would say a question, and each of the teams had to write down the most common answer for that question. When the announcer gave Skyy her team's notepad she walked back over to them and explained the rules. Jeremy went up to the bar to get a couple drinks. He used his ID to buy some alcoholic drinks that Tai, Sora, Matt and Mimi wanted. He got a drink with light alcohol in it for Skyy even though she said she didn't want one. She ended up sharing it with Izzy though because he didn't like strong alcohol either. They all got really hyper because of the drinks and started writing down nonsense answers just for the fun of it. The questions and answers were as follows:

1. What do you win on TV shows? If your hot, the host's phone number

2. What's the most annoying habit? Biting nails

3. What attracts women to men first? Definitely not their penis', so stop trying guys….

4. What's the most romantic city? Vegas

5. What would you find in a bachelor's fridge? A six pack of beer and his mother's meat pie

6. What do you give your mother in law as a Anti-aging cream and diet pills

present?

7. What does everyone wish they had more of Hair and brain cells.

When they are born?

8. What do people take home from cruises? Weight

9. What do teens most look forward to? The party, not the hangover.

10. Where do you go on a first date? My house ;P

Skyy, Mimi or Jeremy would write down the answers because they were the only

ones who could write in English. Skyy was the official runner and would go up to submit their answers to the host. The host would laugh every time he had to read out their answers. All the teams knew that the group of teens weren't really trying to win but were just trying to get some laughs out of people. It was an all adult crowd except for their team so they did their best. As they kept playing and submitting answers they kept drinking and by the end Skyy was sure she was a little tipsy. Everyone seemed a little drunk but thankfully they were all fun drunks and knew somewhat what they were doing and when to stop drinking alcohol.

When the trivia game finally ended 'Team Asia' got last place with only two correct

answers: numbers 5 and 8. As the announcer packed up and left a singer and some dancers came up and announced the beginnings of 50's night. Skyy vaguely remembered reading about it in the daily log. They all decided to stay for a little while longer and see how the 50s night thing turned out. As more people came into the lounge the singer started to sing some old 50s tunes and the dancers danced on stage. Skyy lightly hummed to the songs, recognizing the odd song. Eventually Mimi stood up and pulled on Skyy's arm asking her to come up and dance with her. She agreed and persuaded some others to come as well. Soon everyone got up and ran up to the dance floor where some other older people were dancing lightly. They all danced in a little crowd on the dance floor and all the older ladies sitting at the front of the lounge awed at Skyy and her friends. At one point a song that they all recognized came on and Izzy broke out into the old dance step where you swing your knee in and out keeping your foot in the same place and swinging your arms around your waist. Everyone laughed at him before he stopped, bursting into laughter himself.

They were dancing for a long time, or at least it seemed like a long time. Skyy even got to dance some one on one with Izzy. They didn't dance they way they normally did, like a school dances and at the teen club, because there was innocent old ladies present. But they danced around like silly, tipsy teenagers. Skyy even got the courage to ask Izzy to dance with her during a slow song. Izzy accepted happily and the little old ladies in front sighed dreamily at the two of them. Izzy and Skyy only laughed lightly at them. Skyy was most happy, she thought, tonight. It seemed to be the most fun out of all her days on the cruise. Not only because she was dancing in Izzy's arms, but just cause today was a good day, and they kept having more and more fun.

The teens stayed at the lounge for a couple more hours dancing and goofing around. Soon 50s night ended though and everyone left. It was around 11:00 and the teens decided to head back to their rooms to 'freshen up'. No one forgot Mimi's birthday and they still had to celebrate it!

Jeremy ended up following them, saying he didn't want to disturb his parents who were probably sleeping. They all headed down to their staterooms talking and laughing loudly. It wasn't until Sora finally reminded them of the other sleeping passengers that they shut up, but still kept laughing and joking lightly. The girls headed into their stateroom and Jeremy followed the boys into theirs. When they got in Mimi slumped on Skyy's bed and Skyy looked at herself in the mirror whilst playing with her hair.

"Hey guys…" Mimi mumbled. Skyy looked over and Sora made a sound that said she was listening. Sora was in the bathroom looking in the mirror.

"I don't really want to go to the teen club, I mean it's already 11:15 and most of the teens leave by that point…can we just stay here and stay up till late?" she asked. Skyy smiled.

"That actually sounds perfect, after dancing in the lounge I'm soo tired I don't want to go out again," Skyy laughed.

"Me too," Sora sighed from the other room.

"We can just stay in the rooms and open presents here!" Skyy said. Mimi perked up.

"You got me presents?" she asked. Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"Of course we did stupid! It's your birthday!" Skyy laughed. Mimi blushed lightly.

"Oh, ha, ha," Mimi laughed. Mimi flopped onto her back and suddenly shifted.

"Ow, what's under me?" she said and shifted and her arms reached under her back. Skyy looked over to her. Mimi clasped something behind her back and her eyes lit up.

"Wait! Is this!" she said and brought the object to her face. Her eyes sparkled and a big smile went all over her face. She was clutching, a now crinkled, note with Skyy's name written on it. Skyy's eyes widened.

"This is another note for you Skyy!" Mimi squealed. Sora peeked her head out the bathroom. Skyy rushed over and took the letter from Mimi.

"Read it read it!" Mimi squealed. Skyy blushed and she opened it up just as Sora quickly skipped over and leaned on Skyy's other side. Skyy translated the note into Japanese as she read.

I wanted to dance the Rumba with you… From, X

Mimi and Sora squealed. Skyy blushed as she read the note.

"It was definitely that Brayden boy! Wasn't he watching you the whole time during the Rumba lesson?" Mimi said. Sora's eyes widened.

"What do you mean he was watching her?" she asked. Mimi grinned.

"Skyy saw him and pointed him out to me, he was sitting at the bar the whole time and didn't tear his eyes from her! I saw him!" Mimi squealed. Sora squealed as well and bounced up and down excitedly with Mimi.

"But….do we still have enough proof it's him sending these notes?" Skyy said, trying to find a loop hole. Mimi rolled her eyes.

"Skyy, C'mon! He goes to the teen center so he knew about the foosball tournament and you singing, he was on the train tour we took, he seems shy so that could be an opposite personality, and he was watching you dancing the Rumba today!" Mimi said using her fingers to count down each note Skyy had gotten.

"And he could've been on deck the first day when we were playing truth or dare and overheard your answer, or sending the notes could have been spontaneous," Sora added. Skyy bit her lip.

"Face it Skyy! Brayden is X!" Mimi said with a twinkle in her eyes. Skyy sighed.

"I guess…it seems that way," Skyy mumbled.

"What's wrong? Don't you want it to be Brayden?" Sora asked. Skyy shook her head.

"It's not that, it just he's so nice," Skyy said. Mimi and Sora nodded furiously. Skyy continued. "But I like someone else so I'm going to have to turn him down," Skyy mumbled. Mimi sighed and Sora frowned, slumping into Skyy's bed.

"But Skyy! How long have you liked this mystery person for?" Mimi questioned. Skyy turned red.

"Uh, for three years now," Skyy mumbled. Mimi's eyes widened.

"Oh wow, that's a long time…anyway, this Brayden guy likes you now, if you've liked this other guy for three years and nothings happened, doesn't it seem kind of hopeless unless you confess or something?" Mimi said. Skyy's heart sank. How could Mimi say that?

"But… I mean I haven't confessed…but...what if—" Skyy said.

"What if he rejects you? Why would you have to worry about that when someone like Brayden already likes you! You even said he's a nice guy and he's cute! Why can't you go out with him just so see what it's like? You might end up really liking him," Mimi said. Sora just watched the two of them.

"Mimi," Sora said, noticing how Skyy's face seemed to be looking more crushed as Mimi talked.

"If this other guy hasn't given you the time of day, than he's not worth it. Brayden is hot, he's honest, he's really nice, and he likes you," Mimi went on. Skyy felt her eyes stinging. Sora opened her mouth to protest again but Skyy beat her to it.

"But…he's not…he's not Izzy," Skyy said, accidentally letting Izzy's name slip. Mimi stopped in her tracks and Sora's eyes practically bulged from her head. Skyy's face turned red as she realized what she just said. Mimi started at her wide-eyed.

"Oh…my….god." she said. Skyy opened her mouth to argue back but Sora's squeals filled her eardrums and made her head pound.

"You like IZZY? OH MY GAWWD SKYYYYY! THAT'S SO FREAKIN CUTE!" Sora screamed. Skyy groaned. Crap. There was no getting out of this one. Mimi's eyes sparkled.

"Seriously?" she said grabbing Skyy's arm. Skyy blushed deeper and nodded. Mimi and Sora erupted into more squeals and giggles.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry I ever said to forget about him! I'm for Izzy and Skyy %100!" Mimi laughed.

"Why haven't you confessed yet Skyy? It's Izzy! He's so nice; he'd definitely go out with you!" Sora said. Skyy shrank into herself as much as she could.

"No he wouldn't. He wouldn't like someone like me, I mean he'd probably go out with a girl like Yolei but older, someone smart like him," Skyy mumbled. Mimi smiled slyly.

"Somehow I doubt that," she said. Sora got up in a burst of energy.

"C'mon! Lets go to the boys' room!" she said an in a split second dashed for the door. Mimi grinned and shot up, following the hyper red-head. Skyy's eyes widened and she got up.

"W-wait! Your not telling anyone are you?" she said, panicking. Mimi turned just as Sora was about to open the door, she rolled her eyes.

"Obviously not Skyy, we're better friends than that, I'm just stoked you finally let it slip who you like!" Mimi laughed and skipped after Sora. Skyy groaned and followed after them. Sora reached out for the boys' door handle and slipped in a card key. Skyy looked around Mimi's shoulder.

"Um, why do you have a room key for the boys' room?" Skyy wondered aloud.

"I snuck Matt's card one time and got it copied, it was perfect for times like this," Sora grinned evilly. Skyy raised an eyebrow. Sometimes Sora was a better mastermind than herself. The door clicked as it unlocked and Sora pushed down the door handle and threw it open.

"Boo!" all the girls shouted and a series of male yelling echoed from the stateroom. Skyy took out her camera and quickly snapped some pictures to get the boys' surprised faces, but she got much more than just that. The girls barged in and were greeted by wide eyes and bare chests. Jeremy was lounging on Matt's bed and was fully dressed, but still with wide-eyes. Matt was fully dressed too but didn't have a shirt on. Tai and Izzy on the other hand were the ones yelping because they only had their boxers on. Tai jumped about a foot in the air and dashed for a corner to hide in. Izzy was closer to the bathroom and ran in, slamming the door shut behind him.

The girls stared at them for a second and burst out laughing. Tai growled angrily.

"Hey! That's not funny! Seriously don't come barging in like that! I thought it was the stewardess!" Tai said. Matt chuckled and resumed putting on the shirt he had in his hands. Jeremy was laughing too. Tai glared at him and threw his shoe at Jeremy's head.

"Why would the stewardess come this late?" Skyy asked, her laughs ceasing. Tai shrugged. Mimi laughed and went over to give Tai a quick kiss before Tai started rummaging through his drawers for some clothes.

"So what's with the pleasant surprise?" Matt asked giving Sora a quick peck on the cheek.

"Mimi decided she just wants to hang out here for the night and stay up late," Sora said. Tai raised an eyebrow.

"You don't want to go to the teen club?" he asked, turning to Mimi who was sitting on his bed.

"Nope, I thought it would be more fun to just hang out here," she said. Tai nodded.

"Oh, okay, hey Skyy," Tai said getting Skyy's attention; she was looking out the window to the dark water outside. Tai threw her some clothes. "Give these to Izzy, he's still hiding in the bathroom I think," Tai laughed. Skyy nodded.

"Okay," she said and headed for the bathroom.

"Hey Iz, here's some clothes for you," Tai yelled. Skyy waited outside the door and it opened hesitantly.

"Hey, thanks Tai, I thought I'd be stuck in here for a while—" Izzy's said but when he saw Skyy standing there he stopped talking. Skyy did a one over and smirked at his boxers.

"Nice teddy bears," she grinned. Izzy turned beat red and jumped, slamming the door shut again. Tai burst out laughing from around the corner.

"Tai! Dammit!" Izzy cursed from inside the bathroom. Skyy laughed. She knocked lightly on the door.

"Hey Iz, you forgot your clothes," she said. It was silent for a second before the door opened a crack and Izzy's hand slipped out. She gave him the clothes and the door shut quickly.

"Thanks..." Izzy mumbled. Skyy grinned and went over back to the others. Sora and Mimi were grinning like cats. Skyy slapped Tai over the back, who was still laughing.

"Dude, that was mean," she said, though she was laughing too. Jeremy was laughing lightly as well.

"Anyway, should we get our presents out to give to Meems?" Tai said and he pulled his shirt on, he already had some pants on. Matt nodded and pulled out his suitcase from under his bed. Mimi blushed lightly.

"Oh, everyone got presents?" she mumbled. Sora quickly ran back to the girls' room to get her and Skyy's presents from their suitcases. When she got back Izzy was out of the bathroom with a blush on his face. He was too embarrassed and refused to look Skyy in the eye. Mimi sat on Tai's bed with Tai on one side and Sora on the other. Everyone sat around her holding their presents. Mimi opened everyone's one by one, opening Tai's last. Sora had given her a new pink shirt, and Skyy had gotten her some short shorts and hair pins to match. Matt got her a set of pink hairbrushes (Skyy could tell Sora had helped him pick it out). Izzy had gotten her a CD of a Japanese band she said she really liked. Since Jeremy didn't know it was her birthday he took the daily log from that day and folded it into a paper flower for her and stuck in on the end of a pen. Finally Tai had given her $30 American. Skyy mentally slapped her forehead.

"Is this what you give your girlfriend for her birthday! Just some money?" she said and hit Tai with a pillow over the head.
"Ow! Hey! I got it for her before she was even my girlfriend!" Tai said, grabbing his other pillow and swatting Skyy over the head with it. Mimi tried butting in saying she loved money for presents but Tai and Skyy started a full out pillow fight. Eventually everyone else got involved and they all grabbed pillows and started hitting anyone who was near them. They all erupted into laughter and yelling, forgetting how thin the stateroom walls were and that their neighbours were probably cursing them to hell. They kept hitting each other with pillows until there were all exhausted and collapsed either on the floor or on someone's bed. Still not really wanting to go to sleep yet they all lay around and chatted. Eventually Skyy got up and headed for the door.

"Hey Skyy, where are you goin'?" Tai asked, he was lying on his bed with Mimi curled up beside him and resting her head on his chest. Skyy turned with a light blush on her cheeks.

"Um, I'm just going out for a while, Izzy will you come with me?" Skyy said. Everyone's eyes widened and their mouths dropped. Izzy's face turned bright red. Skyy got what they were thinking at quickly retaliated.

"No! That's not what I meant! It's just for a walk!" Skyy fumed her face beat red. Izzy stumbled as he got up.

"Uh-uh sure I'll come," he said. Sora, Tai and Mimi all grinned slyly at Skyy but she glared at all of them. She wasn't going to do what they thought she was going to do. Jeez. As Skyy and Izzy closed the door behind them Izzy opened his mouth to ask Skyy where they were going but she answered him before he spoke.

"I feel really bad but we didn't have any time to hang out at the Piazza today, we were so busy with Mimi's birthday and all, I hope you didn't think I forgot," Skyy said. She had felt really bad, especially when they both planned to hang out there today. Understanding washed over Izzy's face and he laughed lightly.

"Oh! To be honest I did think you forgot, but I didn't want to say anything, thinking you'd get the impression that I was being a nuisance," Izzy said nervously scratching the back of his head. He had a light blush on his cheeks. Skyy smiled.

"No way! I wouldn't think you were a nuisance!" Skyy laughed. Izzy grinned.

"Do you think we could go there now then?" he asked shyly. Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"Right now? But the shops will be closed…and nobody will be there," she said. Izzy shrugged.

"So? We can still hang out, plus the others think we're going for a walk right? May as well go for a walk," he said giving her a crooked grin. She blushed and smiled at him, nodding happily.

"Sure! Let's go," she said and they both headed off down the hall. They chatted as they walked down to the Piazza.

It was funny seeing the Piazza with absolutely no one there. All the lights were still on but the Elevators weren't moving and the odd janitor staff would go by sweeping or emptying garbage cans. The windows were all dark too, not letting in the sunlight they did during the day. Izzy led Skyy to a group of chairs and they both collapsed into one each.

"Ahh! This is so relaxing!" Skyy said snuggling into the chair," Izzy smiled at her.

"Yeah, somehow I like it better with no one here," he chuckled. Skyy nodded.

"Oh hey! We should take a picture to commemorate our "date"!" she said writing quotations in the air with her fingers. Izzy nodded and smiled as Skyy took her camera from her pocket. She turned on her camera and leaned next to Izzy. They both smiled and held up peace signs as Skyy clicked the camera.

"Sweet!" Skyy cheered as she looked at the picture on the camera screen. She put her camera away and sighed as she sank back into the seat.

"Maan, I can't believe the cruise is almost over!" Skyy said pouting. Izzy sighed too.

"Yeah…it went by too fast," he said somewhat sadly. Skyy nodded in her seat.

"But so many things have happened! Like I met Jeremy again, and we met all of our other friends, and Tai and Mimi became a couple!" Skyy said using her fingers to count off everything.

"Yeah," Izzy said.

"I think today has been my favourite day though so far," Skyy said. Izzy looked up at her.

"Oh? And why is that?" he asked. Skyy shrugged.

"I don't know, we just seemed to have a lot of fun today," Skyy said happily. The two chatted for a while and their voices echoed throughout the Piazza. It was mostly Skyy talking because she didn't really want them to sit in silence so she kept racking her brain for things to talk about. What she didn't know was that Izzy didn't mind just listening to her talk. It was about half an hour before Izzy started his own conversation instead of Skyy. Izzy looked at her for a long moment. Skyy didn't notice because she was sort of looking all over the room whilst she talked.

"Hey Skyy," Izzy said suddenly. Skyy turned her attention to him.

"Hm?" Skyy replied.

"Well, there is something…uh that I wanted to say," Izzy mumbled, his face becoming red. Skyy's eyes widened a little bit. Her heart started to beat faster for a moment.

"Oh, yeah?" she mumbled.

"Yeah...um…I just wanted to say…Uh…I really, really—" he started. His face was beat red and he was looking at the ground. Skyy stared at him as he talked. What was he going to say? Izzy was silent for a second.

"Yes?" Skyy said after he didn't say anything.

"...I'm really glad we came here to hang out," Izzy said and looked up at her smiling. Skyy's heart sank a little.

"Oh! Yeah me too!" she said smiling. Suddenly a rustle came from far off in the corner of the Piazza.

"Dammit Izzy!" Tai's voice yelled. Both teens jumped and swung to look in the direction of Tai's voice.

"Taii! Shut up you blew our cover!" Mimi's voice yelled. Skyy bolted from her seat. Tai, Mimi, Sora, Matt, and Jeremy were all crouching around a corner. Skyy frowned and charged over to them.

"Hey! What do you think this is?" she said angrily, though her face was beat red. Izzy got up from his seat too and walked over. Tai held up his hands in surrender and grinned.

"Sorry Skyy, but what you said was too intriguing, and it got boring after you left, so we came to eavesdrop," Tai said shrugging and crossing his arms behind his head. Skyy glared at him.

"How long were you there for?" she asked. Tai grinned.

"About half an hour maybe?" Mimi said innocently. Skyy rolled her eyes.

"Jeez don't you have anything better to do?" she snapped.

"Actually no, so do you guys wanna come back with us then?" Sora said. Skyy sighed and Izzy smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I guess it's getting late, we should head back," Izzy said putting a hand on Skyy's shoulder. Skyy pouted angrily. Stupid Tai.

So, much to Skyy's disappointment, they all left and headed back to their staterooms. Jeremy said goodbye and Skyy, Sora and Mimi all gave him little hugs as he left for his room. When they got back the girls ended up going back into the boys' room and they all chatted for a little while longer.

Before they knew it however, they all got tired after they realized it was past 2:00 and the girls all fell asleep in the boys' room. Mimi feel asleep with Tai on his bed, Sora with Matt on his bed, and Skyy stole a bunch of extra blankets and pillows and curled up on the floor. Izzy had been sitting on the floor too and ended up taking one of Skyy's pillows and lay down with his head by hers.

They all slept soundly with the glow from the moon in the window dancing across all their faces. They were docked at Ketchikan tomorrow, their last official stop in Alaska before they headed for Victoria, British Columbia. Sweet dreams of her and Izzy in the Piazza played in Skyy's mind as she slept, wishing that maybe Izzy had said something else to her before her friends had interrupted them. But then again, in Skyy's mind, why would Izzy ever say something like that to her? It wasn't possible.

End – Day Seven