AN: The first few chapters are going to move a bit slowly I reckon, but I'll pick the pace up considerably after the next one, I promise. To any readers: I'd love to know your opinion, if you have one.


Mimi found a large dried log and sat down for a moment while Palmon went nearby to fetch them some fruit. She was looking at her Digivice, and holding an unresponsive cellphone on the other hand. Mimi sighed, putting her phone away. Technology had a way of working funny here in the Digiworld. She knew that if Koushiro was here, he could make it work. Hell, he could've turned her cellphone into an infrared adapter and turned the whole Digiworld upside down … or something of the like. Mimi had never really understood the miracles Izzy worked on his computer and gadgets. She looked at the skies, the orange and pinks that told her that the sun would set soon. "We need to find the others," she muttered to herself, not wanting to think what would happen if there were no others. There had to be, she was sure of it.

Kind of sure of it.

The more honest truth here was that Mimi was a little scared. She had been here countless times, she told herself. She knew this place, knew her way around it, had Digimon friends in every corner of the map but … Mimi had never been so alone. The first time, she had six other Digidestined with her. Then, years later, there was Miyako, and Daisuke, and Iori – Ken, Wallace and Michael, and so many other nameless, faceless children that only briefly registered in Mimi's mind. But this time, as far as she could tell, she and Palmon were alone. She closed her eyes, trying not to let that thought sink in. She wished Taichi was here. Or Yamato, even. Mimi smiled. She wouldn't complain too much if he was there too.

"Mimi, I brought food," Palmon said happily, and Mimi smiled at her as she took her pick of the armful of fruit Palmon had brought for them.

"Thank you, Palmon," she said, taking a bite of a pink, heart-shaped sort of peach. It was sweet, and juicy, and Mimi was grateful for the meal they could have. She stuffed a few other pieces inside her bag and then looked at Palmon. "We should get moving soon. There's still some light, and I'd like to go a bit further in case …" she trailed off, taking another bite.

Palmon was looking at her friend curiously, acutely aware that her dear Mimi had changed much. She wasn't crying, for one. She wasn't being loud, or vain (although she thought that hat was a bit too fabulous for an adventure), and she was keeping a level head. Palmon had missed her terribly these past few months, but she knew Mimi was really busy and often, she had grown bored in the real world. So she had been here for a few weeks, waiting for Mimi to have some spare time and they would all take some vacations. Things were different now, though. There were strange winds blowing in the Digiworld, and Palmon was sure that there were darker days ahead of them.

"We need to find somewhere to rest," she agreed. "And look for everyone in the morning."

They had been walking for a while now, and Mimi was starting to complain about not finding a suitable spot to sleep. Then she heard the first beep. Mimi looked at her Digivice, which was clipped to her bag. Two red dots were blinking on the map, and Mimi and Palmon exchanged looks of hope. They were here, somewhere! They started walking towards the point indicated in the map until there was barely any light left and they knew it was time to stop.

"Mimi lookout!" Palmon warned her, hurrying to protect Mimi as a shadow approached them but then –

"Mimi? Mimi is that you? And Palmon! Oh, it is you!"

Mimi thought she could recognise that voice and both she and Palmon ran towards him, opening her arms to hug the young blonde who had been speaking to her. Takeru was taller, of course, and very handsome at his seventeen years. Mimi had trouble believing it, but he had grown almost a full head since she had seen him during last year's visit to Japan.

"Takeru!" she smiled, dropping her hat as she let go of him. Takeru smiled widely, bending over to pick it up for her.

"Thank heaven you're here Mimi," he said, smiling tenderly at Palmon. "We were beginning to think we were the only ones."

His voice grew a little serious. "We haven't been able to find anyone else in hours."

"We?" she asked. "Who is we?"

"Oh, you'll see," he said, suddenly a little embarrassed. "We made camp close by, I was just checking out the space because I thought I'd heard something." He took her hand and Mimi hurried behind him, clutching her bag while Palmon ran happily with them.

"Is Patamon with you?" she asked, and Takeru nodded.

"He was asleep. Too tired, we've been looking all day for you guys."

Mimi looked as if she wanted to ask, but Takeru had not let go of her hand and he just shook his head.

"We're just there, in that clearing? Can you see the light?"

There was a fire going on, Mimi knew at once. It was a good thing, because it meant they'd have a warm refuge, at least for the night. Once they arrived, it was a good thing Takeru had been holding Mimi's hand, because she felt she might just faint.

"Tachikawa-san?"

The young man who looked at her was the person she least expected, but her stomach did a funny little flip as she admitted to herself just how happy she was to see him. Blond, painfully handsome with deep blue eyes and a face that could make a woman cry, Ishida Yamato looked refreshingly surprised. She blinked. "Ya-Ishida?" she murmured, letting go of Takeru and closing in for a hug. It was short, clipped, a little tense. Nothing at all like what she expected, but she tried not to show her disappointment.

She looked at the other person there, who was just smiling at her quietly, as though she didn't want to intrude. "Hikari-chan!" she smiled, going to her knees and hugging Taichi's younger sister, squealing like a pair of girls. She didn't want to think about the fact that Kari had just sat there, looking at her and Yamato, or about the slight blush that was creeping up her cheeks. Patamon woke, and Gatomon came closer and Mimi felt happier at once, as though this made up for the hours she had spent alone with Palmon. There were more hugs, more questions – Mimi shared her fruit and they gave her water they had fetched from a stream.

They had arrived at the same time, most likely; they didn't really know.

Mimi listened closely as they told her that they had met, quite by accident, at an electronics store near Yamato's university. Things had been strange for a few days so they were all carrying their Digivices with them, but they never thought that the portals would just open like that. Garurumon had separated from the group to look for any other Digidestined – they had all agreed it would do well not to slow him down. Despite their search, Mimi had been the first person they encountered yet.

"Of all the people, I was hoping we wouldn't run into you," Yamato said quietly, staring at the fire with his arms crossed over his chest. Mimi raised one cold eyebrow, feeling the colour rise to her cheeks once more.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she snapped angrily – almost too indignantly, placing one hand on her hip. "I'll have you know I'm perfectly capable of helping – you don't – I'm not dead weight, you know!" Her attitude barely seemed to register with him, and he looked up as if surprised that she was now glaring at him, and yelling of all things.

"What on earth – ?"

"He didn't mean it like that," Takeru said quickly, and Yamato seemed to understand, but he only rolled his eyes and let out a dry chuckle.

"Stop glaring at me," he told her simply. "I just meant that if you're here, it means this affected us everywhere, not just Japan." He looked at her with his own raised eyebrow. "I was hoping very much that it was one small glitch, but now..."

"We were really surprised to see you," Hikari hurried to say, "But I'm so glad we did, Mimi. I've missed you a lot."

Mimi felt ridiculous, and her face felt hotter now.

"Oh." She shuffled awkwardly in her place, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I thought … I didn't mean – ah, sorry."

Yamato didn't really seem to mind.

"That's fine," he muttered absently, standing quite suddenly. "I'm going for a walk, I can't sleep just now."

Takeru seemed to be worried, and Mimi couldn't blame him. They knew next to nothing and couldn't afford to have members of the team running off on their own and getting themselves in trouble. Somehow, though, she didn't think Yamato would do that.

"You shouldn't go alone, Yamato. Garurumon hasn't returned yet and – "

"Don't worry," Yamato said, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. "If I'm in trouble, I'll scream."

Takeru's smile was a little forced, but he sat back down without a word. Hikari was quiet, lying down on the ground against her own bag and looking at the skies. Mimi felt awkward still, unsure why it Yamato's words had bothered her so much. She thought that maybe she was still a little insecure about herself, but maybe it was more than that. If Mimi was honest with herself (and she nearly always was), she had been hurt because she remembered how earlier she had felt that Yamato's presence would be so welcome to her, and thinking he'd be annoyed by hers was just insulting. Still, she felt a little embarrassed by her outburst. It was one of the things she had been working on, controlling her temper. Clearly, it was still an issue.

Mimi sighed, announcing quite unnecessarily that she needed to freshen up. Takeru was sitting next to Hikari on the floor, and they were contemplating the stars without giving much thought to Mimi at all. Their Digimon were asleep, and Mimi smiled as she walked towards the sounds of the stream, figuring she really could use a cooldown.

She hadn't known he'd be there, but when he looked up and saw her, it was too late to go back. "Ishida-san," she acknowledged formall. "You scared me."

But he had already looked away from her.

"Sorry," he said absently, and Mimi chewed on her lip, not knowing what to say. The atmosphere felt charged somehow, tense.

Truth be told, it was usually like that between them.

.

.

She could remember that time at the desert, only a few days after they arrived at the DigiWorld and Server for the first time. The battle against Etemon had taken every ounce of their strength, and Taichi and Agumon, who had then been able to evolve to Metalgreymon, had been sucked in by a rip in the dimensions, and lost to them. Mimi remembered, because the following days had been the most terrible they had yet. They had wandered the desert looking for them, and they had been worried sick until one day, Sora and Biyomon just left them, too. Then Koushiro and Tentomon, and Jyou and Gomamon had followed until finally, it had been just her, Yamato and Takeru.

Yamato had been so worried about Takeru and her, and she knew it. Every day they looked for them all day. And every night, she wanted to cry when they did not find them.

"You don't think …" she started, tentatively. She was kneeling in front of the fire, poking it with a stick to make sure the flames remained kindled. When she looked up, Yamato was looking past her. "It's been so long … I'm afraid –"

"Don't be. He's out there; we just need to keep looking for him."

Mimi looked down again, biting her lip. She hadn't meant to say it like that, he had to know she didn't. Takeru was asleep, with Tokemon tucked tenderly under his arms.

"I just can't stand not knowing …" and then the tears had come, and she could not stop them. Yamato was looking at her, but his look was hard and Mimi didn't know what to do, didn't know how to stop – she knew he didn't like it when she cried, he was always barking at her to quit it, but this time – this time …

"Stop crying already," he said quietly, "I can't be babysitting you as well."

She raised her honey eyes at him, but he was just a blur, Yamato, just golden hair and green shirt and she had to blink her tears away, swallow another sob. "You don't – you don't have to!" she cried, standing as quietly as she could and leaving him alone near the fireplace. She wanted to get away, she truly did, but Palmon was asleep and Mimi knew they'd get lost if she stalked off with her right then and there. But she refused to look back at Yamato, and she only lied down with her back to him, sobbing quietly when she thought he might not hear her anymore.

.

.

Mimi frowned, unsure why she was remembering that right now. They weren't those children anymore, hadn't been for a long time. Yet he made her feel like that sometimes, like a little child who would cry at nothing. It made her angry enough that she did want to cry.

"What do you think is happening?"

Her question caught him off guard, and Yamato shook his head. "I really don't know," he said quietly.

He didn't intend to walk away, not really. But Yamato felt restless, and he started walking again before he even noticed she had been crouching at the edge of the stream, washing her face. But quite suddenly she was walking next to him, and he only had the decency not to jump, but look at her out of the corner of his eye. Tachikawa Mimi had been but a child of ten when he first met her (he neglected to think that he was only eleven at the time), and though this young woman beside him had clearly and obviously grown much since then, she still looked like that same little girl. Yamato sighed, looking up as they walked out of the trees and to the edge of the woods, where Garurumon had disappeared to.

"So, how's America?" he asked her, so suddenly that Mimi jumped a little, hesitating at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, it's been … you know, busy." Her answer sounded far more cryptic than she intended, and she laughed a little. "I know it sounds ridiculous, to say that I've been busy, but I really have been. Between school and internships, and trying to figure out well, everything, I barely have any time for myself." Mimi looked up, a small smile playing on her lips while Yamato gave her a cool and polite look. She turned to him. "I haven't even been here in months, you know."

He nodded.

"I thought as much," he offered, hitching his chin towards her clothes. "That's a bit too dressy for life-threatening adventures."

Mimi laughed, feeling a little embarrassed. "And you didn't even see my hat."

"Ah, there's a hat," he said. "Naturally."

"What about you? How's the band going?" she smiled, and then, because it couldn't hurt to ask – "How's the love life?"

Her questions were simple, easy to answer. But then she asked about his love life, of all things, and he didn't know why the hell she would do that. Tachikawa, he thought, was always a bit too blunt for his taste.

"I've been good," he replied quietly. "Busy with school, busy with the band … it's actually gotten more demanding than I anticipated." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "We're being scouted for contracts. Actual contracts." He hadn't told this to anyone yet, and he didn't think much of telling it to Mimi. She had her quirks but she was easy to talk to if you worked past those things. And because she lived so far away from them, she wasn't privy to many things the others were. Telling her things wasn't the same, it just didn't have the same effect. And Yamato kind of liked that.

"I guess that's good," Mimi said with a smile, "A rockstar," she murmured, "Wouldn't that be something?" She decided not to ask anything else, knowing he had purposefully staved off answering her question. It didn't really matter to her, she thought afterwards, she really was just trying to make conversation, that was it. Mimi yawned, thinking it was time to go back to camp before they were missed.

"You shouldn't stay up so long," she told him before turning away. "He'll be back, don't worry."

Yamato nodded curtly, listening to her walking away from him. She supposed it was obvious he was thinking about Garurumon, but that wasn't all. He was wondering when they would find the others, what was going on here that they had been brought so suddenly and … and … he was also thinking about Sora.