AN: Well, hello there. I apologise for taking so long to update, I've been swamped with coursework and had virtually no time to write. As always, your reviews are very much appreciated, my dear guests, so this goes out to you. It's a bit longer than the first ones, and I hope you like it! I'll be working on Chapter Five, and hopefully it'll be done in a week's time, and should shed some light in case you have any questions.

Feedback is not only appreciated, it is always encouraged.


The next few minutes passed in a strangely confusing manner. Mimi, with her arms around Taichi's neck, was close to tears when she finally let go. He was just grinning, and a little stupidly at that.

"Whoa! You almost knocked me out there."

"I'm just so happy to see you," Mimi murmured, wiping a tear or two before they even managed to fall. Hikari had run towards Taichi as well, burying her face in his shirt while his fingers lingered on her back gently.

"So am I," he said softly, but by that time Mimi had pulled both Sora and Koushiro into a tight hug, almost as if she couldn't quite believe they were there. But they were, and it was beyond what she had imagined or expected to find that day.

"Mimi!" Sora laughed, "We're happy to see you too!" the redheaded assured her, and Koushiro was smiling too, as if he couldn't dare to say something to assuage Mimi, because he too, was very grateful to see her and all the rest. Mimi could feel her face and neck growing slightly hot, but if someone was bothered by the exchange, they were not showing it. She thought for a moment that Yamato looked surprised, but then the moment was gone as he too, reached over to welcome his friends.

The decision to make camp there was not one they actively made, it just sort of happened. Before anyone knew they were setting themselves down on logs in a nearby clearing, their belongings on a corner with a warm fire blazing between them. Pleasantries were exchanged of course, Mimi hugged Sora a couple more times before she felt satisfied that her sentiment had come across, and they had sat together as they all shared what had happened during the last few days. Mimi listened closely as everyone spoke, absently stroking Palmon's flowery hair as everyone spoke. When each had told their own version and they were all caught up, Koushiro spoke up.

He was looking very thoughtful, his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze lost in the flames before him. "The portals opened randomly and simultaneously in different parts of the world," he nodded towards Mimi, who was the only one in their group who had not been in Japan when this happened. "And you said Willis was also getting strange readings in his Digivice?"

Mimi nodded.

"Yes. He was the one who called me and warned me about it," she told them, "I hadn't even noticed before. I even thought … he'd be here too."

"Well, he still might be," Koushiro said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Taichi asked, his question mirrored in everyone else's eyes. "I thought we were the only ones here."

"I thought so too, at first," the redhead admitted, "But I was trying to use my computer to expand the radar of my Digivice, and I got several more readings – besides the ones that belonged to you guys," he nodded towards Tai and Sora, both of whom looked very confused.

"Does that mean there are other Digidestined here?" Jyou asked, pushing his glasses up his nose as he did whenever he was in deep thought.

"Miyako maybe?" Mimi asked tentatively, thinking of the violet-haired girl with some tenderness. She was a sweet girl, and had always treated Mimi as if she was an older sister of sorts. In return, Mimi had taken her under her wing.

"Daisuke, Ken and Iori?" Hikari chirped in.

"It is possible, yes," Koushiro said with a nod. "It's hard to tell, because I haven't found a way to determine which ports opened, or who was able to get in. But we're definitely not the only ones here."

There was a strange undertone to his voice, and Mimi was not the only one to hear it. Yamato had figured out as much, she remembered. They all had their theories as to what had happened, but none of them seemed to make much sense once they said them out loud.

"Is it possible all ports opened?" Taichi asked, but Koushiro shook his head.

"We'd have found them by now," he said simply. "It's just not very likely."

"But someone else is here, we know that much."

"Correct."

"I don't know, it doesn't feel right," Takeru spoke, and all eyes turned to him. "Have you guys noticed?"

Hikari nodded. "It's just so … deserted."

"None of our Digimon know what happened, either. It's almost as if – "

"As if someone just shut the Digiworld down."

Everyone turned to look at Yamato when he spoke. He hadn't meant to sound quite so daunting, had said it only matter-of-factly, but his words hung in the air among them, and Mimi almost shivered. The idea that someone – or something, could turn the Digiworld off, just like that, was something neither of them wanted to consider.

"That's one theory," Koushiro said, sighing.

"No, Izzy," Jyou said, and the boy looked so much older than they remembered, his face half obscured by shadow, half unnaturally lit by the orange fire. "I think it makes sense. When was the last time you came across another Digimon?" He looked around at all of them, sure that their faces would reflect the same quiet confusion. "We've been here for a few days, and the way I hear it, only Taichi has run into anything. And I'm not even sure those were Digimon at all. Do you remember anything?"

Taichi opened his mouth, but then closed it. Try as he might, he couldn't really remember what exactly had assaulted them, Digimon or not. They hadn't had the strength, or the energy, or even the focus to take two looks at the things. But that meant nothing, he told himself, it couldn't be anything else…

"What else could it be, though?" he asked, and then he was afraid for a moment that it had been the wrong question.

"Honestly Tai? I have no idea."

"If this is correct, then we would have to accept the premise that there are other beings in this world, besides what were used to," Koushiro began promptly, cold logic taking over his analytical brain. "Given what we've been through on our multiple er, adventures, I would say it isn't such an impossible thing."

"It does feel different than last time," Mimi chanced to say, thinking about Hikari's and Takeru's words. "I mean … we weren't even together this time, we were just forced back here, and the ports are closed now. All of them."

"I think we should go out tomorrow," Jyou said. "As Izzy said, we should be able to find someone."

"Er, yes. But I still don't know who or even where – the landscape doesn't feel familiar, or does it? I'm think we're somewhere in Server but," he paused, "There's no way we can know for sure."

"Don't worry guys, we'll figure it out." Taichi's enthusiasm was contagious, and Mimi smiled softly at his words. At her side, Palmon was sleeping soundly, her slow breathing the only sound the little plant Digimon even made. All around them, their Digimon slept, trusting that for the first time since they were stuck in this mess, someone else had their children's backs.

Mimi was quickly lost to the conversation that followed. She saw Sora sitting next to Koushiro and Jyou, with Yamato eyeing them closely as they made the plans they'd follow for tomorrow's search. She wasn't the least bit inclined in joining their conversation. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was just that she didn't have to care – Jyou, Sora, Koushiro, any and all of them were better at worrying about this sort of thing than she was, and she knew it. They knew it too, which was why they weren't bothering to ask her what she thought about their plans. Despite herself, she smiled. Some things never changed.

She hadn't realised he was approaching her until he was taking his seat next to her.

"You okay?"

"Hm?" Mimi looked at Taichi fleetingly, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just – I don't know, it's weird, I guess." She wasn't sure what exactly she was trying to tell him, or why she should, even. Everything was weird, being back here, back with her friends, Mimi felt … well, she felt a little left out. The familiarity with which she greeted them was there, but this wasn't her life anymore, and she had been estranged for so long that she couldn't help but wonder if they thought anything about it at all. "This whole thing, I never expected we'd be back like this."

Taichi shrugged, picking up a stick from the floor and pushing around blades of grass with it. "Me neither," he admitted, and there was a bit of a sheepish smile on his face when Mimi turned to look at him, "But it's nothing, right? We've done this before. Piece of cake."

Mimi smiled softly, partially reassured by his careless words. "I guess so," she replied, "You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

"I don't think you ever get used to this, Mimi. But you have to do it anyway, I guess."

"At least we've got you," she told him, gently nudging him with her shoulder.

"Yeah?" he asked, a hint of a grin slowly spreading on his lips.

"Makes me feel better, at least," she said with a shrug, as if it was nothing really, but they both knew what it meant. Taichi was a source of warm comfort for them all, whether they admitted it as openly as she did or not. When he was gone, they fell apart. He was what held them together, the reason they worked so well as a team. There were reasons, after all, why he was still their leader.

"Yes, well, you're a lucky bunch," he said with a chuckle.

"I suppose we are."

She looked at her friends, talking amongst each other, or sleeping (Hikari had been dozing off for a while now) or just standing there, watching it all unfold; she felt a surge of appreciation for them, and for Taichi, who was getting remarkably better at knowing what to say when the time came for pep talks. Perhaps they were in for a little luck.

-x-

The next morning, their little camp was abuzz with activity and excitement. As they had agreed the night before, they intended to figure out as much as they could about their situation, right then and there. Taichi and Koushiro were sitting together, a frown on both their faces as the latter typed away on his computer, while Tai looked at the screen with uncanny interest, his eyes diverting to his Digivice every now and then.

"I don't get it," the redhead was saying, "The signal just died. I can't get it back."

"Yamato told me his was going off earlier too," Taichi said, "And mine was definitely doing something weird about two minutes ago."

"Yes, I bet everyone else's were going off."

"Izzy?"

They both turned to look at Hikari as she approached them, a rather confused look on her pretty face.

"I think you should check this out …" She was holding her Digivice in hand, and Takeru was right behind her, holding his. They both held them out for Taichi and Izzy to look at, and they let out a small sound of surprise when they realised what they were looking for. Where Hikari's device marked a certain spot on the map, Takeru's marked an entirely different one. Suddenly, without really stopping to ask why, everyone checked their respective Digivices and they were not entirely surprised now to find that indeed, all pointed to different marks on the map.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Give me your Digivice, Tai," Izzy commanded, plugging his on the computer, "I'm going to re-route all of our Digivices and download their data into one coherent piece," the boy explained, knowing that his friends needed answers.

"Sure, here you go."

Koushiro plugged it in, raising his eyes towards Takeru and Hikari. "You too," he said, extending his hand towards them after giving Taichi's back. His fingers typed away as he plugged each one and, one by one, the pieces of the map fell into place.

"Things are getting weirder every day," Yamato grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over Koushiro's shoulder at the map that he was single-handedly putting together. The buzz of the excitement they had met that morning was dulled by the tension that they all felt upon this realisation, not because they were particularly afraid of strange readings from their Digivices, not because this hadn't happened before, but because they knew that things always got a little strange before they turned for the worse.

When the last Digivice was handed back to his owner, Koushiro took a figurative step back to admire his handiwork. His smile fell. The map that was in front of him was familiar, yes, except it wasn't. It looked like someone had inverted the original Digiworld and expanded it from every edge, turning it into a massive landscape that he could only barely start to comprehend.

"This is … I don't get it," he began, "It's all wrong."

"Is that the map?" Yamato asked, "Is that where were supposed to be?"

"It is. At least, I think it is."

"Okay, so the map's a little different. Whatever, we figured that one out. We should get going anyway," Tai said, glancing briefly at the mass of uncharted territory that was flashing menacingly at him.

"It's not just the shape of the map, Tai," Jyou quipped, "The effects of reversing and expanding a place like the Digiworld," he paused, "I mean, everything could be different now."

"So nothing we ever knew is where it's supposed to be?" Hikari asked, and Koushiro nodded at her.

"It's more than that, I think," Koushiro said, "The physical landmass has changed, but I don't know how that could happen without affecting everything else …"

"So maybe that's why we haven't seen any Digimon," Sora said, and Mimi shuffled uncomfortably beside her.

"Great," she sighed, "As if this place needed to get any more mysterious."

Her eye caught a flash of blue, but Yamato wasn't looking at her when he spoke. He was staring at his Digivice, frowning deeply. "They're not all different, though," he said, and Taichi's head whipped around to see him.

"What do you mean? You just saw, they're different markings."

"No, Taichi, look."

And the brunette did, squinting his eyes at the screen as he realised that Yamato's words were true. Two different signals seemed to point at the same time, and Taichi gave a loud, exaggerated sigh.

"I'm leaving this to you, Kou," he said, "This beeping is giving me a major headache."

"It appears we should be able to follow these leads simultaneously," he said, looking at his very own signal. "I suppose we'd be over sooner, too." He looked up at his friends, chuckling a bit at their mostly confused faces. "Just find whoever's signal is the same as yours. We'll pair up and meet at an equidistant point, just before sundown."

"Well, that sounds about right," Takeru said, standing next to a crouching Mimi, who had been eyeing the exchange with a rather worried look. She stood, resting her head against the younger boy's shoulder and sighed.

"Can't I just partner with you?" she asked, only half-joking.

"I don't think it works that way, Mimi," he replied, a running his hand through his hair and looking as apologetic as he sounded. Mimi chuckled a bit – perhaps even giggled, at the teenager's antics. Trust Takeru to apologise for something that wasn't his fault. She shook her head, looking around to locate her partner for what Taichi was now referring to as "the mission" – her eyes lingered, just for a second too long, on Yamato and Sora as they smiled at each other before walking away, clearly not in league. Mimi smiled, perhaps she and Sora would partner then.

On her left, Hikari was carrying Tailmon in her arms, laughing at something Jyou or Gomamon had said (she had her money on it being Gomamon). Sora approached her, a wide smile on her lips.

"Partners, Mimi?" she asked, waving her Digivice at her.

"Oh, I do hope so," Mimi exclaimed happily, showing her own, but the images did not match. "Or not," she added, biting down on her tongue.

Sora shrugged, giving her friend a sheepish smile.

"Next time, then."

"Taichi?" Mimi asked as she approached their leader, gently tapping his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Partners?"

"I got Takeru," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and pointing a thumb at Yamato's younger brother as he waved at her.

"Then it's either Koushiro or Yamato," Palmon said, looking up at Mimi with a happy-go-lucky kind of smile that made Mimi quite glad to have her with her. Despite her size and strange organic composition, Palmon was not afraid of whatever challenges she had to face, as long as she had Mimi with her. Mimi, for the most part, felt the same, though there were still times when the idea of fighting immeasurable evil made her shudder.

"Come on," Yamato said, "Everyone else is ready." As if to explain, he tilted his head towards Koushiro, already busy making plans with Sora. Basic arithmetic left them together, and he didn't even bother to check her signal.

"It's been a long time since we went on any adventures, eh Palmon?" Gabumon said, and Palmon laughed behind her leafy hands.

"Far too long!" she agreed, going a bit ahead with him as Mimi stood, placing her hat upon her head.

"Yeah, yeah," Mimi said, heaving her bag on her shoulder, "Adventure calls again."

-x-

The signal they had been following had led them far from the others and towards a large, looming forest. It had looked intimidating from afar but when they finally reached the edge the enormity of the place was absolutely terrifying. The trees stood so tall and thick that Mimi wondered how any sunlight could get through the thickly packed canopy. The place was eerily quiet, and their footsteps, though muffled on the soft padding of dead leaves and moss, sounded almost too loud in her ears.

Yamato looked tense, one hand in his pocket and the other gripping his Digivice tightly. A few steps in front of him, Gabumon looked alert, as though ready to snap his jaws against an enemy whenever the moment came. Palmon, who was usually sweet and a little ditzy, like Mimi, looked very grave. Sometimes they thought they could hear her muttering to herself or to the trees, and they weren't sure which one worried them the most.

"These woods feel much older than they should," Palmon said after a moment, and Mimi shuddered a little, not sure she wanted to know what her friend was talking about.

"What do you mean?" she asked, casting a sideways glance at Yamato, whose eyes were fixed on Palmon.

"It feels as though they've been here forever but that can't be," her friend said, "I mean ... I definitely haven't been here before, but it feels almost familiar..."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that, but we should be able to reach what we're looking for sometime late today or early tomorrow," Yamato said, only then turning to look at Mimi. The girl was wringing her hands nervously, and he wished (not for the first time) that she wasn't wearing that stupid hat because he couldn't even see her face and didn't know whether she was listening to him or not. "I'd rather we reach them in the morning." Light was a concern, if night turned out to be half as dark as he imagined it would be. Even now, so early in the day, the light in the forest was a dull green. The silence was oppressive and there was an uncomfortable humidity in the air, but he refused to be the first one to complain. That was, after all, Mimi's specialty.

"Let's pick up the pace," Mimi said, surprising him for a moment as she turned to look at him. He must've looked curious or stupid, because she was frowning at him, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What?"

He shook his head.

"It's nothing," he said, "Let's just go." The girl had never been the best companion or the easiest to bear, but Yamato didn't want to start thinking about that right now. A long time had passed between now and then, and though he didn't know quite what to expect, he would not be blamed for not giving her a chance. She looked at him for a moment only before resuming her walk, considerably picking up her pace.

"All that power-walking through the city finally paid off," she exclaimed after a while, a remark to which Yamato could not or would not reply. He didn't turn to look at her again, but squared his shoulders and walked a little faster than her, if only to put her out of his line of view. Frankly, he was sick of the unnatural quiet of these woods, but he refused to engage Mimi in conversation in case she decided never to stop talking. Things were sufficiently uncomfortable without that happening.

He felt as though they had walked into a bubble, with humid hot air that stifled him. Was it just him, or was it getting hotter in here? Yamato wiped sweat off his forehead, letting out a slow sigh. He had removed his coat early in the morning, but he was still hot, and sweaty, and tired.

"Stop, I need a break," Mimi said, and Yamato nodded, grateful that she had spoken. He sat against the trunk of a large tree, an arm over his eyes as he stubbornly wished his body would cool down. He opened his eyes when he heard her collapsing against a similar tree, her cheeks pink and her hair sticking to her face. The idea that Tachikawa Mimi could look like that was one to relish.

She was unceremoniously using her large floppy hat to fan some cool air at her warm body, no different than she would if she were at the beach, or the park. The idea made him smile slightly, and he reached for the last drops in his waterskin, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"You okay?" he asked her and his stomach did a funny little flip when she opened her honey brown eyes to look at him. For a moment before she opened her mouth, Yamato could've sworn she looked rather ... adorable.

"No," she answered, narrowing her eyes a little, "I'm tired. I'm hot. I don't want to keep walking. This thing doesn't even move." She paused, and then took a deep breath. "We're not getting any closer, Ishida."

Yamato looked at her, then sighed.

"I think you're right."

She fully expected him to roll his eyes at her, or even raise his voice a little, tell her to quit being a baby. What she didn't expect was for Ishida Yamato to agree with her.

"You do?"

His eyes shot back at her, looking at her as though she was stupid. And perhaps he thought she was, a little bit.

"It's more of a fact, really," he said slowly, "We aren't getting any closer to the signal, though we've been walking for hours."

Gabumon was sprawled against the forest floor, breathing slowly with his tongue hanging limply on the side of his mouth. Palmon was the only one that didn't seem too bothered by the weather – the nutrients in the ground below them were abundant, and the humidity was absorbed by her plant-like form, keeping her cool. She had taken Mimi's discarded hat and was fanning her human companion, trying to comfort her in such an abandoned, horrid place.

"We need to keep going, Mimi," she said gently, "Come on, I'll find water for you, please."

Yamato knelt down next to Gabumon, gently touching his furry shoulder. The trek was more difficult for him since he was wearing that thick fur over his body, and he was growing as anxious as Tachikawa to leave the darned place.

"Come on pal," he said, "Just a little bit longer."

Mimi stood, her kimono wrapped around her waist and her hat back in her hands, sending waves of cool air that reached even Yamato.

"Fine, fine," she said, blowing a strand of hair from her face.

They resumed their walk, though it was a considerably slower pace. It was a while before Mimi took out a few fruits from her bag, passing them along to Yamato and Gabumon. The fruits looked like yellow pears and were ripe and sweet, but most importantly, were juicy. The snack acted as a quick pick-me-up, and they were more animated as they followed Palmon, who was just a few steps ahead of them.

He had to admit, having Palmon with them in this trip was proving very useful. The small creature was well-connected to the flora and knew what plants were poisonous, which were edible, and could follow traces of water before Gabumon could smell a stream or they could hear it. She had much more energy than them, because the humus on the forest floor was keeping her pumped up and she was cheerful like Mimi, but somehow he couldn't fault her for that.

The route that they were following had not led them any closer, and though none spoke about it just yet, they all thought there might be something else wrong with the forest.

The sun was low by the time they reached the stream. It was a little ways towards the southern part of the forest, and Palmon guessed they were somewhere around the middle of it. The stream was wide enough to swim, ran a lengthy way, so far that they could not see where it ended.

"You guys stay here, ok?" Palmon said, "I'll go see if I can find some food!"

"Be careful Palmon," Mimi said, waving as her friend disappeared into the thicket once again. She hurried to the bank of the river, kneeling to hold water in her hands and drink deeply once, twice, five times. She then filled her waterskin and washed her face, removing traces of dirt, sweat and who knew what else.

Yamato was doing the same as her, washing the back of his neck and sighing softly at the cooling sensation. Gabumon had had no such patience, as he was already neck deep in a lower point of the stream, both drinking and washing himself at his leisure.

"Feeling better buddy?" Yamato called, raising his dripping head and running his fingers through his hair, trying to comb it a little unsuccessfully.

"Loads!" Gabumon exclaimed happily. "I think I could stay here forever."

He chuckled at his friend, then turned around to look at Mimi splashing water into her face. "There's a big rock there," he began, pointing a little ways upstream. The girl looked up at him, wiping the excess water off her face. "You know, er, I thought you might want to ... wash. I'll keep an eye out here, if you want." He wasn't sure what prompted him to offer for this, but he reckoned that it was about time he made some effort with the girl. If they were going to go on in this fashion, they'd have to do more than cast sideways glances at each other and roll their eyes.

Mimi, for her part, did not seem to need much convincing. She stood up with a smile, lightly patting his arm as she walked away, taking her bag with her. "I won't take long," she said, and he nodded.

Once Yamato turned away, Mimi practically ran to the little pool behind the big rock he had pointed at. It was private enough for her to bathe, but open enough to keep an eye out on her companions over her shoulder. Mimi removed her clothes and lowered herself into the water, washing them gently and laying them out to dry on the hot rocks. The water went up to her chin, and she spent the next few minutes carefully removing all dirt from her skin and her hair. The water felt great on her hot skin, and she opened her eyes to look at the skies, which would soon become a bright gold and orange as the sun began to sink. Mimi got up and wrapped her kimono around her body, gathering her belongings in her arms.

Mimi found that Gabumon and Yamato had kept themselves busy, for there was a make-shift camp already set up. "Hey Gabumon," she called, "Can you heat up that rock over here?"

"Sure but why –" he began, then his eyes went very round as she came closer, her clothes on her hand. Gabumon turned around wildly, raising his paws to cover his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't see anything, I swear!"

"Oh, don't be so silly," she said, rolling her eyes, "Just heat that rock so I can dry these out, please?"

It wasn't that Mimi was entirely without modesty, but multiple adventures in the Digital World had hardened her to some things. She had been ran into in baths, had been chased around wearing just a towel, had gone around days without showers and walked around in dirty, dusty clothes. The comforts that were regular to her back home were vast luxuries in here, and she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to wash her clothes if she could. Still, she'd like to do so without upsetting more members of her group, which was why she wanted to dry them out in hot stones before Yamato decided to join their little party.

Gabumon opened his mouth and jets of blue fire licked the stones she had pointed too, glowing red for a few moments after the fire stopped. Mimi pat his head and muttered her thanks, but he only turned around again, a furious blush on his face and his paws still covering his eyes. It was in this manner that Yamato found him, sitting down and staring resolutely in front of him.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked, but the Digimon just shook his head. Shrugging, Yamato turned away, trying to figure out where Mimi was. He dropped the measure of wood he'd been carrying for a fireplace, and looked out to where she was standing, leaning forward to pick up what he now saw where her blouse and shorts, her flowery kimono loosely wrapped around her body. Yamato felt a small blush creep to his cheeks as she looked up, the colour in her cheeks matching his.

Yamato raised a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes.

"Your robe's undone," he managed to say, just before turning around and crossing his arms across his chest looking just as Gabumon had just a few moments before.

"Oh."

Mimi quickly scrambled into her clothes, swearing under her breath. She had intended to keep some decency, but even that was denied to her in this hostile place. She stared at Yamato's golden hair, his back turned resolutely to her and she could feel her face burning up, but anything she thought of saying sounded incredibly inappropriate – even for her. Mimi went back to the stream and dropped her kimono there, washing it gently against her hands and wishing, not for the first time, that she had partnered up with Sora instead.

When her robe was carefully sprawled against the stone, trying to take full advantage of whatever heat and sunlight remained; Mimi went back to camp and was happy to find Palmon returning with some berries, roots and nuts. Gabumon was carrying some fish wrapped in big leaves, grinning as he showed his haul.

"Yama and I got these," he said, and Mimi hesitated a little before looking at Yamato, who was a little ways off gutting the fish he had brought. When he returned and was stabbing the earth around the newly made fire with fish on sticks, he turned to look at Mimi for just the briefest of seconds.

"Next time you want to walk around like that," he said, "A little heads up would be nice."

Mimi huffed, feeling her cheeks grow warmer again.

Palmon turned her head to one side, looking confused.

"Did I miss something?"

But they both answered, "No".

-x-

It was late, and Mimi was cold. Yamato was sitting a couple of meters away from her, poking the fire. Without looking at her, he spoke.

"Go back to sleep, my watch isn't finished yet."

Mimi paused, but she still lowered herself next to him, hugging her knees to her chest. It wasn't his words that bothered her so much as his tone – Mimi didn't really appreciate being ordered around, even if it was for her own sake.

"I'm cold," she said, "Can't sleep."

The temperature had dropped significantly, and Mimi had been shivering for a while before she realised it. Despite the comforts of being clean and having had a half-decent meal (it turned out the berries made a rather lovely sauce for the fish), Mimi was still too cold and too worried to sleep much. He stood up, and she was about to ask him where he thought he was going when he returned, holding her kimono robe in his hands. He held it out for her before sitting down, facing the fire again.

"It's cold right now but the fire should warm it up in no time," he said, and Mimi threw it around her back, holding both ends in front of her.

"Thank you," she muttered softly, already feeling a lot warmer. Mimi hugged herself, staring into the fire and trying to figure out what exactly was bothering her.

"You know," she began, so quietly that she was sure he could pretend not to hear her, "I'm glad you're here."

Yamato turned to look at her for the first time since that afternoon, and she was a little taken aback to see that he looked very surprised. He seemed to realise this, because she blinked and all traces of surprise were erased from his face. He didn't answer that he was glad to have her there; she knew he wouldn't. But surely nothing she had done yet should guarantee that amount of surprise?

"It's okay," he said quietly, and there was a funny little smile on his lips, "I know you'd feel better if it was Taichi here instead of me."

The admission came, if it could, more surprising than Mimi's. Yamato looked a little discomfited, but nothing else could be said about it. Mimi just frowned, unsure of how to respond. What he said was true, at least to some extent. Taichi was easier to be around. He wouldn't have stayed in taciturn silence all day after what had happened in the afternoon, he'd have laughed it off, joked and teased her until she got angry and then beg her forgiveness. He wouldn't let the silence between them stretch and grow as oppressively as Yamato did. And perhaps all of that was true, but Mimi was not going to say that.

"Actually," she said after a moment, "If I had a choice, it would've been Sora."

Perhaps he had misjudged her, after all. Yamato was still not because he wanted to appear stoic, but because he didn't know how to act now that the admission had escaped his lips. He hadn't meant to put her in a tough spot either, but he had spent most of the day remembering why things were so strained with him and Mimi, and he knew that she had too. How could she not? Things were never easy between them, and he was only realising just how deteriorated their relationship was.

But he chuckled, because she was trying and he supposed if she could, then he could too.

"If I had choice, it would've been her too."

Mimi smiled.

"So that's still going on, huh?"

"It's ..." he paused, "Going."

"Going well?"

"Just going."

They were quiet for a moment, and Yamato was grateful that the fire was between them and she could not see the pink in his face, or how jittery talking about this made him, especially with her.

"Maybe they should be going faster," she finally said, stretching as she stood up, "Or not. I don't know. I think I'm going to try to get some sleep. Wake me up if anything happens!"

She left without another word, and Yamato ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. It was what Mimi did, he supposed, pulling stunts like that for no reason at all.

-x-

When Yamato woke up the moon was still hanging over his head. He looked around for a moment, unsure of when he had fallen asleep and feeling instantly regretful about it. Behind his head, acting as a pillow, was Mimi's bag, and he assumed she had been the one to put it there, and also throw his jacket over his arms. He groaned as he sat up, looking around for her.

"Tachikawa?" he asked, his voice still sleepy and hoarse.

"She's not here," Gabumon answered, sitting down next to Yamato.

"What? Where is she? And Palmon?"

"They went to check something out. She told me not to wake you."

"You should've woken me," Yamato said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and scrambling around to go wash his face.

"You stayed up most of the night," Gabumon said with a nod, "You need to keep your strength." Years of knowing Yamato had given him an uncanny understanding of the young man, and though he knew that he would complain, had chosen to do as Mimi said. Of the four of them, Yamato and Gabumon were the strongest, and it was only logical that they kept their strength at all times. Mimi knew this, and so did he.

Yamato returned to find that not only had Mimi left him to sleep; she had also set aside a portion of food for him in case he woke up. He felt a rush of affection for the girl, who was so out of odds most of the time but genuinely cared about all her friends. Even him, who wasn't so much a friend as ... someone who was occasionally there.

It was a while before Mimi returned. Yamato had wanted to go after them, but they were afraid of what would happen if they were to return and not find them at camp, so he decided to give them an hour, at most. Just when he was about to leave, the girl and her Digimon had returned.

Mimi's face was pink, flushed with the effort of running back. He met her halfway with Gabumon, searching them as she rested her hands on her knees, breathing with difficulty.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Yes, are you girls okay?" Gabumon asked.

"It's the – the forest – the sun – we can't – must not – lies," Mimi panted, holding on to Yamato's shoulder for support.

"What? Tachikawa, what?"

"It's the forest," Palmon said, recovering her breath first, "There's something keeping us here. That's why your Digivices aren't working – it won't let us leave."

"It? Palmon, what are you talking about? Tachikawa – "

"Palmon heard something last night, coming from the trees. She told me she wanted to go exploring and I wouldn't let her go alone. There's something in those woods, I don't know how to begin explaining – I'm not sure I even get it myself!"

She sank to the floor and Yamato knelt before her, his deep blue eyes staring right at her.

"Mimi," he said gently, and the use of her name made her jump a little. "If there's anything there, if we're in any danger, I need you to tell me. Now."

"We need to go," she said, making him frown, "We'll show you."

"We should probably find some food to carry then –" he began, but Mimi cut him off.

"No, just take your things. We found the way out, it's not too long. Just – just follow us. Don't get separated, and don't stop."

Yamato frowned at her, but she looked so resolute and agitated that he did not wish to argue with her. "I'll carry your bag," he said, "Lead the way."

Mimi nodded at Palmon, who at once made for the thicket of trees. The three of them followed her, silently at first, but then Mimi began to talk.

"It's the sunlight," she said, and Yamato walked closer to her to listen better, "When the sun hits the trees, the light, the very air we breathe – it's almost poison."

"What?" both him and Gabumon asked, shocked to say the least. "What do you mean by that?"

"Wait, will you?" she snapped, annoyed that they should interrupt her. "The route we've been following is wrong. We can't get out of the woods through it; it's designed to confuse us." She looked at him but there was very little of her that he could see with the thick darkness around them. Yamato had been right – he did not want to be here without any light.

"Palmon said something was calling to her, from inside the forest. But we haven't found any other living things, and she – well, she claims it wasn't someone so much as a ... consciousness."

Here, he could hear the hesitation in her voice, which was presumably the only thing that could convince him that she hadn't lost her mind. At least she knew she wasn't making any sense.

"I was following the water," Palmon said after a moment, "There are many underground streams, and they all flow towards the centre, like ... like a heart."

"We found something – well, we found many things, but we figured it wouldn't be safe to go ahead without you, so we came back as fast as we could," Mimi interjected, "Palmon, catch!" She threw a small flashlight at the Digimon, who started it and made herself much easier to follow, now that she was a beacon in the dark. They were tripping a little over small roots and rocks, but neither of them complained or slow down. Yamato was growing ever more anxious, but Mimi seemed to have finally relaxed.

They kept walking, but he no longer knew how long it had been since they had begun. The woods were cold and eerie, much worse than they had been during the day, and he half expected something to lunge at their throats any second now. But nothing happened, there was nobody but them in there and Yamato grew wearier.

"How did you figure out it was the sun?" he asked suddenly.

"We just sort of heard," Mimi answered, and though she couldn't see him, she was sure his eyes were narrowed in her direction. "This – thing that talked to Palmon, told her the sunlight made the forest act up. Like, if we travelled during the day the sun and the air would slow us down, and we would lose track of time. And we would've, too, if Palmon hadn't decided to follow that stream."

"Then what are we following? Where are we going?"

"Just wait, please?" she said, and he bit his tongue, unwilling to do more than that. He hated being in the dark – and though the girl had answered some of his questions, there were many more that had gone unanswered. If she meant what he thought she did ...

"Tachikawa?"

"Yes?"

"How long have we been here?"

"What?"

He could hear it in her voice, and he took a small breath before repeating the question.

"How long have we been here?"

There was a pause and a sigh.

"Three or four days – maybe a week," she answered slowly, "We weren't able to figure out exactly."

"How did you figure?"

"My Digivice started up as soon as we reached the clearing – yours should too, right around ... now."

The beeping noise was impossible to miss. Yamato looked at it, the blue light flashing and almost hurting his eyes after being immersed in such darkness. The date indeed indicated that some time had passed, and his lips formed a thin line as he looked at it. So the forest had slown down time, and had made them wander about aimlessly, without knowing or feeling it, for five days.

The trees were clearing, become thinner and sparser. The sky above them became visible, and though he could still see the moon hanging low above them, the first few rays of sunshine were already beginning to break over the horizon. Then the trees disappeared, and they came to a sudden stop.

They were standing in front of what seemed like a small piazza, a series of stone structures filling and surrounding it. There were eight pillars, and in the middle, a cylindrical table of dark stone. Palmon reached for Mimi's hand and they walked together towards the strange structure. Mimi looked over her shoulder, and Yamato followed her until they were in the very middle of the plaza.

"Look at the pillars," she told him, and he did. Around eight feet tall, made of dark stone and chiselled to perfection, there was something engraved in the one before him, and he sucked his breath in loudly.

"What the hell?"

"Did you find yours?" Mimi asked, a few pillars away from him.

He was looking at the image engraved before him, two circular shapes joined by a little line ...

"Koushiro's crest?"

"Mhm. I found yours."

Yamato walked over to her, looking at the crest of Friendship engraved in a pillar. But what was truly remarkable was that there were some that were shining – Takeru's and Taichi's, right beside where Yamato currently stood. Mimi nodded towards Hikari's and Jyou's. And then, Sora's lit up as well. There was no switch that they could see or touch, nothing that indicated how and why they activated. The light that they expelled was strange, dull, a mockery of the shine that he remembered and expected.

"There's something else, too."

"Mimi, here!" Palmon's voice said, and he watched her approach the cylinder he had seen before.

"What's that?" he asked, looking over his shoulder as the girl's hand approached something. He frowned. "Maybe you shouldn't touch – "

But he was too late.

Mimi had picked up a small stone instrument, the crest of Sincerity embedded on it. He approached her warily, looking at the thing in her hand only to find that there was one for him, too. He held the object in his hands, turning it slightly, and he was about to ask her what she thought these were when he felt the object grow ridiculously hot in his hand. Mimi screamed, dropping the object even as he did, and he could feel where the stone had scalded his fingers, the flesh raw beneath it.

There was a flash of light, a wave of heat and then the temperature dropped low, low enough that Mimi thought her heart might stop from the cold but it was just a moment, not more than a few seconds and a dark energy was released from the stone cylinder, exploding like a bomb around them. They fell to the floor, knocked back by the sudden energy blast, and all he could think was that it was so sudden, he hadn't been prepared, couldn't see it coming and –

"What the – "

There was a loud crack – two loud cracks, and the objects broke just at the same time that something snapped in Mimi's chest and Yamato's pocket. Gabumon and Palmon rushed to their sides but there was no-one to fight, nothing to protect them from. Mimi pulled her necklace over her head, the inactive crest that was hanging in there now broken in her hand.

Yamato did not reach for his own, already knowing that it would be broken. He was staring in front of him, where Mimi's crest and his own were now shining malevolently on the pillars they had just been admiring.