Chapter 11 Recap

"After, much, deliberation, we've decided it best to not use the TV Trees for a return trip home. We still don't know all the details about the DL's and the current affair of the worlds, and I think it would be best if we not leave and/or attempt to leave the D-world until we at least meet with the Celestials and find out what's going on. That's not to say we can't decide to leave after we meet with them, but for now, I think its best that we don't even think about leaving." Takuya told us with a surprisingly maturely serious tone. Everyone nodded their consent, some coughDICKcough, more begrudgingly than others.

After we cooked and ate the meat apples, we set out large leaves and our blankets for the night, deciding that an early bed time and wake-up would be beneficial to our still long trek towards the Forest Terminal. After deciding on a night rotation, we finally snuggled down into the leaves to sleep around the dwindling fire, same locations as the previous night, the only exception being Impmon who slept peacefully between my sister and me.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Digimon...I do own Dick and Zelena.

AN: As I've promised, this chapter is pretty lengthy...enjoy!

CHAPTER 12

We rose early with the sun in the morning, lighting the fire again to make a breakfast of meat apples, and then quickly packed up camp. We continued on through the forest until we finally exited through the tree line. We could see three large rock formations off in the distance, they couldn't be more than an hour away.

"That's the Gotsumon village on the horizon, where those large rock formations are located." Kouji explained to us. At the mention of 'Gotsumon' I felt Lena tense beside me. I looked at her worriedly, but she refused to meet my eyes. I turned back to face forward, a slight frown marring my face.

"We should go towards the village, they will most likely be able to help us, and even if they can't, I have some questions specifically for them that need answering." Kouji was steel faced with determination, so we had no choice but to agree.

"Alright guys, next stop, Gotsumon Village!" Takuya shouted excitedly, pumping his fist in the air. Tommy, Shinya, JP and Dick were quick to mimic him shouting out "Yeah!", though in all reality, Dick probably only did that to mock them and act like a Richard. Yutaka and Kouji shook their heads in disbelief at the display of fools, while Kouichie and I sweat dropped at their never-ending amounts of enthusiasm.

"Zola?"

"Yes Zelena?"

"I don't understand, it 'asn't been 'zat long since I've been to Japan, 'zat all of 'ze boys 'ave turned into w'atever 'zat is, 'as it?" she asked me in complete seriousness.

"Uh, well, um, I mean." I truly did not know how to answer that question.

"No Lena, you haven't been gone from Japan for so long that everyone has turned into mindless fools, only those idiots could ever pull off something as ridiculous and undignified as that when we're supposed to be the idolized heroes of this world." Kouji interjected with a straight face. The aforementioned "idiots" all anime-fell out of their fist-pump position in glorified heap on the ground, slightly twitching in irritation. Yutaka face palmed at their foolishness and shook his head in disbelief, then sighed and began walking towards the village, Kouji right behind him. Lena and I looked at Kouichie, unsure of what we should do. He shrugged at us and smiled as if to say "what can you do?" then chose to follow his brother and my cousin. I exchanged an uneasy glance with my sister, then we both sighed in defeat and continued after the others.

Not long after we left, maybe 30 seconds, give or take, we were accosted by a few indignant cries from our lagging companions. We didn't slow down, nor did we turn around, per instructions from 'Taka and Kouji, but we could hear the other 5 rushing to catch up to us, which wasn't much of a feat anyways, we had only gone maybe 10 yards, if that.

Once the group was together again, we made short work of the trip to Gotsumon Village. Of course, this was in most part due to Kouji's insistence of a quick pace that was met with disgruntlement from a certain fearless leader. He easily took care of Takuya's qualms by implying his complaints are equivalent to admitting he isn't fast enough to keep up. Thus, a challenge was issued between the two of them, and the rest of us had to suffer the consequences of their fast walking paces which eventually turned into a brisk jog followed by a frenzied sprint across the open, grassy fields, at the hottest time of day.

When the rest of us finally arrived at the village, sweaty and out of breath (running in dresses, not the greatest thing there is), Takuya and Kouji were already there, predictably squabbling about who actually won the race. Unfortunately for them, Lena and I, who I exchanged an identical irritated look with, were hot, sweaty, tired and annoyed by the impromptu mad dash across an open field during the hottest point of the day, and their arguing over something so ridiculously insignificant put us over the top with our aggravation. Needless to say, we were quickly losing our tempers.

"Clearly you must be blind, because I definitely made it here before you." Takuya argued, inching closer to Kouji in during their dispute.

"You're kidding right? The only way you could ever make it here before me WITHOUT using your spirits, is in your dreams Goggle-head." Kouji too inched closer.

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh yeah?!" at this point they had inched so close to each other that they were forehead to forehead, pushing against the other with every exclamation

"Yeah! You're just upset because you're the self-imposed leader, yet you got your ass handed to you!"

"Well, you're just upset because you know I'm right and you know you can never beat me!"

"You talk an awful lot of crap, but you sure as hell can't seem to do anything to prove it!"

"Oh yeah?! Say that to my face, I dare ya!"

"I just did, you loser!"

-Snap!-

In case you couldn't tell, that was Lena's and my final restraint against losing our tempers. With flames a blazing in our eyes, fists clenched at our sides, and fury evident in our stride, we stomped towards the two quarreling idiots. Out of the corner of my eye I could see JP and Tommy visibly shiver in fear, Kouichie smirking at his twin's misfortune, Yutaka stared emotionlessly (but on the inside I knew he was just as fed up and annoyed with the squabbling idiots as we were), and Dick and Shinya just stood off to the side, unsure how to react. I also heard Impmon cackling with delight at the turn of events. I ignored the others for the time being, directing my full and furious attention to the cantankerous Neanderthals I call my boyfriend and 'brother'. They finally caught onto how much trouble they were in, because they stopped arguing as we came into their line of sight. They visibly gulped, or at least Takuya did, Kouji doesn't exactly show fear…though, I believe I saw his Adams apple bob slightly abnormally, but that's just theoretical.

"Do either of you, have any idea what you've done?!" I hissed lowly at them, my voice dripping, oozing even, with unbridled fury.

"'Zis 'as gone on long enough, and it ends NOW." Lena hissed as well, her voice colored with unmasked rage.

"Ehehehe, h-hey Z, h-hey Zoe. Uh, um, n-nice w-weather we're having?" Takuya stuttered fearfully. Kouji shook his head in silent disbelief of the stupidity of his so-called best friend's reaction to his pissed girlfriend and her sister.

"Do not "'ey Z" me, I will not tolerate 'zis kind of immaturity. Do you 'ave any idea w'at your arguing 'as done? You've, not only wasted time by arguing over some'zing 'zis ridiculous, but you 'ave also caused me to 'ave to run in 'zis dress, across an open field, at 'ze 'ottest time of 'ze day, and now I 'ave sweat all over me, and I am 'ot and uncomfortable, and tired and very annoyed by 'ze entire situation in general."

"Would it have killed either one of you to walk somewhere normally for once? Or, ya know, go a couple days without heatedly arguing in a village square and scaring off all of the locals?! Or better yet, just behave civilly in general!" I was still fuming, not yet ready to calm down and forgive them, even if we practically had them peeing their pants. Kouji sighed and walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders, though my hands remained where they were, firmly planted on my hips, my look of anger remained intact even as he looked searchingly into my eyes. He sighed louder this time, hung his head, then slowly, ever so carefully, slid his hands down my arms to my hands as he kneeled on the ground. He grasped my fists in his strong hands, and was eventually able to pry them open, I merely clamped down on his hands instead, internally smirking when I saw him wince.

"Look Zoe," he began cautiously, carefully thinking over every word. He finally tilted his head back and looked up at me absolute sincerity shone in his eyes, his thumbs rubbing circles into the backs of my hands. "I, from the bottom of my heart, am honestly sorry to have made you run across that field. I regret letting my irritation and ambitiousness take control of me. You know Takuya has always rubbed me the wrong way like that, and he will continue to do so until either one of us ceases to exist. But I truly do regret allowing my competitiveness and annoyance towards Takuya to cause me to ignore you and the others. Forgive me Zo, I never meant to embarrass or anger or cause you in physical, emotional or mental distress." When he finished he bowed his head again and laid it on my hands that were still grasped in his own, placing many small kisses on my knuckles.

…damn it. Who can honestly stay mad at him, when he kneels before me in front of the others, thus sacrificing his dignity, holds my hands like they're precious jewels, and begs for my forgiveness with a long heart-felt speech, then finishes it with small kisses on my knuckles that leave me feeling giddy? Who can stay mad after that?! Grr…this boy, this man, will be the death of me and my revered temper. I sighed in defeat, then sat on my knees in front of him (you kneel, and then sit on top of calves) so that I could look up into his eyes and he couldn't escape my gaze.

"I know Takuya rubs you the wrong way, I accepted that a long time ago, believe me, but that's not what I'm upset about. I'm not even upset about having to sprint across a field at the hottest time of the day. I'm upset, because you left. Both of you left." I added that last part for Takuya's benefit, turning to glare at his form cowering behind my sister. "We are a team, all 10 of us, and if we want to be able to defeat the Demon Lords and save the worlds, we can't let petty little things like these arguments get in the way. Both of you are the strongest among us, you can digivolve the farthest, and you are just physically stronger than the rest of us in any spirit form we use. All of us rely on both of you to lead us into battle, or a village or forest, to keep team morale up, and to some degree, keep us safe when we cannot defend ourselves. We blindly put our faith and trust in both of you constantly both in battle as digimon, and during our travels as humans. So when the both of you just took off in a dead sprint without any regard or concern for our whereabouts or wellbeing, it upset me, because as leaders, that's not what you should do. Do you understand now, why we were so upset?" I looked imploringly into Kouji's eyes, knowing Zelena could handle our fearless leader.

"Ah." I smiled knowingly. He only ever reverts to monosyllabic answers anymore when he is utterly ashamed or embarrassed of himself or his actions. His eyes glowed with remorse, shame, guilt, and a little bit of adoration, just for me. I gently squeezed his hands to let him know all is forgiven.

"I'm sorry everyone, my actions were inexcusable as the leader, and I will accept any form of reprimand you deem necessary." Takuya bowed his head, voice heavily colored with shame and remorse.

"As long as you don't do 'zat again, I 'zink you 'ave received all of 'ze reprimanding you need. Unless you want to be punished." Zelena's tone was innocent, but the smirk on her face was anything but. And judging by the blush on his face, I believe Takuya caught onto her playful innuendo as well.

"Not that I don't enjoy watching the girls turn our fearless leaders into submissive obedients, but shouldn't we, ya know, look the Gotsumon they scared off…before they do something rash." JP interrupted any further degrading of Takuya, much to his relief.

"You think that Gotsumon who helped us last time will still be here?" Tommy asked us veteran digidestined. We exchanged looks, all wondering the same thing: would he even still be alive?

"Well the last time we came here, he was a Meteormon, and the strongest in the village, perhaps we should ask around." Kouji reminded us. I looked at my sister and we swapped devious grins.

"No Problemo! We've got this!" I said, interlocking my left arm with my sister's and giving the "peace" symbol with my right hand. We walked off arm in arm, and found a small group of Gotsumon a couple blocks away and decided to ask them.

"Hi! I'm Zola this is Zelena! We were wondering if Meteormon still lives here." I kindly asked the group of digimon, flashing a few smiles as well.

"You mean the Elder Meteormon? The one who fought alongside the Legendary Warriors when our village was attacked by Crusadermon and Dynasmon?" a female Gotsumon wearing an apron asked us.

"A' yes! 'Zat would be 'ze one! W'ere can we find 'im? We 'ave urgent business with 'im 'zat is of 'ze upmost importance." Lena smiled brilliantly at them, so brilliantly, that I thought she might have blinded them.

"He is usually in the town hall at this time of day, working on village matters, if not there, then he would be in the town center, by the memorial." the male Gotsumon wearing a vest tie told us.

"Grazie!" We both exclaimed, waving at them as we walked away. We rejoined the others who were lounging at tables under the shade of umbrellas outside a little café.

"As promised, we have 2 possible locations for Meteormon, or should I say, Elder Meteormon." I smiled triumphantly.

"Elder?" Shinya asked, confused by the title.

"He must have been promoted to leader of the village since he digivolved to ultimate level." Kouichie filled in. we nodded to his assumption.

"'Ze said some'zing about a town 'all and a memorial in 'ze town center." Lena told the others. We all looked around us, searching for any sign of the town hall or town center.

"Do any of you know where those places could be?" Yutaka asked us, but we were just as lost as the rest of them.

"Not a clue..." JP frowned.

"Then I guess it doesn't matter which way we go, since we don't know where it is we're going." Dick casually stated, putting his hands behind his head and walking down a random street. We all exchanged glances, figuring he had a point, we shrugged and followed him down his chosen path.

The village has really flourished since we were here last. Small businesses were lined up and down every street, the Gotsumon now wore gender specific clothing and their homes looked modernized. In fact, the whole village looked like the streets of Paris, bricks lining the roads, apartments and living quarters located above the shops, cafes and florists located on every street, multiple grocers, several boutiques, and so much more! I was even shocked to see carts filled with merchandise to be sold, pulled by other digimon (who hopefully agreed on their own accord). I saw a school on a street corner as we passed, and then a theatre, a few bookshops, an athletics and sports shop or three, a couple places that clearly stood out as government buildings, a lively park with a couple stadiums situated around it, and a few banks as well. We finally came across the town center, and were shocked to say the least.

In the middle of the plaza stood a large meticulously hand-crafted statue of the 6 of us who came here before, plus all 10 Legendary Warriors. There was a circular platform, with a circle/hole cut out in the middle of it, and all 10 elemental kanji were located on the platform, glowing from some unkown source. In the cut-out portion of the platform, the same light that powered the kanji, came up from the hole and into the air, maybe 10-15 feet high, no higher, and formed a funnel of light. All 10 human spirits stood in a circle above their respective kanji, facing outwards. Lastly, there were statues of the 6 of us that had previously ventured here 7 years ago, standing in front of the kanji and Warriors, one arm outstretched and holding an object that closely resembles our D-tectors. The craftsmanship and effort that was obviously put into making this is positively astounding.

"…stupefacente..." I murmured in awe, completely gobsmacked by the whole thing. The others were in much a similar condition as I.

"I wonder who made this." Kouichie mentioned off hand.

"I dunno, but whoever it is, they're amazing!" JP muttered, still taken in awe by the sight.

"Yeah.." Tommy mechanically agreed.

"I hate to break up your guys' little session of self-righteous praise and wonderment, but we kind of came here for a reason, ya know?" Dick drawled sarcastically, snapping all of us out of our euphoria.

"Dick, you're being a Richard again." I chastised him.

"My sincerest apologies, Princess." He bowed low for added dramatics.

"This must be the memorial the Gotsumon mentioned. It's quite extensive." Yutaka commented.

" Think they'll add us to the memorial too?" Shinya asked the group as a whole.

"Of course we will, but only after you do something worth memorializing." A voice said from behind us. We all whipped around to see who spoke, and were pleasantly surprised to see Meteormon standing behind us.

AN: Please please please, PLEASE review! :)