Digimon Adventure: Connections

Chapter 4: Giving In

Skyy twisted the small silver key to the side and heard the lock click open. She pulled out the key and shoved it into her book bag and with her shoulder shoved the door open. Pleomon pounced through the door before Skyy could even step in herself and she sighed, letting a weak smile slip onto her lips. She slipped her shoes off and padded into the once again empty apartment. Pleomon giddily bounced around and hopped onto the couch, pouncing up and down on the cushions. Skyy laughed lightly and walked over to her bedroom after hanging up her coat, gloves and scarf.

She clicked open the door, dumped her bag on her bed and slumped into her pink computer chair. She swiveled to face her computer and turned it on, waiting as it hummed to life. Pleomon peeked her head around the door and examined Skyy's bedroom. Then she jumped up onto Skyy's computer desk and sat down.

The room wasn't much. It was small and the floor was hardwood. The walls were white and plain and Skyy's bed was modern and simple with light purple sheets that were strewn over the mattress and had no patterns. The baseboard of the bed extended out into a desk which sat Skyy's blue PiBook laptop complete with a clear light up mouse and a plain white mouse pad. There was also a printer that connected to the laptop and a pink, plastic, rolling, computer chair. There was a simple calendar with famous art works on it hanging on the wall but there were no plans or dates circled on it, it was empty. There was no carpet in the room except for scattered newspapers all concentrated in the far corner of the room. There sat Skyy's painting easel and a cart with a variety of paints and paint brushes and other supplies like oil, paint thinner, sponges, spatulas and colour pallets. Behind the easel sat a long row of empty canvases of different sizes. There was another small row of two or three canvases that were finished paintings but they had collected dust had seemed to have no intention of being hung up for display.

Skyy always tried to sell her paintings right away; she had no desire to keep any. There was no dresser for there were drawers under Skyy's bed which was where she kept most of her clothes. There was also a small closet in the wall where she kept a few dresses. On the wall there was a row of hooks were she kept some jackets and purses and hats. There was a large sliding door that led out to a very small balcony, like, literally maybe three feet out and the width of the doors. It was only small and there were three pots of vine plants that curled down the rusted railings. Pleomon sighed rather loudly as she glanced around the room again.

"Hey…Skyy I'm hungry," she said sheepishly. Skyy glanced at her and grinned.

"Oh? What kind of food do you even eat?" she wondered. Suddenly Pleomon began to glow white and she shape shifted to a smaller form. Skyy raised her eyebrows. Pleomon was now a much simpler version of herself. She became a round-ball shaped creature. Almost like a head without a body. Her fur was white and she still had the same orange triangle marking on her forehead. But instead of her normal bright turquoise eyes, she had soft brown ones. Despite having no body she still had those oddly shaped, orange, diamond ears with the little black baubles on the ends. Skyy rested her chin on her palm.

"So, who are you now?" she asked. The digimon looked down at her body.

"I'm Umimon now," she said in almost the same cute female voice as Pleomon. Just then a gurgle sound echoed from Umimon's stomach and Skyy laughed. She scooched out from her chair.

"I'll go see what we have in the kitchen," she said and wandered out of the room. Umimon's eyes sparkled and she raced after Skyy, bouncing like a soccer ball. Skyy mulled through the fridge and called out some foods they had.

"Well, I don't really want to make anything…but we have some leftovers. We've got some onigiri, some takoyaki, and some daifuku…but daifuku is probably too sweet to eat as a snack…more for dessert…" Skyy hummed. She ended up pulling out the leftover rice balls and warmed them up in the microwave. She placed them on a plate and brought them back to her desk with Umimon greedily buzzing around her legs. As soon as she lay the plate down Umimon hopped up and dug in. Skyy held in a laugh as Umimon stuffed her cheeks which made her resemble a chipmunk with acorns stuffed in its mouth.

She turned back to her computer and happily noticed a familiar name was online on her messenger. She excitedly opened up the window and typed in a hello. The person typed back cheerily and Skyy smiled broadly.

Jeremy: so, how's Japan for you?

Skyy: familiar, yet not at the same time. I remember a lot of things from when I was a kid, but I have to get re-used to them

Jeremy: I wish I could go to Japan, it seems much more different then Korea

Skyy: well, I've never been to Korea, but I'm sure it's different, a hell of a lot different then Canada

Jeremy: aha~! so…how are you? Feeling any better?

Skyy: ….yes….but

Jeremy: but?

Skyy bit her lip and her fingers hovered over the keyboard. Should she tell him? About Pleomon and the Digital World? Nah. He'd think she was crazy.

Jeremy was a friend of hers from Canada that she'd met at her school. He was one year older than her but he had helped her a lot. So he was…about 14 now? He was originally born in Korea, and then grew up in Britain for a while, before finally moving to Canada. The last time she saw him he had blonde hair, before that it had been bright orange. Somehow he always knew what to say to make her feel better about things.

She could talk to him about the Digital World. She was afraid of what he would think though. But she needed advice…

Skyy sucked in a breath and typed out her reply.

Skyy: okay so…I've got a problem

Jeremy: haha, a problem? That's not so hard to believe :)

Skyy: ….shut up….

Jeremy: just kidding~! So what's the problem?

Skyy: I can't really explain it in detail…

Jeremy: so explain it vaguely :)

Skyy twisted her mouth to the side. How was explaining it vaguely going to do any good? But she had no choice…she didn't want to give him too much information.

Skyy: well, let's just say some things came up, and I don't know if I should go along with it or not. I mean it's kind of beyond my control, but I don't know if it could be bad or good.

Jeremy: …okay

Skyy: I'm just confused about it; I don't know what to do

Jeremy: I think you should go along with what your heart says, as cheesy as that sounds

Skyy: …

Skyy: that does sound cheesy

Jeremy: if you want to let yourself go then that's probably the best thing for you. If you feel otherwise, then it's not. But honestly, what harm can a new adventure bring hm? :)

Skyy glanced at Umimon who was licking around her mouth after she had finished the last rice ball. A warm feeling of familiarity rose in her stomach and a sense of understanding. She'd known Pleomon for about a week now. But this was the first time she had come back with Skyy to the real world.

Skyy took out her digivice and gazed at it. Follow her heart…what if she didn't know what her heart wanted? She hadn't even asked for this role that she'd been given. To be a digidestined, to help save the Digital World, crests of life. It was ridiculous. Where did this all even come from? It was completely out of the blue and had no pre-warnings. Was she seriously and honestly expected to accept and fulfill this role that had been dumped into her unwilling hands?

She didn't even know how she felt about the whole thing. It seemed a little weird. A Digital World? Digimon? It was unrealistic. Yet here Umimon sat, right in front of her, in the real world. So they were actual living creatures. How was it though that only a group of eight kids, excluding herself, had been sent there? And why kids? Why not adults? Though it wasn't like adults could be really trusted with the safety of the world. They didn't understand the same way kids did. Maybe that was the reason. Kids would blindly believe anything.

Tai and the others had been given their roles as digidestined when they were children. It sort of made sense because as kids, they wouldn't have really asked or doubted anything about digimon or the Digital World. Well except maybe Izzy. But he had still been a kid, so he still had the overall logic of a child.

Why wasn't she told about Pleomon or the digital world at the same time they were? Things would have been…easier then. But things had happened that couldn't be reversed. Skyy had changed from when she was a child which made circumstances in her life unavoidable. But this, she didn't expect this. Something this big and crazy… something that came with so many… connections. Skyy's heart was wavering. She didn't know what to do; she didn't know how she felt. She was still scared, but she also grudgingly acknowledged that she cared about Pleomon and her safety.

But all this duty that came with it. This saving the Digital World and defeating the seekers. She didn't know how she felt about it. She didn't want to accept it. She told herself she shouldn't. She'd told herself so many things. It was all so crazy in her mind right now. She was so confused. What was the right thing?

Skyy almost groaned and leaned back in her chair, causing it to squeak out in protest. Her fingers tightened around the small digivice.

What would happen if she had accepted it? Follow her heart…

She looked at Umimon. What if…she had already accepted her role as soon as she got it?

Skyy wandered around the empty school hallways after the last bell had rung and everyone was either at clubs or had left to go home. The sun cast shadows down the long hallway and gave it a peaceful feeling. Pleomon was mulling around somewhere. Skyy couldn't leave her at home because she'd be bored to death, but she couldn't bring her in the school or else she could be found out. So she left Pleomon to her own wanderings around the school property as long as she made sure she wasn't seen. Skyy knew her digimon could take care of herself so she paid no mind to her.

Skyy wasn't apart of any clubs, she wasn't interested in those kinds of things. She decided she could possibly camp out in the art room sometimes though and paint. She wouldn't join the art club because she painted better when she was alone. And she hated hearing the chatter of amateur artists or just the useless chatter of students when they brought their friends along to hang out like the art room was some sort of social scene.

But today she didn't feel like painting. But she didn't want to go home either. Her mom had the day off today and had stayed home. So for some reason, she didn't want to go home right away. She sighed and clasped her hands behind her back. Skyy stopped and looked out of the window to the school's soccer field and grinned when she saw a familiar brunette boy. Tai was walking like a drill sergeant in front of a crowd of other soccer students and seemed to be barking out orders or something along those lines. He was dribbling a soccer ball with his feet as if it was second nature and he was just doing it without paying attention. Skyy watched for a little while before giving him a wry smile and continuing wandering around the hallways.

Soon she found herself up by the computer room and she hesitated at the door. After a minute of contemplating it she slid the door open quietly. Her eyes widened when she noticed there was already someone occupying the room. She recognized Izzy leaned over the Digital World computer with his laptop on as well beside him. Izzy stopped typing and glanced in her direction. Skyy didn't know why, but she quickly darted out of sight and hid behind the door. She held her breathe, hoping that he hadn't seen or heard her.

"Hey, Tsutsumi?" Izzy's voice called out. Skyy inwardly groaned. She paused before curling around the door to become visible. Izzy smiled when he was right. Skyy shifted on her feet uncertainly before stepping into the room. She grabbed a chair and sat down beside the computer geek silently. Izzy returned to what he was doing and didn't seem like he was going to initiate any conversation. Skyy frowned. If he wasn't going to talk to her, why did he call her out like that? Skyy pulled on her fingers nervously; it was a bad habit that she was starting to fall into.

She noticed him typing away codes onto the bigger computer. His laptop was connected and had a bunch more windows opened with typed out codes on them. On the bigger computer there was a map of the digital world and big black blobs moving around on it. As Izzy typed in the codes onto the big computer the map changed and the blobs moved around to different areas. Skyy leaned closer for a better look.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Izzy perked up and stopped typing. He interlaced his fingers and stretched them outwards so they made some cracking sounds. He leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"I'm creating a map of the Digital World that will track and pick up sets of seekers," he said. "It shows all the areas that the seekers are patrolling, this way we can locate them quickly and get rid of them." Skyy looked at her fingers in her hands. Izzy seemed to notice she wasn't going to say anything so he continued typing away, glancing at her every now and then.

"Why do you care about the Digital World so much?" Skyy murmured after a long pause of silence. Izzy looked at her.

"What?" he said as if she had asked the most stupid question in the world. She retreated within herself a little and looked away. Izzy seemed to notice her discomfort and realized she was asking a serious question.

"The Digital World coexists with our world, and when one becomes unbalanced, the other in turn is also affected," he said.

"You said that before," Skyy muttered. Izzy shrugged.

"So, it's a good reason," he grinned. "Also, I've grown a deep sense of affection for the Digital World and its inhabitants. It's where Tentomon lives and calls home. Isn't it only natural then that I would want to help them if they come under any danger? Especially if I am able to," he added smiling genuinely. Skyy stared at him. She remembered what had happened that other time she had been to the Digital World. She smiled fondly to herself when she remembered the beautiful field that Tai had shown her. She remembered how peaceful the digimon had been at that time, playing in the grass without a care in the world.

Pleomon had protected her as well that time. Sacrificing her strength and power to save Skyy when she was in danger. No one…had done that for her before…

"Why can't we just charge in and defeat them all in one go?" Skyy said bordly. Izzy snorted and began typing again.

"That's both illogical and irresponsible," he said bluntly. Skyy frowned and rolled her eyes. "We need to be careful, we need to plan out our attacks and plan what areas we go to and when," Izzy explained. "And because of some slight complications, we're not as strong as we used to be, and with the number of enemy seekers that keep propping up, we need to take time and train ourselves and our digimon so that we're prepared to take on the final boss." Skyy nodded blindly without really paying attention. Izzy paused and looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"Y'know…" he started, "we really will need your help, if you're willing that is," he said carefully. He didn't want her running out on him again. Skyy looked at the ground. She seemed to be hearing this drivel a lot lately. She had thought about it a lot too.

"I don't know…" she mumbled. Izzy looked at her seriously, half shifting his body.

"If you don't mind, may I ask why you're uncertain about this?" Izzy asked. Skyy chewed on the inside of her cheek before answering.

"I…can't really answer that," she said. Izzy frowned.

"You care about Pleomon don't you?"

"Yes," the answer was immediate

"So, don't you want to protect her as she protects you?"

"I…guess…"

"So then, will you not try and save her home when it is in danger?"

"Well when you put it like that..." Skyy groaned. Izzy shrugged.

"I just don't see why else you would hesitate, you say you care for her, will you not help save her world?" Izzy said. Skyy kicked the air lightly in annoyance. He was making her feel sort of stupid.

"There are other circumstances in my life that I need to consider," Skyy finally said.

"And what is that?"

"You wouldn't understand," Skyy quickly said as a flash of emotion passed in her eyes. Izzy seemed to notice it and pressed on.

"We all have our own lives as well. We didn't change the way we live so that we could be digidestined," he said.

"It's not that, it's just…something too far for even you to understand, please stop prying," Skyy said. Izzy nodded once.

"Of course," he said curtly, his face a mask. Skyy pursed her lips and looked at her white, indoor uniform shoes.

Both teens were silent and soon the quietness started eating at Skyy and she spoke up just to kill her nerves.

"But, I will go back…maybe, I might help a little," Skyy mumbled. Izzy glanced at her and a softness passed through his dark eyes. He smiled.

"You're quite the puzzle Tsutsumi," he joked and Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"Puzzle? How so…?" Skyy frowned and crossed her arms. Izzy just smiled again, more to himself than to her.

"Why don't we go back to the Digital World tomorrow then to test your abilities a bit?" he said brightening up and avoiding her question. Skyy decided not to ask him further and just went along with the new change of subject.

"Gee thanks for making me sound like some sort of experiment," she huffed. Izzy flinched and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Er- no that's not what I was implying," he said quickly. Skyy looked away, annoyed. Izzy fell silent and decided to resume typing. Skyy glanced at him.

"You sure like computers don't you," she said. It was more a statement then a question. Izzy nodded.

"Yes, I find them very interesting tools," he said. Skyy sighed. He really was a nerd. Izzy glanced at her and seemed like he wanted to say something but then shut his mouth. Then he opened it again, and then shut it. Skyy watched in amusement as he struggled to find out what to say. Finally he managed to croak out something.

"S-so what kind of things do you like?" he asked, then looked away to avoid looking at her. Skyy paused before answering.

"Painting," she said simply. Izzy looked at her.

"Painting?"

"Yeah…I…love to paint," she said softly. Izzy gazed at her for a second and quickly looked away once she met his eyes. An awkward silence fell over them again before Izzy finally stuttered out something to say.

"How long have you been painting for?" he asked. Skyy grinned. He was awkward when it came to having normal conversations that weren't about the Digital World. She shrugged.

"Since forever I guess, I mean I always used to finger paint when I was little, then just got more serious about it as I got older," Skyy said. Izzy nodded before the silence filled the room again. After a minute of just listening to Izzy typing on the computer Skyy sighed loudly.

"You're not very good at keeping up conversations are you?" she said bluntly. Izzy flinched and frowned.

"You don't have to say it so bluntly like that…it's just that I don't know you that well," he mumbled. Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"Or is it just girls in general you have trouble talking to?" she asked slyly. Izzy blushed and turned away.

"I-I'm perfectly fine at talking to girls," he stuttered. Skyy grinned.

"Liar," she teased. Izzy frowned.

"It's not like you're trying to initiate any conversation either," Izzy countered, pouting slightly.

"That's because it's fun watching you struggle," Skyy teased. Izzy frowned.

"You're cruel."

"Mm, not always, I have many sides," Skyy hummed and examined her nails. Izzy smirked and rested an elbow on the back of his chair, turning his body to face her again.

"Oh really? How can one person me so multidimensional?" he asked. Skyy shrugged and grinned.

"Practice?" she said. Izzy shook his head and smiled.

"You're odd,"

"Yeah, I agree," she sighed. "So do you like anything else? Besides computers I mean?"

"I like puzzles," he said. Skyy cocked her head to the side.

"What about hanging out with friends or going to the movies?" she asked. Didn't normal kids like doing those things? Izzy shrugged.

"I don't know, I like being with my friends, but I also enjoy cracking a good puzzle, especially one that no one else is able to crack," Izzy said, a fond smile appearing on his lips. Skyy watched him talk curiously.

"You're weird," she laughed. Izzy frowned.

"To you maybe, to me I'm perfectly normal," he argued lightly. Skyy crossed her arms on the desk and nuzzled her head into them.

"I don't mean anything by it, I'm weird too," she said.

"You're not weird, you're nice…and pretty…you have a lot of things going for you," Izzy mumbled. Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"You think so?" she grinned. Izzy nodded, blushing. Skyy laughed again, "Believe what you want," she hummed, and closed her eyes. Izzy watched her from the corner of his eyes before smiling and continuing to type. Skyy dozed lightly beside the maroon haired boy as he worked, answering questions lightly whenever he brought up the courage to ask them.

He was a nerd. No doubt about it. His answers were always so thought out and he always used bigger and more refined words when it wasn't necessary. Whether it was a habit or it was to impress people she didn't know. But at least he knew what he was talking about. And he seemed to really have a passion for science and computers. She could respect that. It was sort of fun talking to him. He was fun to tease and she liked the way he spoke. It was different to everyone else.

Though it amused her more and more of how much a typical nerd he was. It even made her laugh out loud sometimes, only to leave Izzy confused. He was interesting.

A quiet peace rose between them and they enjoyed each other's company in silence until it was time to leave.

"Yeah! Go Hotarumon!" Skyy cheered loudly as Hotarumon ran and shouldered a seeker in the gut, causing him to fall into a heap on the ground. Just then Birdramon soared up and sent a series of fire ball-like bullets at the seeker and each one burnt through the seekers clothes and skin and it wailed in pain. Then Gatomon pounced up and punched the seeker hard in the face and flipped backwards onto her feet gracefully. Birdramon sent off another series of bullets, finishing off the seeker and it disintegrated into the air.

Skyy pumped a fist in the air and Hotarumon shrunk back down to Pleomon. Pleomon leaped into Skyy's arms, laughing impishly at her win. Skyy hugged her fondly. Birdramon returned to being Biyomon and flew down to Sora. Sora walked up to Skyy with her hands clasped together.

"That was great! After Hotarumon attacked once, our attacks were finally able to work as well!" Sora said and she took Skyy's hand in a friendly manner. Skyy looked at their hands.

"Sorry but, what was your name again?" Skyy asked awkwardly. Sora laughed.

"It's Takenouchi Sora!" she said. Skyy only recognized her as the ginger haired girl she saw Tai with on her first day of school. She was actually surprised when she went to meet Izzy in the computer room and saw this girl waiting for her instead. Skyy thought she looked pretty from far away but from up close she really was very pretty. Almost made Skyy a little jealous…almost. She was also as nice as she was pretty. And from Sora's energy levels she must have been athletic too. Damn. She was a real catch. Why didn't she have a boyfriend? Skyy tilted her head to the side. So this girl had been another digidestined as well…

"Ah, right," Skyy mumbled, nodding once. Pleomon jumped from Skyy's arms and curled around her shoulders. Sora smiled.

"See, it's easy to remember because we have the same name!" Sora said. Skyy nodded. They did sort of have the same name. Sora meant 'sky' in Japanese, and Skyy, though spelt differently, was meant to mean 'sky' in English.

"I guess that's right," Skyy wondered. Kari jogged up to them excitedly with Gatomon tagging behind. She was Tai's sister, but to Skyy they looked nothing alike. Kari had short, thin, light brown hair and dim, but friendly red eyes. Tai had anything but. Skyy almost laughed when she had introduced herself as Tai's little sister. She seemed really mature for her age though, which was a relief.

"I got tones of great pictures of you two!"Kari said, bouncing up and down slightly. Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"You took pictures?" she asked and leaned over Kari's shoulder to see. Kari nodded.

"Yeah! I got some really good action shots!" she said happily. She clicked through and Sora and Skyy watched. Kari had been snapping pictures the entire battle, of both Skyy and Sora, and their digimon. "Ah!" Kari paused, "why don't we take a picture of the three of us!" she suggested and held up the camera and arms length.

Skyy was going to refuse but Kari quickly pulled her in with her and Sora and clicked the picture. Skyy hadn't even gotten to smile and instead her face looked dumbstruck in the picture whilst Kari and Sora had pretty smiles on their faces. Skyy frowned.

"Aw! Skyy you look so cute!" Kari squealed then she paused, blushing in embarrassment. "Um, is okay if we call you that?" she asked worriedly. Skyy's face remained blank and she shrugged.

"You've already started calling me that so why bother changing it now," she said and Kari smiled brightly. She held up the camera and snapped a picture of Skyy quickly. Skyy frowned.

"Hey, don't take pictures of people by surprise," she scolded. Kari stuck her tongue out cheekily.

"It's more fun if you do it by surprise! Besides you can get better pictures and fonder memories if you take pictures in the moment" Kari said sagely as she turned off her camera and put it back in its case around her neck. Skyy tilted her head.

"Why is it that you take pictures all the time…I mean you didn't need to just now," Skyy asked. Kari laughed lightly.

"But today was your second battle in the Digital World!" she said as if it was common sense. Skyy's expression turned to confusion. "I was mad when Tai told me you'd fought a battle already because I wanted to be there when you had your first one, so I made sure to be here when you had your second one!" Kari explained cheerily. The group of girls began walking back to the portal to return home. They had cleared all the seekers today in the immediate area and the digimon were too tired to fight anymore. They had fought and defeated about four seekers today.

"But, why does it matter so much?" Skyy asked as they walked through the thick forest. Kari looked up into the trees and smiled.

"I take pictures because they are the best way of creating memories. I mean yes you can remember fond moments on your own, but eventually they deteriorate as you get older and as you create more memories," Kari explained. "With pictures, you can always look back at them and re-remember old memories and if you take even more pictures, you can remember even more, smaller details that happened. Even if you forget you can always look back if you have pictures."

"What's so good about remembering fond memories…?" Skyy murmured. Kari tilted her head.

"Isn't that one of the gifts of the living? To have and hold all of your memories and look back on what a great and fulfilling life you've had? I think memories are a beautiful thing, good or bad, they are part of the great experiences of life, right?" Kari said softly. Sora nodded from beside her.

"I know fond memories always cheer me up and make me hope for a better future," Sora added.

"Living happily and creating memories, that is what I love about life. Like, you know how some people obsess over and collect baseball cards until they have binders and binders full of cards? It's like that with me but with photographs and memories," Kari giggled.

"Sounds cheesy," Skyy muttered then fell silent. Kari just shrugged and smiled. Skyy scoffed in her mind. Living is about making fond memories….don't make me laugh.

Skyy frowned and tossed the conversation from her mind. It was silly, and futile. The whole thing. Kari was living in a fantasy. Not all memories were good ones. And even the good ones couldn't erase the pain from the bad ones. Her life was plagued with bad memories.

Since that day with Kari and Sora it'd been a while since Skyy had been to the Digital World. Whenever she'd go it would be to just fight a bunch of battles with practically the same enemy. Though Pleomon had gotten better at defeating more enemies each time they had battle. At first just taking out one took a lot of her energy, but by now she could deal with an estimated six seekers in one go. Skyy had to admit she was proud.

She sat quietly in the now empty art room. There was no art club after school today and Skyy managed to get permission to stay in the art room for a bit. She sighed and lowered her paintbrush, making sure not to get any wet paint on her uniform. Pleomon hopped up onto the empty desk beside her and sat down. She looked at Skyy's painting curiously and smiled when she recognized it.

"It's the field that we saw in the Digital World!" she said happily. Skyy nodded and she looked over her progress.

"Yeah…it left quite a mark on me it seems," she hummed to herself and began mixing a colour on her pallet. Pleomon sniffed the paint but accidently got some on her nose. She spazzed backwards and wiped at it with her paw. Skyy quickly grabbed her paw to stop her.

"Hey, don't do that. This is acrylic paint, if you smudge it in and it dries it won't come out," Skyy warned. Pleomon stopped struggling and let her paw fall limp. Skyy quickly got some soap and soaked Pleomon's paw with water. She rubbed out the paint before it settled in Pleomon's fur and quickly washed it away. She also wiped away the remaining paint on the digimon's nose before returning to her painting. Pleomon made sure to stay away from the paint and sat further away from it.

"Hey Skyy, why don't you go home after school like the other kids?" Pleomon asked. Skyy paused and shrugged.

"I don't know, I like it better here than at home," she said. Pleomon tilted her head.

"Why?"

"..It's…quiet at home," Skyy said softly. Pleomon scrunched her face.

"But its quiet here too, and there's no food," she pouted and rested her head in her front paws. Skyy smiled.

"You would be thinking of food," she said, she leaned down to her book bag and took out her bento lunch. She placed in front of Pleomon and the digimon looked at it curiously. "Have the rest, I didn't eat it all," Skyy said and Pleomon happily dug in.

"Why don't you at least go see Izzy? He stays behind in the computer lab everyday doesn't he? Or Tai, he kicks that ball around outside," Pleomon asked through a mouthful of food.

"I wanted to paint today…I don't have to go see them every day, I already saw Tai yesterday," she said. Pleomon frowned.

"But aren't you lonely?" she asked. Skyy hesitated. Something flashed in her eyes before she answered.

"No, you're here so I'm fine," she said. Just then there was a light knock on the door and Skyy snapped her head up to see who was interrupting her. She saw a crop of maroon hair poke out behind the door. Izzy smiled sheepishly.

"Hey there," he said, raising a hand. Skyy turned back to her painting and Izzy wandered in, assuming he had been invited to. He stood behind her and gazed at her unfinished painting.

"Wow, this is really exquisite," he said in awe. Skyy tried to hold down a smile but failed.

"Thanks," she said. Just then Izzy grinned.

"Heeey, I recognize this scenery, did you see this in the Digital World?"Izzy asked slyly. Skyy looked away guiltily. Though, she wasn't surprised he'd recognized it. Why else would she be painting summer scenery in early May?

"Yeah, so?" she said, annoyed at being caught by him. He just smiled and shrugged.

"Hm, nothing," he said. "I was just asking."

"Why aren't you in the computer lab?" Skyy asked nonchalantly. Izzy sat on a nearby stool and slouched.

"I'm finished working for today, besides aren't I allowed to come and converse?" he pouted, feigning being hurt. Skyy grinned.

"You've gotten better," she said. Izzy gave her a confused look.

"Better at what?"

"Talking to girls," Skyy teased lightly. She decided not to ask him why he came looking for her in the first place. Izzy blushed and looked at the ground.

"That's just because we talk more now, and it has nothing to do with you being a girl," he mumbled. They had been hanging out a bit more recently. When Skyy wanted to hide from going home she either seeked out him in the computer lab or Tai in the gym. They usually talked about the Digital World, but were getting better at talking about other things as well. His odd nerdiness amused her.

"Exactly, if you're talking to me more, you must be getting better at talking to girls, right?" she said as a smile played on her lips. Izzy blushed.

"I said it's not because you're a- oh never mind, it's not like that matters anyway," he muttered. Skyy sighed.

"Yeah, you're right," she said and dipped her paint brush in the paint. Izzy quietened and watched her paint. A soft expression passed over his face without realizing. Skyy glanced at him and tried to surpress a laugh."What?" she asked. Izzy jumped and blushed.

"Ah! Nothing, just, um, do you have plans tomorrow?" he asked shyly. Skyy raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously. Izzy rocked back on his stool slightly.

"Well, we could use a good trip to the Digi World to clear some areas, and see how much stronger everyone's gotten," he said. Skyy scrunched her nose and looked away.

"Nah, I don't want to," she said and continued painting. Izzy frowned.

"Why not?"

"I just don't feel like it."

"But last time you said you would go and help out," Izzy said. Skyy shrugged.

"I don't feel like it anymore," she said breezily. Izzy scratched is head.

"Ahh! You're so confusing! I don't understand you," he sighed and rocked forward. Skyy chuckled.

"Ask me again tomorrow, the answer might be different depending on what I feel like," she said. Izzy rolled his eyes.

"You're too easy going," he muttered.

"Well I'm going to Tai's soccer game tomorrow," she said, "so it would have to be before then."

Izzy's face fell a bit. "Oh."

"Aw, don't look so disappointed," Skyy teased. Izzy flinched and turned bright red.

"I-I'm not! I just wanted to get rid of some more seekers and we can't do it without you," Izzy quickly said. "We can't go about this too slowly you know," he muttered. Skyy nodded.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed. Izzy paused before grinning and scooching his stool a bit closer.

"So, do you like the Digital World yet?" he asked excitedly. Pleomon perked up and looked at her as well. Skyy hesitated and look at the floor, avoiding their eager gazes.

"Well…maybe…a little," she muttered in embarrassment. Izzy smiled brightly. Skyy frowned. "Don't act so happy about it," she scolded. Izzy just laughed at her and she swatted him lightly over the shoulder. Izzy tried to dodge the swipe but ended up leaning too far back and he slipped off of his stool, tumbling to the floor. The stool clattered loudly and Skyy burst out laughing, buckling over in her chair. Izzy frowned and rubbed the now growing bump on his head in embarrassment. But when he looked up at Skyy's laughing face he smiled lightly and laughed along with her.

The laughter filtered out of the small art room and danced in the empty hallways.

It didn't seem like it but Skyy had now known Pleomon and Tai and the others for about a month. She hadn't expected it, but they had slipped into her life without her realizing and even though she was still confused, she found herself visiting the Digital World and talking with Tai and his friends more frequently.

It seemed almost addicting and she couldn't help herself. So she blindly followed and let herself go unconsciously.

She hadn't meant to, and she didn't realize she was doing it. She had said she'd never go again. Old promises and memories moved to the back of her mind when she hadn't meant them to and the Digital World seemed to take over.

Where was this going to lead?

Sorry if this chapter seems sort of pointless. I wanted to get Skyy past the awkward stages and get some time to pass and for her to get a bit friendlier with the other characters. Friendships take time and because of her personality right now she couldn't just suddenly become good friends with them all.

I hope you enjoyed it anyway :)

Please review with your thoughts, they are much appreciated!