Sorry this chapter took so long! My step sister is here for the week so things have been kinda crazy. I really wanted to write this chapter too so it sucks just as much for me as it does for anyone else who reads this. So if you do read this, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!

KoumiLoccness – Sorry if I didn't mention those things. I usually mention the things the character notices and Mimi hadn't really noticed the height. I'll make sure Izzy does. And Izzy didn't dye his hair. Same color as usual.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, just this story.

Enjoy!!!

Digimon: Almost

Chapter 7: Izzy's Oh So Fun Day

Izzy climbed out of bed that morning the same way he always did. Today he would have some company. An interesting change. The even more interesting thing about it was that it was another DigiDestined. He hadn't talked to most of them in a long time. Then again, the only reason he was needed was because of a computer problem. That seemed to be the reason most people ever called on him. He helped the new DigiDestined a lot but they only needed his help with the technical stuff. The one time they needed someone in the Digital World they called everyone but him. Tai had heard it that night. To be honest, he really wasn't all that mad; he was just taking out his other problems with Tai and putting them in with that current one. He got over his annoyance pretty fast that day once he realized what he was doing.

He went inside and sat at the table. He never really paid much attention to anything anymore. So it surprised him when his mother came and sat down at the table with him. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Merry Christmas." She told him.

"Merry Christmas." He said back to her with a smile. He had forgotten it was Christmas. He usually sat in space most of the time. If he continued to think about equations and other things like that, he'd keep Mimi off his mind.

But that didn't work all the time. He couldn't help but think about her all the time. She was the one thing he wanted at the moment and it hurt him when he thought about her in America. He missed everything about her.

He was brought back to reality when he thought about Joe coming over later. That was why he needed to be alert today. If he didn't act normal Joe would want to know what was wrong with him and he didn't plan on telling him. His mom sat next to him just watching him. He wondered why. He wondered if she did this often and he just never noticed. "What are you looking at?" he asked slowly, wondering if he might have some food on his face.

His voice seemed to wake her up from her thoughts because she jumped a little. She looked a little surprised. Maybe she had done this a lot. Being more alert was strange. He used to be so alert that he'd catch anything. That was how he figured out so many puzzles and mysteries. But now when he tried, he was good at not seeing anything. Today was like a brand new day compared to others. It was strange.

Then his mother spoke. "Oh nothing. I was trying to figure out what you were thinking about. Well, what you're always thinking about. You seem out of it lately." She told him. Izzy was surprised. How did she know? Mothers seemed to know everything. Then again, maybe it was an obvious thing. Who knew?

"I'm fine. Just thinking about things on my computer and stuff I still need to figure out. By the way, Joe's coming over today. I promised I'd fix his computer. I hope you don't mind since it is Christmas."

"Of course not. It's been awhile since one of your friends came over. It's always nice for kids your age to hang out with other kids." She said with a smile. She always worried that he was anti-social or something. You could just tell how happy she was to hear that a friend of his was coming over. He got up and put his plate in the sink. Wait, he didn't remember eating anything. Maybe he was still not used to being alert since he hadn't even noticed the food. He was worse off then he thought. "I'm gonna go get ready." He told her and she nodded.

***

Joe put Gomamon in a big bag and tried to get it on his shoulder. It took a few tries but he finally got it. "Geez Gomamon, did you get heavier?"

"Hmmm, I have been eating a lot lately…" Gomamon pondered. Joe laughed and closed the bag on his head. Then he turned to face Tentomon. "You ready?" he asked. Tentomon was putting on a rain coat and had just managed to get the hood on.

"Almost." He said as he zipped it up. "How do I look?" he asked and Joe laughed. "Enough like a human…I think. Well, either way, it's not far from here. You've been out for longer than this before." He told him and Tentomon nodded.

"Alright, then let's go." He said as he pulled Tentomon out the door. They walked to Izzy's and were in front of his door in no time. He rang the bell and hoped Izzy would answer it soon. Gomamon was getting really heavy. Just as he thought that, the door opened to Izzy. He smiled. "Merry Christmas! Long time no see." He told him and Izzy smiled. "Yeah, I know. I haven't really seen anyone." He said.

Joe smiled and looked behind him at Tentomon. "I have something for you. It's from all the new DigiDestined for Christmas. I'm delivering it." He told him. Izzy looked at him funny and a little surprised. Joe stepped to the side and Izzy smiled wider. "Tentomon!" he said happily. Tentomon ran to Izzy and Izzy bent down to hug him.

"Come on Izzy, you know I don't like that mushy stuff." Tentomon complained. Joe and Izzy laughed as Izzy let go of him and stood up. He looked at Joe's bag and smiled. "Uh, that's a bit fat to be your laptop isn't it?" he asked.

Joe looked down at his bag and Gomamon stuck his head out. "Hi Izzy!" he said and Izzy laughed. "I thought you were in there." He looked around at Joe. "So where is your laptop?" he asked him. Joe looked down and then started laughing. "I think I forgot it." Izzy started laughing too.

"You came over my house so I could fix your computer and you forget it?" he asked. Joe continued to laugh and nodded. "What about your term paper?" Izzy asked.

Joe stopped laughing and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I think all my computer needs is some new parts. Truth is, I dropped it and the battery cracked so I think I just need a new one." He told Izzy. That was what had happened. He had just "dropped" it on purpose. But he couldn't tell him that yet. That would have to wait until they talked.

Izzy thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Then let's go to the mall. There's a good computer store I like to go to there." Izzy told him. Joe nodded and then put Gomamon back on his shoulder. "He got heavy!"

Izzy laughed and looked at Tentomon. "You're all ready, right?" he asked. Tentomon laughed. "You just don't want to have to carry me around." He accused and Izzy laughed. "True but really I was just wondering." He said as he put Tentomon's hood back up.

***

They made it to the mall pretty quickly. Gomamon and Tentomon started complaining about being hungry so Izzy told Joe they should go to the food court first. They got to the food court and sat down at a table. He started to think about Mimi again but stopped himself. He was with Joe and he had to be careful. If he acted strange, his friend would want to know what was wrong. He was glad Tentomon was there. He could talk to Tentomon about Mimi later because Tentomon already knew all about what had happened in the Digital World. He had been there.

He looked around the room and then back at Joe who was looking into his bag at Gomamon. Then he looked up at Izzy. "Are you hungry?" he asked. Izzy shook his head. "No." he told him. They all got food, besides Izzy, and ate quickly.

"Hey Izzy, do you care if we stop in a medical store first? I just wanted to look at some of the new equipment." He told him. Izzy didn't see the fun in that, then again, most people never saw the fun in Izzy's computers.

"Yeah, that's fine. Hey, do you care if me and Tentomon go look around a bit? We'll come right back here. Maybe we'll just go get the battery and then we can spend our time here hanging out instead of watching me find stuff in the computer store. Plus you know me. I might just get distracted in there and end up getting more than just your battery." He admitted.

Joe laughed at him. "Ok, Izzy. Me and Gomamon are just gonna stay in that medical store waiting. And if you take too long, we'll go to the computer store to find you. Ok?" Izzy nodded and grabbed Tentomon pulling him away.

"Why are we rushing off? Where are we going?" Tentomon asked.

"I just want to check something." He told Tentomon. He stopped in front of the store he'd been looking for.

"Why are we going in here? What could you possibly be looking for in here?" He asked, extremely confused until it clicked in his mind. "Izzy…she's probably not here." He said quietly as they looked into the dress shop.

Izzy didn't say anything. He just continued to stare into the store as a women came up to him. "Ummm, are you looking for something???" she asked, clearly confused.

He smiled and shook his head. "No, just someone." He said and then he turned around and walked away.

"So that's what's been bothering you." Tentomon guessed. Izzy sighed.

"You know me too well."

"Are you ok?" he asked worried.

Izzy sighed. "Not really. I mean, I really miss her but I don't know why. If she were here it wouldn't be any better. She'd still be going out with Tai and we'd still never talk. Her going to America didn't really change anything. Nothing could change it." He said sadly.

"That's not true." Tentomon said, looking at Izzy, who know the one thing he could do.

"No way!! I'm not telling her how I feel! She doesn't feel the same way! I'm not going to make a fool out of myself!"

"How do you know that will happen? Maybe she does like you. Why else would she have kissed you?"

"First of all that was a long time ago and second, she didn't talk to me at all after. So what does that mean in your book? That she's madly in love with me?" he asked.

Tentomon laughed. "Well, you haven't exactly talked to her either, and look at how you feel." Izzy for once had no answer. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. There wasn't anything that could. What could he say to that? Tentomon was right. He mindlessly walked into the computer store he knew so well. He was dazed and not paying attention. He was thinking about what Tentomon said.

And then he was suddenly on the floor. He had hit into someone. He shook his head and looked over at the girl he had knocked to the ground. He was about to say sorry to the girl with pink hair when she lifted her head and the words stopped themselves from coming out.

It was Mimi. He looked at her and she looked at him. He didn't know what to say. It had been so long. And to think he had been thinking about her when he had hit into her. He stood up slowly but she didn't move so he held out his hand to her, still not able to say anything. She took his hand and stood up. He tried not to think about how much he liked the feel of her hand in his. They fit together perfectly.

Once she was standing he was puzzled for a moment. Had she gotten shorter or had he gotten taller. He hadn't kept track of his height but he was now a few inches taller than her. It was weird since he had always been so much shorter than her.

Then she smiled. That smile would've made his day if it hadn't been forced. He could tell when she forced smiles because he loved her smile. He loved watching the way her eyes lit up and the way her whole face would turn into the happiest and most beautiful sight in the world. It would make him smile on any day. But when he looked for the sparkle in her eyes, it wasn't there.

Then he noticed the bags under her eyes and began to wonder about that. Had she not gotten enough sleep lately? How long had she been here? Maybe the time zone difference was still throwing her off or something. It's not like she had sat up all night thinking about him like Izzy had been thinking about her for so long.

"It's good to see you." She said. These words were what made him smile. Because they were real. She meant them. After looking at her for so long he knew when she was lying. All he had to do was look her in the eyes as she said the words and he'd know. "You too." He answered. He looked at her hair and chuckled. "I like the pink." He hadn't even known it was her at first. "I'm glad." She said sincerely.

Then Izzy saw Palmon walk up next to her. He guessed that all the DigiDestined had gotten their Digimon for Christmas. Then Yolei and Ken came over with Poromon and Minomon.

"Hi Izzy! Hi Tentomon!" Yolei said to them. Izzy smiled at her and Ken and then looked back to Mimi. She looked at Tentomon when Yolei had said his name. "Oh, hi Tentomon. I didn't see you down there." She told him.

"How could you not? You were just down here yourself." He told her and she chuckled. He loved the way her chuckle sounded. She had the most amazing voice that he'd be able to pick out of a crowd any day.

"Umm, where's Joe?" Ken asked.

"He was looking in some medical store with Gomamon so I told him I was going to go ahead and come here." He told Ken.

Then he looked at Mimi and realized where they were. A computer store. Why would Mimi be in here? Then he remembered who she was with and had to chuckle at the thought of Ken and Yolei dragging her in there. "Did Yolei and Ken have to drag you in here?" he asked.

"No. She dragged us in here!" Yolei yelled. Izzy looked at her funny. That didn't make any sense. Why would Mimi drag them in here? She had always hated this kind of stuff. He was confused. Maybe he had heard her wrong.

"Are you sure?" he asked and Yolei nodded. "I still don't know why she wanted us to come in here. She came in here and then was dragging us out in about five seconds." She said confused.

He looked over at Mimi, very confused, waiting to see why she would be in here. "Uh, I had needed something for my…dad! Yeah, my dad's computer broke and he had been telling me he needed something but they don't have it here." She said quickly. Izzy smiled. She was lying. He knew it. And he knew the perfect way to catch her lie.

"Really? What is it? I probably have it at my house." He told her, knowing she had no idea what she was "looking" for. He looked at her, his eyebrows raised, waiting to see how she'd get herself out of this one. She held her head high though, ready for the next bullshit that would soon come out of her mouth.

"I don't remember what it's called. That's why I decided to stop looking for it. I figured if I saw the name I'd remember it but I didn't so I give up." She said almost proudly. Izzy held in a laugh and nodded. He could tell that Yolei and Ken had bought the lie.

He looked at Mimi's eyes and realized something. He had been paying so much attention to how she would lie, that he hadn't thought about why she would lie. Why would she lie about coming in here? Why had she really come in here? He looked into her eyes and found himself being lost in them and lost in thought about this mystery that for once, he couldn't solve.

She looked up at him and their eyes met. He looked away quickly, embarrassed that he had been caught staring at her. He really didn't need her to think he was more of an idiot. He sighed quietly but no one heard.

He looked up after awhile only to see her turn around and look into the mirror behind her. Yolei looked over at Mimi too with a face of pity. Pity? Why would she pity her? What was Mimi's facial expression? He couldn't see into the mirror.

Yolei began talking about computer parts or something but he wasn't paying attention. He was watching Mimi again. Thinking about the puzzle he couldn't solve and partly just looking at her face.

Then she looked over at him again and he looked away quickly. That was twice! It had never been this hard before. He had always stared at her. He had tried to memorize everything about her. He never got caught. Maybe once or twice but it probably just seemed like he was looking around or something.

Then he realized that the stare had done something to Mimi because the next thing he knew she was grabbing Yolei, Ken, and Palmon and yelling, "Nice to see you again!" as she ran out of the store. Izzy was so confused at what had just happened. He walked out of the store watching her run away. She had let go of Yolei and Ken, and Palmon was now running with her. She was sprinting away from him. She felt the need to run that fast?

She stopped running and looked back at him. Her face was one of panic and worry and sadness all mixed up into one horrified face. He didn't understand it though. He looked on with sadness as he watched her run away. It was like that one horrible night so long ago in the Digital World. That horrible night that she ran away and never spoke to him again. The image that had given him nightmares was now replaying in his mind. But now he had a new image playing too. The one that just happened.

He had lost her once, he didn't want to lose her again. He ran in the direction Ken and Yolei had disappeared in but when he rounded the corner, they were gone. He looked around slowly but didn't see them anywhere.

He decided it would be wiser to let it go so he turned around slowly and walked back to the computer store. Tentomon was waiting for him there. He sat down outside the store next to Tentomon. "There she goes…again." He said sadly.

Tentomon sighed. "You didn't find her?"

"Nope. She disappeared."

"Don't worry, you'll see her again." He assured him.

"I hope so. I don't think I can live without her. It's getting to be too much. That's probably why they got you to come here isn't it? You're here because they want to know what's up with the DigiDestined, am I right? I mean, I am a genius, you should give me more credit."

Tentomon started laughing. "You got it again. Joe broke his own computer. He has no term paper either." He admitted.

"I knew it." He shook his head. "Look, I know what you guys are trying to do but I don't' think it's a good idea. I mean, you shouldn't mess with everyone's lives. You can't make everyone happy." He told him quietly.

Tentomon sighed. "I know. But we can at least find out what's wrong. We can at least try. Right?"

"I don't know Tentomon. Think about it. I like Mimi. Mimi is dating Tai. Even if Tai likes Sora, Sora is dating Matt who is almost in love with her. So if you make me happy, maybe Mimi and Tai will be unhappy. If you make Tai happy, maybe Sora, and defiantly Matt will be hurt. You can't win. Your messing with things that shouldn't be messed with." He warned.

"How do you know all that about everyone?" Tentomon asked. Him and Joe had just been told about Tai's situation today.

"I guess I can just tell." He said with a shrug.

"You're too smart for your own good." Tentomon said with a chuckle.

Then Izzy looked over and saw Joe running towards him. "Hi! I waited but you never came so here I am. What are you doing?"

"Tentomon and me were talking. I didn't get your battery. Sorry. Next time, try not to drop it purposely when you have a fake term paper due." He told him and laughed.

"You told him!" Joe accused Tentomon.

"Well, he kinda guessed. In his own words, he is a genius, you should give him more credit." Tentomon quoted and they all laughed.

Then Joe sat down and Izzy told him the whole story from start to finish.

*********

Once again, sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoy and review!!!!