A/N: Finally finished. Writer's block is horrible, especially when you know the cause and can't do anything to stop it. Anyway, thanks to Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and Ebonywolf7 for reviewing my last chapter. :)

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, I would probably be more creative, so I don't own it. :(

The Warrior of Hope
Chapter 16
You Want Fries with That?

I was sitting next to Koji, my head on his shoulder, and my fingers interlocked with his. I was starting to get hungry, even the thought of hamburgers, which I hated, sounded good.

"So what's the story on this Hamburger Village?" Takuya asked.

"It's a hamburger lover's paradise, my dear boy." Bokomon replied.

"Sounds great!" Zoe said.

"Bring on the beef, baby!" Takuya said.

"Yeah, I'm going to eat my body weight, maybe even all of ours in burgers!" J.P. exclaimed.

I gagged, "That is disgusting."

"You don't like burgers?" Zoe asked, while everyone else just looked at me with surprise.

I shook my head, "I hate them. I can eat them, and they taste all right, but they would never be my first choice. I have no idea why. I love pretty much any kind of meat, but just the thought of hamburgers makes me feel sick. I can eat veggie burgers, but only certain types, because I won't eat tofu."

Koji raised his eyebrows at me, "You sure are picky."

I stuck my tongue out at him, "I'm not picky, I just don't like certain foods. If I have to eat it, I will, but I won't enjoy it."

He rolled his eyes, "Sure."

I poked his stomach, "Don't make me come over there."

He covered his mouth with his hand to stop the laugh that was going to emerge, "Don't even go there."

I smirked, "Why not?"

His eyes got an evil glint in them, "Because, if you don't, I'll do this!" He started tickling my weak spot, my stomach.

I tried to fold my arms over my stomach, but it didn't work, "Koji, p-please s-s-stop!" My words were having trouble getting out because I was laughing so hard.

"Ah, so you are ticklish." Koji said as he placed his arm around my shoulder and stopped tickling me.

I pouted, "No, I'm not."

He laughed, "Don't pout."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because, then I'll have to make you smile." Koji replied.

"If you can." I said.

He smiled wider, "Do you want me to prove it?"

Before I could reply, his lips were on mine. I continued to pout, not wanting to give in. He pulled me closer to him, turning my whole body to face him. He ran his fingers up my arm, making me tremble. It was so hard to keep pouting, but I was stubborn. He put his arms around me so that his hands were on the small of my back. His fingers traced shapes, but still I resisted the smile that wanted to appear on my lips. Then, one of his shapes brought my shirt up slightly, causing him to touch my bare skin. A shiver went up my body and I sighed in pleasure. He pulled away and smirked at me.

I blinked, in a daze, "What?"

He looked at me, laughter in his eyes, "You're smiling."

"Aw, crap." I said.

Koji laughed.

"Shut up." I said.

"Make me." His eyes were full of mischief.

I chuckled, "Fine." I grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought his lips to mine. He was just tracing my lips with his tongue when Zoe cut in.

"Would you two cut it out?" Zoe asked.

I laughed as I pulled away, "Sure."

Koji smiled and was content with putting his arms around my waist while I sat on his lap.

"Now arriving at Hamburger Village!" The Trailmon informed us.

We exited the Trailmon, thanking him for the ride.

The village looked deserted. The wind was blowing really hard, making dust fly into the air, and there was no one in sight.

"Wow, it's like we're in a ghost town." I said.

"Yeah, it's really suspicious." Koji said before taking my hand.

"Let's be careful." I said.

Everyone nodded and we started walking.

We finally hear voices, "Oh, mama!"

The wind died and we were able to see the little brown digimon hovering around another digimon who was crying on a table.

"What's up with them?" Takuya asked.

"Um, excuse me, are you alright?" Zoe ran up to them.

The digimon looked up and I saw that it had a burger bun on its head. "Oh no dear, a giant digimon raided our village. He said something about the three moons making him hungry, so my husband gave him a big plate of our best burgers."

"Now I'm hungry." Takuya said and I gagged.

"He liked them so much that he took my husband away to cook for him in his mansion." The digimon finished.

"Wow." Tommy said.

"Man, that's really messed up." Koji said.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to get our hamburgers now?" J.P. asked.

"Your compassion is astounding." Bokomon said.

"Papa is coming back, isn't he mama?" One of the flying brown digimon asked.

"Isn't he mama?" The rest echoed.

"Please young man, would you and your friends be able to help me find my husband?" She asked Takuya.

"Uh, I suppose, but I wouldn't know where to even begin looking for him." Takuya replied.

"The monster said he would bring daddy back if we made a bigger burger." One of the flying digimon said.

"He means a better burger, but I'm afraid that's impossible. My husband makes the best burgers around. There's no way anyone could make a better burger than my husband. Oh dear, what are we going to do?" She asked us.

"The monster said that to get daddy back, we have to have the better burger ready before he moves three times." One flying brown digimon said.

"No silly, he said before the three moons align." Another said.

"That's soon." A third one said.

"He's right, we must do something! The three moons will align by nightfall, and the Chameleonmon will be back for their master's burger." She said.

"Then it's up to us, we can make a better burger!" Zoe said.

We all looked at her blankly.

"Come on, I think we've eaten enough burgers in our time to be able to come up with something that at least looks right, and when the Chameleonmon take it to the mansion, we'll follow them." Zoe said.

"Nice plan." J.P. said.

"Except that I've never cooked before." Koji mumbled.

"Me neither, but I'm willing to try." Takuya replied.

I smiled at them, "Don't worry, how bad can it get?"

"Certainly not as bad as the eggs and noodles that the bird digimon made next to the Forest Terminal." Takuya said.

I laughed, "Let's hope not."

"I don't even know what's in them; I guess I'll have to make it up." Takuya said.

"That's the whole idea. We can each make one and have the judges taste them." Tommy suggested.

"Takuya, this will be a friendly competition, right?" Zoe asked.

"You worry too much, Zoe." Takuya replied.

"Yeah, no problem." Koji agreed.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah right."

Takuya and Koji frowned at me, "What's that supposed to mean?"

I smiled innocently, "Oh, nothing."

They both shrugged before looking away.

"Why don't I be your taster? It would be an honor to lend my superior palate to such a noble cause. So, bring on the beef, baby!" Bokomon said.

"That just means you want to eat." Neemon said.

We all laughed.

"My kitchen is fully stocked, so help yourself to anything you need. Now, let's get cooking!" The digimon with a bun on its head said.

We cheered before we walked into the kitchen. There was food everywhere. I grabbed a purple apron, and then washed my hands. I didn't even know where to begin. I thought about it, "Beef, I need ground beef."

Everyone else had their ideas too, Koji was carrying around a tray of seafood, Takuya was gathering all kinds of different meat, and everyone else it was a mystery.

I headed for the fridge and found a package of ground beef that was already thawed. I brought it out and grabbed a frying pan. I pulled the meat out and put it on the table. I clumped the meat together into patties. Once that was finished, I put the frying pan on a burner and placed the patties on the frying pan. While the meat was cooking, I got out some lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, mayonnaise, ketchup, and buns. I started chopping the lettuce, followed by the tomatoes and onions.

I cried a little when I was chopping my onions, but other than that, everything went fine. I turned around to flip the burger, and then started cutting the pickles into little pieces. After the meat was cooked, I placed them all on buns. On top of the patties, I put the lettuce, then tomato, then onion, then pickles, with mayonnaise and ketchup on the top bun. "There, it's finally finished." I said. "A traditional American burger."

We all lined our burgers up on the counter.

"Meatloaf and Yakisabi noodles. Ladies and gentlemen, an exotic combination for a new generation." J.P. said.

Bokomon took a bite of it, "Well J.P., I'm surprised, it's actually edible."

"Here, try my burger Italiano, with cheese, tomato sauce, and lots of fresh chopped mushrooms." Zoe offered.

Neemon started shoving them in his mouth, "Yum, tastes like chicken."

"Mine are just your average burger, with ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles, mayonnaise, and ketchup." I said.

Neemon and Bokomon both took one.

"That is really good." Bokomon said.

"Yummy!" Neemon said.

Everyone was giving me weird looks.

"What?" I asked.

"I thought that you didn't like hamburgers." J.P. said.

I nodded, "I hate them, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how to cook them."

"Are those supposed to be hamburgers?" Bokomon asked while examining Koji and Takuya's burgers.

"I think I saw one move!" Neemon said.

"Are you going to take a bite?" Bokomon asked.

"If they don't bite first." Neemon replied.

"Mine's the meaty-meat burger. Steak, pork cullet, and ground beef, I was going for volume." Takuya said.

"My deep-sea burger has lobsters, scallops, and shrimp." Koji said.

Neemon and Bokomon each took a burger.

"And, I topped it all off with sardines and some peanut butter!" Takuya said.

I gagged, "That sounds gross." I whispered.

"My special sauce is made from pureed squid and white chocolate." Koji said happily.

"Ugh, I think I'm going to barf, just hearing about that." I said.

"Disgusting!" Neemon and Bokomon both fell down.

Koji and Takuya each took one of their own burgers and took a bite, and then fed a bite to the other. They both gagged, "Bleck!"

"Interesting, are these one's yours, Tommy?" Neemon asked.

"Yeah, why? Does it look bad?" Tommy asked.

"No, we just need a break after the last ones." Bokomon explained.

"Or get our stomachs pumped." Neemon said.

"Would you like some fresh tea?" The hamburger-headed digimon asked.

"Yeah." Tommy said.

"Why don't we all take a short break? I'll bring your drinks outside for you in a minute." She said.

"These smell good, Tommy. Let's give them a try." Zoe said as she brought the tray outside.

"Hey Zoe, I'll taste them too!" J.P. ran after them.

"It wasn't really that bad, mine was better." Koji and Takuya both said at the same time.

"What are you talking about, Takuya? Yours was horrible!" Koji said.

"At least mine was edible, yours even smells bad! Yours just about killed Bokomon and Neemon!" Takuya replied.

"Maybe we should have a rematch, then!" Koji said.

"Fine, anytime, you'll lose!" Takuya said.

"Right, in your dreams botulism boy!" Koji said.

I snorted.

Takuya glared at me, "You're going to help Neemon and Bokomon judge."

I raised my eyebrows at Koji, "Are you really going to make me do this?"

He shook his head, "I don't want Takuya to poison you."

"But you don't care if he poisons us?" Bokomon asked.

"Hey! I'm not going to poison anyone!" Takuya said.

"Let's hope not." I said. I picked up one of my burgers and placed it in my mouth, "Hey, this isn't half bad."

Koji picked one up and took a bite, "Wow, that really is good. Where did you learn to cook like that?"

I shrugged, "I've never cooked burgers before in my life. I just did what I thought I had to do."

Takuya rolled his eyes, "Her burgers can't be that good." He grabbed one and took a bite. "Yum, that's really good."

I smirked, "You were saying?"

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever. So Koji, are we going to do this, or what?"

Koji nodded, "Yeah."

I shook my head at them, "I'm going to get some fresh air."

Koji nodded, "Alright, have fun."

I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "For luck."

He grinned, "Thanks."

I walked out the back door of the kitchen and walked up the hill. The edge of the forest was coming up, so I sat with my back to a tree and looked up at the stars. It reminded me of going camping with my friends in Utah. We would go up to Megan's cabin and look up at the stars. We would all stay up late telling ghost stories and talking about boys. I imagined what they would say if they found out that I was dating Koji. They would be really happy for me. I had always had the worst luck in relationships. I always end up getting hurt. I built up walls, to protect myself, but Koji tore them down. I felt so bare, but I guess it feels better than being numb. That's how I always was, never really a part of the crowd, because I didn't really get their jokes, but always there for them when they needed me. I was "the nice one." Sometimes they would joke that I was too nice. I would always laugh along, but inside I wondered if they were right. Is that why nobody liked me? Because I was too nice? I knew that it sounded ridiculous, so I never brought it up, but I always wondered.

I sighed, bringing myself back to the present. I should probably get back before Takuya and Koji completely destroy the kitchen. I walked down the hill and could hear their shouting already.

"My hamburger's the best!" That was Takuya.

"Wrong again, dorkus." Koji replied.

"Which one is it, guys?" They both yelled right as I got to the doorway.

Neemon and Bokomon ran out past me. "Guys, it doesn't matter whose burger is better." I said.

"Are they still arguing about that?" Zoe said from behind me.

I nodded, "Yeah. Wait, where have you guys been?"

"Did you completely forget about the giant digimon taking the chef?" Zoe asked.

I bit my lip, "Um, kind of."

"Well, the big digimon was actually Petaldramon." Tommy said.

"Wow, really?" I asked.

"Yeah, and he fell asleep after eating Tommy's burgers." J.P. said.

"That's good. I'm glad that you guys got away." I said.

"Next time we see him, we'll take him down!" Takuya said, startling us all.

"What?" I asked.

"We will all work together to take him down. If we work as a team, nothing can beat us!" Takuya said.

"Yeah! Now, let's all get on the next Trailmon and head for the Rose Morning Star!" I said.

"Yeah!" Everyone agreed.

A/N: Okay, what did you think? I finished this at 12:30 this morning, so excuse me if it turned out way bad, I am only half awake. Please review, because I want your oppinions. :)