A Chance Encounter

Fandom: Digimon (Adventure 02 and Frontier)
Genre: Friendship
Summary: Written for the Digimon Secret Santa gift exchange! After her adventure in the Digital World, Zoe is still adjusting to life in Tokyo when she runs into a certain purple-haired girl on the train... which leads to compliments, camaraderie, and of course, cannolis.
Current Rating: G
Warnings: None

Like the summary says, this was done for Digimon Secret Santa, a gift for Tumblr user rockthistowninsideout! Her request was for a cute and fluffy something involving Zoe, Yolei, and Sora, and even though I almost never write any of the digi-girls and I've never done a digimon crossover before (boo!), I love ALL OF THESE LADIES, so of course I was really excited to figure out a scenario in which they could all meet and come together as friends. Thanks for the challenge, I had a lot of fun working on it, and I really hope you enjoy the end result!

"Ah scusi, colpa mia."

The words just slipped out, a reflex that still felt more natural to her than her native Japanese. Zoe Orimoto adjusted her purse and gritted teeth at her double mistake, already dreading what was to come. The girl she had accidentally knocked shoulders with as they boarded the train seemed to be around her own age, and if Zoe had learned anything from her female classmates, it was the precise look of frigid hostility she could expect to receive any time she said or did anything remotely out of the ordinary. Like apologizing in a foreign language, she thought. Well, you can't take it back now, so you might as well get the worst over with. Zoe's eyes flicked upward in a deliberate attempt to make eye contact, smiling in a way that said she was sorry for the incident, but would in no way apologize for her status as a returnee.

But to Zoe's amazement, the girl wasn't glaring at her with the same undisguised contempt she had braced herself for. On the contrary, the girl was staring at her in a way that could only be described as unbridled, star-struck awe.

"Whooooa," she said, mouth hanging open. "Was that Italian?"

"Um… yeah," Zoe said, caught off guard by such an enthusiastic response. "My family spent several years there. We recently moved back."

The girl was still looking as if she had just had a brush with a minor celebrity as they navigated through the crowd to the only available seats in the car, one right next to the other. Zoe was pretty sure she could hear her muttering breathlessly as they sat, words that sounded like "so incredibly cool." Zoe slid her hat off her head and smiled to herself—and while some part of her would have been content to leave their interaction at that, the girl's reaction had been such a welcome change of pace that it only seemed right to offer a compliment in return.

"I really like your hair," Zoe said, admiring the rose-pink streaks set against a background of soft, sunset purple. "Those are my favorite colors."

The girl's smile became, if possible, even wider. "Really? Thanks! The pink's in honor of a friend who lives in America, but the purple's a hundred percent natural. When I told my family I wanted to dye it, they all tried to talk me out of it by saying it would make me stand out even more, but I kinda like it this way." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Yolei."

"Hi Yolei, I'm Zoe."

"Nice to meet you, Zoe! So if you don't mind me asking, where ya heading?"

"Oh." Zoe felt herself hesitate in a moment of self-consciousness. "Well, it's kind of stupid, but… actually, there's a really good Italian pastry shop just a few stops away. It's a little far for me to come all the way out here most of the time, but I try to make a special trip once in awhile, because it's the only thing I've found since moving back to Japan that really reminds me of home."

She had been anticipating either a sympathetic nod or a murmur of feigned interest—not the squeal of recognition that was now issuing from Yolei's lips. "You're kidding," she said, her eyes positively sparkling behind her glasses. "I'm on my way to meet a friend there right now, and neither of us has ever been! What an amazing coincidence—that settles it, you simply must sit down and have desserts with us!"

Zoe looked at her, bemused. "Um… I do?"

Yolei was nodding as if it was the most logical thing in the world. "Of course, and I'll tell you why. I'm a pretty proactive person, and you strike me as very much the same. So just like I couldn't sit back and watch someone dine all by themselves when I'm on a first-name basis with them, I'm sure you wouldn't be able to stand the thought of two dessert lovers as tragically unversed in the world of Italian cuisine as us fumbling around blindly without offering your expert advice. I mean, that's just common courtesy." She winked, leaning forward in her seat. "So please, please say you'll join us, Zoe!"

Half a dozen excuses billowed and flapped in Zoe's mind, a battalion of reasons she was prepared to mobilize in order to decline such a sudden invitation: this was something of a pilgrimage for her and maybe she preferred to make it alone, she didn't want to intrude on a meeting of friends, and wasn't it a bit odd to accept the invitation of a random girl you just met by mistake a grand total of five minutes ago? But Zoe was perfectly aware that these excuses were part of her old self talking, the brusque and defensive outsider who was still learning to navigate the strange land she found herself in. Ever since coming back from the Digital World, she had been making a conscious effort to be more friendly and open-minded— her new self was a strong and capable warrior, the worthy successor to the Legendary Spirit of Wind who could handle anything the real world might throw at her. Having company did sound like fun—and besides, there was something about this girl that made Zoe want to get to know her better, some unknown and hard-to-define something that told her Yolei was a kindred spirit—though not, strictly speaking, in same way Kazemon had been.

"Well I suppose, when you put it that way…" Zoe said, winking back. "Sure. I'd love to join you."

And that was how, a half an hour later, Zoe found herself crowded around small table in her favorite pastry shop with Yolei Inoue and Sora Takenouchi, thoroughly enjoying the pleasure of their company. She had already helped them decide on what to order—Sora had opted for a generous helping of strawberry gelato, while Yolei, after considering nearly everything on the menu, eventually settled on a dark and delectable tiramisu. Zoe had gone with her usual: a chocolate-sprinkled cannoli with extra creme filling—and despite her initial reservations, she was pleased to discover just how much common ground they were able to find in conversation. Both Yolei and Sora were interested in Zoe's experiences abroad, and revealed that, besides their pink-haired friend in America, they had quite a few acquaintances all across the globe. The three of them talked about family—

("You're sooo lucky you're an only child," Yolei moaned, then proceeded to regale them with a number of humorous stories that made Zoe glad that, yes indeed, she was),

Friendship and team dynamics—

("It can be hard to agree on things, particularly in a group with a lot of differing opinions," Sora remarked. "I know what you mean," Zoe quipped, thinking about Takuya and co. "Convincing some people to do anything sensible is exactly like herding cats."),

Even the persistent feeling of homesickness for places long gone, and the loneliness that comes from missing those who helped you become the person you are—

(Zoe was never sure who Sora and Yolei were talking about, exactly… but remembering all the friends she had left behind in the Digital World and how unlikely it was that she would ever see them again, she could certainly understand what they were feeling).

Before Zoe had realized it, nearly an hour and a half had passed, and she remembered, regrettably, that she needed to be getting home.

"This was fun," Sora said as they took care of their separate checks. "We'll have to do it again sometime."

"Hey, yeah," Yolei said. "Zoe, can we get your number or something?"

"Er, that would be great, but… believe it or not, I'm between cell phones at the moment," Zoe said. It was true—her old phone had transformed into the D-Tector she still carried around with her, and she hadn't figured out how she was going to broach the subject with her parents without answering a lot of uncomfortable questions. "Sorry."

Yolei didn't miss a beat. "Hey, no problem! Here's my number, and when you get one, you can give me a call." She borrowed a pen from Sora and scribbled some digits onto a napkin. "There. Molto perfetto, wouldn't you say?"

Zoe took the napkin and tucked it into her purse, smiling. "Bingo."

"Next time, we'll take you to one of our favorite restaurants, Zoe," Sora said, the three of them making for the door. "Yolei and I know a fantastic place to get pirogi and borscht."

Yolei gazed longingly at the store's window display filled with cakes and sweets. "I dunno… my vote is to come back here until I've had at least one of everything on the menu."

"Well, tell you what, when I'm able to call, we'll figure it out," Zoe said, laughing.

Sora and Yolei turned to head up the street, waving back at her. "Goodbye, Zoe! It was so nice to meet you!"

"Safe travels, take care!"

"Bye, Sora! Bye, Yolei! Arrivederci!" As Zoe turned to head toward the train, she smiled, musing privately at the unexpected but welcome turn her afternoon had taken. She really, truly hoped that she would see Yolei and Sora again someday, and she promised herself she would put forth a solid effort to make it happen. But even if it turned out this was just a one-time encounter, she was grateful for the experience of sharing good conversation with new friends over delicious food.

And really, there was nothing else on Earth that made her feel more at home than that.

~Fin.