Disclaimer – Disney owns Digimon.

A/N – Thanks to PY687 for beta reading this for me.

Mimi Tachikawa coughed as she stepped back from the smoke that billowed out of the pot as she took the lid off. Waving her hand in front of her for a moment, she grabbed the container full of the potatoes she had just pealed and cut, and dumped them in to the boiling pot. While she hated grunt work, it was unavoidable if Mimi wanted to become a top chef.

Surprising everyone when she announced that she was going to culinary school, no one had even known she had any interest in cooking, and a few were even skeptical. While it hadn't been easy, she had graduated last year with only a few bumps and bruises, and since graduating, she had been working as a kitchen assistant in one of Manhattan's little Italian bistros.

As she began dropping the potato slices in to the boiling water, giggling from two nearby coworkers drew her attention. The two girls, a waitress and a line cook, were smirking at her. "Table Six is back," the waitress told her.

Goggle-head, Mimi mused, trying to hide an amused grin.

A few months ago, Taichi Kamiya had signed a contract to play professional soccer in New York City. One Saturday, Tai had shown up at the restaurant looking for dinner, and was seated at table six, in a secluded corner of the restaurant. Since finding Mimi working there, when his schedule would allow it, he would come in every Saturday night and sit at the same table.

During his first visit, Mimi had sat with him for a few minutes, during one of her breaks. When she returned to the kitchen afterwards, her coworkers immediately barraged with questions about him. She told them back then, and every time since then, they were just old friends and nothing more. Skeptical in the beginning, the more they watched the two old friends interact, the more unbelievable her denials afterwards seemed to them.

As the waitress left to go back out front, the line cook took over the potatoes. "I'll take care of these so you can not flirt with Table Six," she teased Mimi.

"I do not flirt," Mimi fired back, frowning when she caught her reflection on the back of a cooking pan that was hanging up.

The line cook laughed at her. "So then why are you checking yourself out with cookware?" she asked sarcastically.

With her hand in her hair, Mimi froze before quickly bringing her arm back to her side. "Shut up," Mimi muttered.

"If you're not interested," the other cook said with a teasing smile. "Why don't you put in a good word in for one of us?"

Smoothing her spotted apron down over her white uniform, Mimi glared at her before turning and walking out of the kitchen, ignoring her coworkers' laughter.

"Mimi," Marco, the bistro's head chef, called out as she passed through the kitchen doors. Marco was a taskmaster: temperamental, opinionated, and very traditional. He did not like his chefs leaving the kitchen, especially to interact with the customers. They were here to cook his menu, not to socialize.

"I know, Marco," Mimi said before Marco could lecture her. "But I haven't taken a break all night, and I'm just going to take a few minutes to say hi to my friend."

Marco gritted his teeth but Mimi had already moved on before he could react. He grudgingly admitted that she had promise, but in his opinion, was too free spirited to become a proper chef.

Mimi tried her hardest to tolerate and learn what she could from him. If the man weren't considered one of the City's best chefs, she would've left already.

As Tai came in to view, thoughts of her idiot boss left her mind, and she smiled to herself. In the years following their adventures, he hadn't changed all that much. Taller, a little wiser, but still that same hyper-active little kid at heart.

"Hey, Goggle-head," Mimi teased in greeting.

Nursing a water as he waited for his food, Tai looked up with a lopsided grin. "Hey, Pinkie." Tai snickered as he took in her appearance. "Still amazes me that you can do anything with your clothes a mess," he told her.

"Almost as amazing as you letting someone finally cut your hair?" she fired back with a sweet smile.

Playfully glaring at her, he defensively ran a hand through his shorter hair. For years, he had had a mane of wild black hair, and it was not until the end of college, in the midst of a scoring drought, that he had shaved it all off. While he had let it grow back, he kept it cut short since.

"I've got to be quick. Marco is being his charming, tyrannical self," Mimi told him, sitting down in the chair across from him. She watched Tai nodded, as she often told him of her run ins with her boss. "You busy tomorrow?"

"Practice in the morning, but I'll be free after about two. Why?"

"I have the day off tomorrow, actually. There are some dishes I've been wanting to try and I need your ironclad stomach to test them on," she answered. Then, quickly looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "Bring Agumon. Palmon would love the company."

"Alright," Tai said as he reached out for a roll. "So long as you don't serve anything with eyes."

Mimi giggled. "I'll try to contain myself. My place… say, around seven?" Tai nodded, and Mimi practically beamed. "Perfect then, it's a date." Just as she pronounced it, however, a horrified look crossed her face. "I… uh… I mean a date with two friends hanging out, just as friends," Mimi rambled nervously.

Tai simply gave her an amused expression as he watched Mimi slowly retreat back towards the kitchen. Chuckling to himself, Tai finished off his roll. She's even cuter when she's embarrassed.

The next day, as Tai was walking towards Mimi's apartment complex accompanied by Agumon, he couldn't help but snicker to himself. While he missed home, he was starting to getting used to New York City. Probably one of the few places in the world where a small dinosaur could walk around in a trench coat and hat and not draw much attention, Tai mused to himself as they reached the building.

As they waited for Mimi to let them inside, Tai glanced up at the sky. The years following their adventures in the Digital World, he had struggled when his life returned to normal. The only thing that had felt right was playing soccer, and that was what he put all his energy in to.

After high school, he had gone on to university where he played exceptionally well, and then spent a year on the bench of Japan's top league. Knowing he would be stuck on the bench again next year, Tai took a gamble and jumped across the Pacific. Playing in the United States, he'd at least have a chance to start and play regular minutes, which may possibly lead to a brand new avenue of playing soccer.

Hearing the electronic click of Mimi's front door unlocking, he opened it and followed Agumon inside.

While he had always been independent and moving to another continent hadn't really fazed him, he was still glad a friend lived nearby. Tai wasn't much of a night owl, and he didn't mind spending time alone at his apartment, especially since he had Agumon around to keep him occupied. But occasionally, it was nice to hang out with a friend. No matter how girly they are, he thought sarcastically.

After Mimi let them in to her apartment, Tai took a quick glance around and rolled his eyes. While the walls weren't pink, which was still Mimi's favorite color, it was nonetheless apparent a woman lived here.

"Do I dare ask what's cooking?" Tai asked, inhaling the different aromas floating around.

Mimi smiled sweetly at him as she hung up Agumon's hat and coat. "You know the rule, no telling until after you have a taste." Mimi still laughed over the face Tai had made a few months ago when on one of his visits, she told him he was wolfing down calamari, and then exactly what that was.

"Agumon!"

The small dinosaur practically jumped in the air at the sound of his name. Spinning around, while Mimi and Tai were trying desperately not to laugh, Agumon spotted Palmon grinning at him from the back of the couch.

"Come on, the movie's getting to the good part!" Palmon yelled as she bounced up and down on the couch.

Agumon look back at Tai with an exasperated look. Tai simply grinned back at him, and mouthed to him to go over and see his friend. As Agumon reluctantly went over, Mimi led him towards the kitchen.

"Palmon won't hurt him… too much," she told him with a smile, while inspecting a pot of simmering sauce. "Grab the knife and cut up those vegetables."

"I don't remember offering to help," Tai fired back. "In fact, the invitation was to try some new dishes, not to help make them."

"Well, Mr. Kamiya." Mimi pretended to threaten. "In this kitchen, you help or you don't eat. Now, cut," she told him, pointing again at the vegetables. Even with her back to him, from the corner of her eye, she caught Tai sticking his tongue out at her. "I saw that," she said, glancing over her shoulder.

Giving her an innocent smile in return, Tai picked up the knife and started cutting.

While their digimon partners continued through Mimi's DVD collection, the pair in the kitchen made sure to keep up a constant stream of jokes and mock insults back and forth as they worked.

"Who taught you how to cut?" Mimi teased him, holding up a large chunk of celery.

"The same people who taught you how to decorate," Tai fired back, and motioned with the knife towards the pink glass salt and pepper shakers. "What is it with you and pink?"

"It's called having taste; and besides, not everything here is pink. See, I don't decorate my apartment by just throwing my dirty clothes around," she said, defending herself. "You don't need a girlfriend, what you need is a maid," she quickly added.

Putting the knife down, Tai quickly reached out, grabbing Mimi around the waist and pulled her in to a bear hug. Seeing Tai grin wildly as she made a loud shriek when he grabbed her, Mimi couldn't stop laughing as she tried to order Tai to let her go.

"I don't need either when I have you around to nag me," he teased before releasing her. Grinning at each other like two little children up to something, they both returned to what they had been doing minutes later.

As Tai started cutting another stalk of celery, making sure to cut the pieces smaller, he couldn't wipe the grin from his face. His whole life there had been only one girl, outside of his family, that he had been comfortable showing his true self to. Unfortunately, he had waited too long to realize that maybe he felt something for her, and she was taken. He wasn't bitter about it, but it was still a disappointment and a hard pill to swallow.

Even though he had dated on and off, he had never really felt anything serious for any girl since. At least until now. It was strange for him to think of Mimi as anything other than a close friend, and even that had taken some work. When they were growing up, she always struck him as Daddy's Spoiled Little Princess – which she was – but the more adult she became, the more something was added to that. A little maturity? Maybe a bit more seriousness? More self-reliance?

Tai glanced at Mimi. Maybe being nagged to death, isn't so bad.

"Be careful, Tai," Mimi scolded him. Jerking his head back to look at his hands, he noticed he had just missed cutting his hand open. "These knifes are really sharp, I don't want you to cut yourself."

"Right," Tai said softly. In a rare moment, he had nothing to say. No snappy comeback, no sarcastic remark, nothing.

A few minutes later, after Mimi had dumped everything they had prepped in to the sauce, the banter resumed as Tai muttered over the health food she had in lieu of traditional junk food. He wanted a cookie, brownie, or some kind of sweet, but all Mimi had were left over carrot sticks, rice cakes, and other healthier alternatives.

"You're a professional athlete," Mimi countered his argument. "You have to watch what you eat."

"I do watch what I eat," Tai whined back. "I watch myself eat the donuts, the french fries, the-" He stopped and laughed at the disgusted face she was giving him. "I'm kidding. I may not eat the best, but I don't go overboard. Besides, I spent my entire life trying to eat my mother's healthy cooking." Tai's face scrunched up as he remembered some of his mother's more inventive meals.

Mimi laughed as she stirred the contents of the pot. Slowly raising the wooden spoon, "Well, here. Try this."

"What is it?"

Mimi shook her head. "Remember, no telling until afterwards." Lightly pressing up against her, Mimi felt a chill. Raising the spoon to his lips, she almost dumped the contents down his shirt when his arm rested around her back and his hand on her hip. Watching Tai lick the taste of his lips, Mimi bite her own lip as she felt a powerful urge to take care of it herself.

"Not bad," Tai said reluctantly. "But I'm not a big fan of stews."

"What are you a fan of?" Mimi asked breathlessly, not sure if she enjoyed or hated being this close to him.

Tai stayed silent for a moment as he gazed down at her. Just as he was about to kiss her, he had an odd feeling, like he was being watched. Quickly glancing over, he spotted two sets of eyes peering at them over the back of the couch.

"Are you guys getting mushy in there?" Palmon's voice rang out, and Tai noticed Mimi's face show just the faintest trace of pink.

"I thought you two were watching movies?" Tai asked them rhetorically.

"We were," Agumon answered. "But it's more fun messing with you." Tai quickly scooped up a dish towel and fired it at his partner's laughing head.

When the towel struck and opened up over Agumon's head, Palmon laughed at him, and the two Digimon were quickly distracted by their own game of dodge the dishtowel.

"Sorry about that," Tai muttered as he turned back to Mimi. She just nodded and smiled shyly in response, an unusual reaction for her. "Umm, Mimi?"

"Yes, Tai?"

"I was thinking." When Mimi smiled at him, Tai rolled his eyes and continued. "Like cooking. Sometimes certain ingredients don't go well with others, but make something great with other ingredients.

"Like the two of us. We tried it with other people, and it didn't exactly work out, but what if… I was wondering if you would… like to… Hmm, this sounded better in my head."

"I don't understand," Mimi told him, confused. "You want to cook together?"

"Yes!" Tai's enthusiastic answer made Mimi giggle. "Well, no. I mean, would you like to go out sometime?" he asked, finally deciding to just be blunt about it.

"Now, I see where Agumon gets his metaphors from," Mimi said sarcastically. "And, Tai, I would love to cook with you any time." As Tai happily wrapped her in a hug from behind, she leaned back against his chest and enjoyed the feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Just like you can tell with the aromas of a great dish, this just feels right.