Y/N: Digimon Adventure 04! Wooo! It's finally here! Okay, I'll run through my list of characters, just as a reminder. I'm Taichi, Koushiro, Mimi, Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, and Ken, so I'll be tackling their chapters. Urazamay has a monstrosity of an author's note, so I'll keep mine short. I just want to say I'm thrilled to be back on an Adventure story, and hope we can live up to your expectations… You all seem pretty excited to be honest, and I'm kind of nervous about posting the chapter…but I hope you enjoy it, and I hope to hear from you in a review! (not necessary exactly, but still thoroughly exciting to receive)

U/N: Sooo... Here it is! Digimon Adventure 04 :D Please review... please? All that stuff I talked about before will happen if you don't.-_- Crazy lava demons destroying your first born child and so on.

So we're writing this one as we go... and because of this you can give insight and help us along in a sense. We had the story planned, but a message was sent to us AFTER the last story was up and told us that we didn't give Daisuke, Ken and Miyako enough respect... this would have been nice to know before so we could have fixed it. We have plot arcs for each character, some will last longer than others, and some will be just a conversation long... but everyone's got their story-and we tried to let Miyako, Ken and Daisuke shine in this story (along with Michael and Willis, but no one seems to care about them...) We've also been asked to make Daisuke more mature... and he will be... but you have to know that this IS his character—his crappy jokes, his pathetic thought process... he still is the leader, but also an idiot. Even in the epilogue, just the way he... is. You can tell he's still fun and childish. He owns a noodle cart for goodness sake. But yes, he's more mature I think. You should also know that if there's something you don't like, such as Taichi being a total LOSER to his sister in the last story... don't fret it will be resolved soon enough... mostly.
We're trying to include other characters, such as the Digidestined's family and friends, so let us know how that's going as we progress.

I do realize you're all going to have high expectations for this story because 03 was, if I do say so myself, amazing, so I hope this lives up to those expectations.

We're kind of writing it TV show style... as in different plot arcs all intertwined around the main story line... i think it's really cool. The first arch will be kind of slow, but soon enough this story will become really epic... I hope.
Not much more to say about this chapter, so i guess... just enjoy and sorry about the long authors note.
I'm writing as Yamato, Sora, Jou, Takeru, Hikari, Willis, Kurayami, and of course... Michael. -_- I think I might try to make him likeable this time...

Title: Digimon Adventure 04

By: Yukira and Urazamay King

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.

Part 1: The Rift

Chapter 01: Back to the Beginning?

Iori:

"Are you sure this isn't going to be awkward?" I asked for the fourth time.

"No, why would it be?" Miyako said with a laugh.

"Because this is a date…and I'm not dating either of you," I pointed out.

"Yes, we realize that," Ken said. "But we're not going to make you go by yourself. I mean we were headed that way anyway."

"It just feels weird to me," I commented. They were going on a date, celebrating three whole years in their relationship, and I was going to be there…all because my mom mentioned that I was going to see this one movie, by myself. I mean seriously, I was sixteen. It was bad enough that my mom asked Takeru to walk me to school when Miyako stopped going—she graduated, she didn't drop out! But she didn't want me walking alone where I could get hit by a car, but Takeru wasn't such a stickler to the rules, and allowed me to walk on my own whenever I wanted. But now I couldn't even go to a movie by myself? What was I doing, aging backwards?

I mean, what if I was secretly going to meet a date of my own at the theatre? Now I had two overprotective—yes, they were still over protective…they just were a little bit better about it—friends with me.

Of course I wasn't sneaking out for a date…I gave up on that after a terrible start. Add in the fact that I can't even think about dating without thinking about being kicked out of the digital world for the rest of my life…talk about a bad day.

I was meeting Natsuni of course, but that didn't count. She was my best friend. I'd finally found someone my own age I was able to get along with. It was a miracle, I know.

"It won't be too bad," Ken said. He seemed too relaxed about this to me. It was their third anniversary, didn't that warrant some privacy? Or at least the desire for some privacy?

"Yeah," Miyako agreed. "We're going out again tomorrow anyway. We just planned a nice relaxing anniversary anyway, what with him going to school in the fall, and me finally getting two weeks off for vacation."

Miyako had started working at her parent's convenience store after she graduated, after that near panic attack in New York, she decided that she didn't want some fabulous career, she wanted love and she wanted family, and she had both now. Ken was much more understanding than anyone would have thought, but he got to keep seeing her on a daily basis, so there wasn't too much arguing on his part.

"Okay…" I sighed.

"Who are we meeting anyway?" she asked with a sly smile and a wink. "You finally cave to Noriko?"

Yeah, funny story actually. After I'd gotten over her, and finally moved on in my life—aside from the whole no-dating-ever policy—and she'd gone through five or six boyfriends all in the course of a year or less, she decided that I was the perfect guy for her.

And that would have been great…before she crushed my dreams and made me associated the lack of digital presence in my life with dating and heartbreak. But now all I felt when I was around her was uncomfortable. Who stalks people anyway? She was worse than Daisuke with Hikari. She just popped up out of nowhere all the time, and—since she was popular, and popular kids can do this—she turned just about every girl at school against Natusni, since she's my best friend and Noriko swears she's my girlfriend and wanted to break us up. No matter how many times I try to tell her that "Natsuni and I are just friends!" she doesn't believe me. I suppose that has to do with the fact that I use Natsuni as an excuse for why I can't go out with her… "Sorry, Natsuni and I have a project for history due tomorrow and we need to work on it." "Sorry, Natsuni and I were going to watch the entire previous season of 'insert name of television show here' before the new season airs next week." "Sorry, I just like hanging out with Natusni better than talking to you…" You see what I mean?

I was not helping my cause, but there's only so long you can simply say "NO" before they start asking for reasons.

"Never," I said firmly causing Miyako and Ken to smile 'knowingly' at me. It's like they thought they knew what was going on in my head. They thought I secretly still liked Noriko, but they didn't know anything.

"She's been after you for two years now," Ken commented, as though he were talking about the weather.

"To years of pure hell," I said with a nod.

"And she's still into you," Miyako said with a smile.

"Obsessed more like it," I said—okay, I whined. "Did you know she asked my mother if she could help wash my uniform for Kendo? And if she could polish my Kendo equipment."

"You sure she meant the Kendo equipment?" Miyako said suggestively.

"She'd better have," I said with a shudder.

"You're getting defensive," Ken noted. "We just wondered who else we were going on our date with. I don't think you were really going to the movie alone…"

"Maybe I am," I told him. "I'm an introvert. It sounds like something I might do."

"But you're not," Miyako said with that darn knowing smile. "Who is she?"

"You've got a date?" Ken asked a little shocked by Miyako's 'discovery'.

"It's not a date," I told them rolling my eyes. "We're only going so we can analyze the film and then compare it to the original…"

"So it's that Ando girl then?" Miyako said with a disappointed sigh. Even Miyako didn't think we were dating…and she's completely the type to do so. So why did Noriko assume we were?

"Natsuni Ando, yes," I said simply. "I just didn't tell mom, since she nearly freaked at me the last time."

"Thought you were dating?" Ken guessed.

"Brought out her camera to document it and everything," I said with a wince.

"Ouch," Ken said.

"Ouch what?" Miyako said with a laugh. "Your mom did pretty much the same thing."

"But I was actually dating you…" Ken pointed out.

"We're here," I announced, ignoring their trip down memory lane. I hoped they weren't going to be too lovey-dovey all night…but as it was an important date, I figured I was out of luck.

"Iori!"

I turned to see Natuni waiting for me by the streetlamp we'd claimed a year ago as our meeting point for all of these covert meetings.

"You brought company?" she asked raising her eyebrow.

"My mom assigned them," I said with a slightly over dramatic sigh.

"I suppose our robbery attempt will have to wait another day," she said with a sigh just as dramatic. "And I'd brought my ski mask and everything."

"Shucks," I said. "And I was really looking forward to it to."

"You guys are weird," Miyako commented.

"Why thank you Miss. Inoue," Natusni said bowing slightly as a sign of respect. She talked like that all the time with anyone except me. The idea was being overly respectful and talking like they did in movies set in the middle ages or something.

"It's Miyako, please," Miyako insisted.

"Alright Miss. Inoue," Natusni said much to Miyako's dismay. "I see you've had to bring Iori on your date with Mr. Ichijouji. I do so hope it wasn't too much of an inconvenience."

"I repeat, you guys are weird," Miyako said.

We started laughing, and got our tickets, while Ken paid for both his and Miyako's—only after swearing he'd let her pay for the popcorn—and headed in for the movie.

Yamato:

I watched awkwardly as dad rushed into the kitchen and took a deep breath.

"I can do this!" He growled, trying to boost his confidence, "I can... I can't Yammy..."

Sora had just entered the room with two glasses of water and she burst out laughing as she placed one glass in front of me and my face turned slightly red. He had to bring back that nickname now didn't he? He hadn't used that name on me since I was six and now that Sora was here he just had to do it? I didn't know how to respond to him though, he was probably right. He couldn't do this. And I was wrong to set it up this way—but at the same time it was for me, not for him, he didn't have to do anything right.

I had set up a dinner at my dad's apartment to celebrate summer, to celebrate my third successful year at university—a halfway point for me. I was pretty proud of myself. I invited Sora of course who hadn't even told her mother yet that she was back. She wasn't on speaking terms with her so she was staying in the spare bedroom here, so even if I didn't want her to come—which I did—she would have to come—either that or I could have locked her in her room and risked being dumped on the spot. I would never do that to her though. Also, Takeru would have come to her rescue after a while of hearing her screaming and banging on the door for help... I had invited Takeru too, but neither Sora or Takeru were who my father was freaking out about... I also invited my mother.

"You can." I lied instinctively. "You're a skilled... something or other... I'm sure you have some skills in the arts of talking to girls. You're my dad, Dad. If I can flirt with hundreds of girls, then so can you."

Sora shot me a very daring glare and then spoke to my dad, "Love can come from anywhere." Sora said. I picked up the glass of water Sora had placed in front of me and began drinking to hide the fact that I couldn't think of anything to compliment my father on. "And you see, the two of you already have some chemistry so—"

"I'm cutting you off." Dad said, "You're a lovely girl Sora, and I look forward to the day that you bare my son's children," The glass of water slipped from my hand as I spit the contents all over the table and the water remaining in the glass landed in my lap, "but I'm not trying to fall in love with Yamato's mother."

"I see..." Sora said, looking away from my father awkwardly and taking her finger and swirling her hair.

"Is this tie ok?" Dad asked pointing to his red and green striped tie.

"Why do you care?" I asked. "I thought you weren't trying to impress?"

"I'm not trying to fall in love—but I always dress to impress."

Sora smirked, it was clear she was relating my father's personality to my own—that was exactly something I would say. "It's too Christmas-y." Sora said, "With your complexion you want a dark blue, and tuck your shirt in."

Dad smiled, "You picked the right girl son!" He ran from the room as he hastily tucked his shirt in.

"I'm sorry..." I said slowly, trying to hold in my laughter. "He gets a little weird sometimes."

"It's alright." Sora smiled, "But... I do have something I need to tell you."

"What's that?" I asked her.

"You're dressed to casually." Sora sighed, "Do you ever take off that jacket?"

"I actually own thirty-four leather jackets and each of them are different from the last." I defended.

Sora laughed, "Also, you dropped your water."

"I know." I laughed, "I remember..."

"It looks like you've peed your pants." Sora said flatly.

"Oh..." I said slowly as the two of us started laughing.

There was a knock on the door and I heard my dad scream from his bedroom. "Kill me now!"

"Keep doing those breathing exercises we talked about!" Sora advised as I rushed out of the kitchen and hopped over the couch to get to the front door. I threw the door open excitedly, smiling.

Mom stood in the doorway in a black dress next to Takeru who was dressed even more casually than I was. Mom looked a bit distressed as she held her purse tightly in her hand and Takeru was grinning widely. "Hey Yamato!"

I placed out my hand to shake his, but he smacked it out of the way and hugged me forcefully, pushing me back slightly. "Hello Takeru—" I gasped through gasps for breath. "Hey mom..."

"Good evening Yamato..." She smiled, "It's good to see you. How was school?"

"It was great," I said hurriedly, "Let's not talk about that though—it's summer! That's exciting! Let's be happy about it!"

"Where's Dad?" Takeru asked looking around.

"Picking the perfect tie." I said, rolling my eyes. Mom chuckled at that and stepped into the apartment with much more confidence than before.

Takeru let his eyes scan the apartment and nodded approvingly. "I do believe this is the very first time I've seen this apartment clean..."

"Sora cleaned it."

"Sora's here?"Mom asked.

I nodded, "In the kitchen, c'mon... I'll introduce you."

"Hey, Yamato..." Takeru said grinning, "You have a little accident there...?"

I looked down and groaned. "I spilled water Takeru."

"Sure you did." Takeru laughed.

I rolled my eyes and led Mom and Takeru back into the kitchen where Sora was sipping her water. At the sight of my mother she quickly placed her glass on the table and jumped to her feet. "Miss Takaishi!" Sora said stepping toward my mother and bowing politely. "It's good to see you again."

My mother smiled and placed her hand on her heart, "She's beautiful..." She smiled to me, tears in her eyes and I just sighed.

"I know." I said.

Takeru and Sora burst out laughing.

"Last time I saw you..." Mom started, "Sora, you were a little tomboy heading off to save the world. You've become a very respectable woman."

I kind of wanted to change the subject—my mom didn't really know Sora... she had seen Sora all of twelve seconds ago, but she didn't know her, so in no way could she make that judgement. She was right of course. Sora was wonderful.

"Natsuko..." Dad said slowly appearing behind Mom and Takeru in the kitchen doorway.

Mom spun around, "Hiroaki!" she said awkwardly. "Is... dinner ready?"

"Ask Yamato..." Dad said, "He's cooking."

Takeru shot me a very worried look and I couldn't help but smile. I often played tricks on him in my cooking, but other than all of that I generally knew how to cook a decent meal, and as far as I was concerned the food I had prepared was a perfectly delectable meal. Other than Takeru's portion.

"Yes, it's all set out on plates on the counter—I'll set the... table." I said awkwardly as I set the plates out on the table strategically.

Mom sat down next to Sora who was next to me and then Dad pulled out his usual seat but Takeru slipped in there.

"You want to sit next to Mom... right dad?" Takeru asked.

"No—what?" I said quickly doing my best to make Takeru move to his seat. "Sitting across from each other will create a much more romantic atmosphere!"

"Then I'll sit here." Dad said quickly falling into Takeru's seat.

I rolled my eyes at Takeru as he grinned triumphantly.

"So, how is your mother feeling about your new fashion career choice?" Mom asked Sora happily.

"I wouldn't know." Sora said. "I haven't talked to her in a while. She's trying to take control of my life."

"She just cares too much." Mom said sincerely. "I would know. I'm a mother. You'll understand one day when you're a mother... will that be soon?"

"Mom!" I insisted.

"I was just wondering!" Mom laughed. "So..." She slowly turned toward Dad as Takeru, Sora and I awkwardly began eating the meal I had prepared. It wasn't much—just curry and rice.

"This is really good..." Sora said quietly to me.

"It really is..." Takeru agreed, "I'm happy to eat food that's not out to get me."

"What have you been up to?" Mom asked Dad.

"The usual... you?"

"Oh my job changes all the time." Mom said almost boastfully, "I'm always writing about something new and exciting."

"Like that article on the Historical Significance of Toilet Paper?" Dad joked.

"You read that?" Mom asked, embarrassed.

"I read all of your articles." Dad smiled, then realizing what he had said, "Because there's nothing better to do."

"Oh?" Mom asked smirking almost foolishly. Takeru and I exchanged almost disgusted glances at one another as we sat in silence listening to our parents flirt. Sora however was smiling widely, so happy that love seemed to be brewing.

"I'm done." Takeru said, "Is there any cake?"

"I did make cake actually..." Sora said quickly.

"Hurray!" Takeru cheered.

"But then," Sora said rounding on me, "Someone threw a band party and all the cake just vanished."

"No!" Takeru groaned.

"I swear I didn't eat it—" I said honestly, "It was all—"

"Why aren't you eating?" Mom asked Dad

"Oh... right..." Dad said scooping a large amount of rice onto his spoon and then shoving it in to his mouth.

"So..." I said quickly, "The clouds are pretty... white today."

"What are you—?" Sora started, but she was cut off as my dad jumped to his feet and screamed, spitting the rice back onto his plate and running toward the water faucet.

"What did you do?" Mom asked me strictly.

"I swear it was meant for Takeru..." I laughed. Takeru fell back out of his chair because he was laughing so hard and even Mom and Sora began laughing. It felt good to be surrounded by the people I loved... my family—and although Sora wasn't technically my family... she still counted in my mind. Life was turning out pretty darn good...

Taichi:

"I'm home!" I shouted coming through the door. It sure felt great to be back. School was much more difficult than I thought it ought to be. Then again, I'd let Yamato choose what I was doing, which did kind of make it harder.

Not to say that I wasn't enjoying it. I had a great friend to struggle through the classes with, Rei Saiba. And I'd finally decided to try my hands at dating again. I'd been out with a handful of girls, only one or two dates at a time, but it was a start. I just didn't click with any of them like they seemed to think I would. And I was wary of them anyway. I didn't know how to handle commitment just yet, and they weren't worth the risk to be honest.

Hikari had actually ordered me to try it. Something about me putting her happiness before my own being unhealthy for me…and that I should put our happiness at equal levels at least.

"Taichi!" mom shouted happily running to the doorway from the kitchen and tackling me in a big hug. "I've missed you so much. I'm glad you're home."

"I'm happy to be back," I assured her. "Unless of course my welcome involves a spinach pudding…."

"It's ochre actually," she said with a small glare.

"That's so much better," I said through a forced smile.

"I thought so too," she said happily, before leading me to the kitchen. "Would you like to taste it?"

"I think I'll wait for dessert. I don't want to spoil my appetite. We're probably having strawberry sauce with pork chops or something, and I just don't want to ruin that," I said thinking quickly.

"Strawberry sauce and pork chops? Don't be ridiculous," she said with a laugh. "We're having ham with raspberry-pear sauce darling."

"Great!" I said with as much fake enthusiasm as I could muster. "With rice too?"

"As always," she said, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I could at least get my fill with that. "I've got a great big pot on."

I looked to the stove and sure enough, the biggest pot she owned was simmering away, making nice fluffy rice…a little too much fluffy rice…more than that even. Twice as much as normal.

"Mom, even if it's a celebration, don't you think this is a little much?" I asked.

"Oh no dear," she said. "With as much as boys eat, I'm afraid I might not be enough."

"I don't eat that much," I said in a huff. "I'm going to drop my bags off in my room and check on Hikari. I'll be back."

"Oh, Taichi, wait!" she shouted after me, but I kept going anyway.

"Calm down, I'm just going to my room," I yelled back, rolling my eyes. In the hallway, I heard a strange sound—strange because Hikari didn't like rock music. The closer I got to my room, the louder the music seemed to get. I opened my door and was met by a horrendous sight. Daisuke was dancing around in his underwear, playing with his cell phone. I walked over to the stereo and turned the power off. He turned to look at me in surprise.

"Oh, hi Taichi!"

"What are you doing in my room?" I asked him, tossing a pair of pants that I found on the floor at him. "In your underwear."

"Oh, I live here now," he said as if it were nothing.

"You live in my room…where my sister also lives? My baby sister?" I asked him, a glare settling on my face.

"No, no," he said quickly using his hands to exercise his point. It calmed me down a little bit, but I still didn't like it. "She sleeps in your dad's old office now."

"Let me get this straight, you kicked my sister out of her room?" I asked. "My sick baby sister? What kind of dirt bag are you?"

"Put some pants on Daisuke," a frail feminine voice said from behind me. I whirled around and found myself face to face with Hikari. "And he didn't kick me out Taichi. I'm glad you're home."

"I'm glad you're up," I said giving her a hug. The last time I called, she'd been bedridden. I was frantic while taking my final exams.

"Daisuke's been taking care of me," she explained. "Mom can't be with me all the time and I can't be in the house all day every day. Daisuke stays here and keeps me sane. And he takes me out to visit our friends too. He even took me to the doctor's office when mom was busy."

"That's nice of him…" I said though I wasn't so sure I agreed with it. Daisuke was doing everything I was supposed to be doing. Why did I have to go to school in Tokyo? Why couldn't I have just waited until Hikari was stable...?

Because you know as well as she does that that might never happen…

"It is, isn't it?" Hikari said happily. "Daisuke, Takeru invited everyone over tomorrow, you know before you guys start your summer jobs."

"So he's not going to be here daily during the summer?" I asked, hardly believing my luck. I'd get to be her brother again, instead of that imposter.

"Yeah, Takeru, Ken, Miyako and Daisuke are working at your old camp," she explained. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yeah," I said half-heartedly. The mood in the room sobered as we all thought back on our digital partners.

"You still aren't wearing pants," I pointed out after awhile, before leading Hikari out of our—no, not anymore—my room. I closed the door on him, so he could get himself decent. "Why exactly does he live here?"

"I told you, he's here to take care of me. That's all he says whenever I ask him," she said. "I just trust that to be true. And it's really sweet of him, don't you think?"

"You don't think he's just trying to win some brownie points, do you?" I asked, almost growled.

"Oh no," she said quickly. "I don't think he's given up completely," she paused to have a bit of a coughing fit. "But I think he's got a bit of a think for Kurayami now…so he's not so overbearing about it."

"That's a small comfort," I said with a sigh. "I don't like it though. Him being here all the time, dancing around in his underwear, it's not right. And now you even sleep in an office. What all did I miss while I was at school?"

"Not too much actually," she said. "I moved to the office, because it's closer to the living room and the kitchen, so I didn't have to walk as far. Sometimes it's harder than others to do that you know. And Daisuke is always around whenever mom can't be, so if I fall over someone can help me. The same happens when I collapse or black out. I'm not alone. And it's nice, having my own room. I don't have to go to the bathroom to change anymore, and I can decorate it however I want to. Dad got a new computer for in there, and moved his to his and mom's room, so I can email you and Willis and Mimi and all of you at school…and Michael if I feel inclined to."

"That's good. I feel bad about not being there for you," I told her.

"Dinner's ready!" mom called.

"'Kay," I shouted back.

"You shouldn't feel bad, Taichi," she said softly, resting her hand on my arm. "Daisuke's here for me whenever I need him. You shouldn't trouble yourself."

And it hit me hard, hearing her say it like that. I had been replaced.

Mimi:

"You have your toothbrush, right?" Michael asked for the fourth time.

"I have three different ones packed, I'm fine on toothbrushes. Can you pass me that book? I might need it," I told him, pointing to the recipe book that was on my bedside table.

"You make up your own recipes Mimi," Willis pointed out. "Why take the book."

"Inspiration," I said. "Ideas, the basics, whatever you want. A recipe book will be very helpful. Besides, it's just a book on flavours. What goes good together, that sort of thing."

"Are you going to study more over there?" Michael asked, passing me a stuffed flower he'd got me at a carnival after I saw it and started crying over Palmon again.

"Yes, I'd like to branch out into Japanese cuisine," I said, stuffing my toy into my suitcase next to my make-up kit.

"I'll have to visit and see how that's coming along then," Michael said with a laugh.

"You'd come to visit me anyway though, right?" I asked, suddenly fearing his answer.

"Of course," Michael kidded. "Dad's jet would get rusty if I didn't."

"Yeah, yeah," Willis said. "You'll just miss her too much not to."

"And you wouldn't?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I visit all the time to be with Hikari," he said. "It'd be a cinch to go and visit you too."

"Good," I said. "I'm going to miss you two so much."

"We are awesome," Michael joked.

"And I'll miss Tatum too of course," I added, noticing his flinch. The two must be off again right now. It would only be a few weeks before they were back together. Maybe even less with me out of the picture. The two of us got along alright, but Tatum I think was jealous of Michael's and my relationship. I was pretty sure she thought we were more than friends at some point, which just isn't true, but then again, everyone at school was shocked when Michael and Tatum showed up hand in hand. They were 'comforting' me for hours before they accepted my story.

"And the rest of my friends, and the other American digi-destined too," I added in a rush. "I was thinking of going around to say goodbye, but I'm running out of time. Do either of you have my hairbrush?"

"You've already packed it," Willis said. "It's in the side pocket, with your straightening and curling irons. You didn't pack that one that makes your hair all eighties-like."

"Huh?" I asked, before comprehension dawned on me. "Oh, that's the crimper. I thought I'd packed that. And what about my curlers? I have my hair products too right? I've got my make-up, and all of my clothing, except for my school uniforms. Maybe I should bring them. I could make them into something else? Or get Sora to do it. What do you think?"

"Will it fit?" Michael asked. Neither boy looked to be sure of what answer I was looking for.

"Of course it will. I've got another suitcase I can bring. Mom said she'd rather me just take it all at once, than have her try and pack it up to send to me," I explained. "What are you guys doing now?"

"Going to visit Hikari like always," Willis said. "I don't have anything past that planned."

"Dad wants me to get into acting, and I have to say that would be so freaking awesome," Michael said. "He's got some auditions I could go to as well. I just need an agent, he says. He suggested getting your dad to take the job, so it would be within the 'family', or something like that."

"Talk to him," I suggested. "Did I pack any socks?"

"Well, your socks are all in that giant drawer over there, right?" Willis said, pointing to my overflowing sock drawer. It appeared as though I didn't pack any of them at all.

"Right," I said, pulling out my empty suitcase, and tossing my uniforms out of it. I'd add them only if there was enough room. I started throwing my socks in.

"Unless you packed your…er…undergarments…before we got here, you haven't packed any of them either," Willis added awkwardly.

"Damn," I muttered. "So it's a no on the uniforms then…."

"I'll bring them over the next time I visit," Willis said with a sigh.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! You are the best!" I screamed as I jumped at him.

"Mimi," mom called. "Don't forget your laptop."

"I'd survive without it, but I should probably take that," I said with a sigh. "I'll put it in my carry-on. And my e-reader, and…what will I do with my DVDs? Why is this so hard?"

"Pack them in a box, and I'll ship them to you," mom said softly. "I'm going to miss you baby."

"I'll miss you too mom," I said. "Can we do the same with my books? There are just too many of them. And I keep thinking of others I want to take."

"Sure," she said, wiping her eyes now that I'd ruined our moment. "Anything else?"

"I don't know yet," I told her. "There's all of my furniture, but I'll have to buy some new stuff, it's too much hassle to ship them over. And I won't have a bed…well, Sora's guest room will, but after that I won't."

"You don't have to go," she said. "You can stay and get into acting, either on stage or in the films, you don't have to go."

"My friends are waiting for me, mom," I told her firmly. "And I've waited long enough to be with them full time. I miss them so much mom. And Jou's going to need me now more than ever. I do have to go. I'm sorry. It doesn't mean I won't miss you, and I do love you, but this is something I have to do."

"Fine," she said grumpily through tears, before storming off.

"She's been like that since I told her I was leaving," I told the boys. "She's such a drama queen, isn't she?"

"I always wondered where you got it from," Willis said with a laugh.

"You'll be there when I go, right?" I asked, suddenly saddened. "I don't think she will be."

"We'll be there," Willis said.

"Until your plane takes off," Michael agreed.

"I'm going to miss you," I said pulling them into a hug. I held them tightly for well over a minute before pulling away. "Bathing suits. I haven't packed my bathing suits!"

Jou:

"I really didn't get the impression that you cared about Mimi too much." I said slowly as I looked up to the clouds. Koushiro and I had been waiting outside the Airport for twelve hours, occasionally heading in to use the washroom or to grab a snack. We were sitting against the wall of the building, ignoring the roaring sounds of the flying machines. I was doing my best to keep awake—I wasn't caught up on sleep yet from the course of the last school term. I really didn't have time to even think about anything other than strictly homework for ten months a year let alone actually setting time aside to sleep.

"I don't care about Mimi." Koushiro said without any thought. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed, "I mean—I do care about Mimi—about as much as I care about anything else..."

"Like your laptop?" I smirked.

"Well—" Koushiro said, stopping himself from finishing his sentence. "I care about Mimi."

"That's cute... can I tell her you said that?" I asked.

"No!" Koushiro growled.

"Ok—calm down... I was kidding." I said.

"No you weren't." Koushiro said, calm once again as he leaned back against the airport wall and looked up to the sky as if nothing had happened.

"Well I was kinda kidding." I said, "Depending on your reaction."

"Don't tell her." Koushiro demanded.

"I won't..." I sighed, "So what have you been up to over the last year?" I was honestly curious, because of my afore mentioned studies I had not had any time at all to see my friends.

"Well I created a new computer software that allows me to send things to my laptop without an internet connection." Koushiro said.

"That seems pointless..." I said laughing, "When are you ever not with your laptop?"

"Well—you have a point... but if ever I forgot my laptop, or, heaven forbid, someone stole my laptop, I would easily be able to continue working without it." Koushiro explained proudly. It was interesting to see him like this actually. I had known him since he was just ten, and now at the age of twenty—a full ten years later—he was practically the same person only... so much smarter. It was cool to see everyone changing... as the oldest I found myself often comparing myself to their parents and what their parents would have done had they seen what these kids were saying, and then, after a while I realized that they didn't need parents... they were each so independent that they didn't need me—or Sora who also acted rather parental. Taichi had gone from that child so obsessed with being right, and playing soccer to a respectable man in university studying to be... whatever it was he was planning to be. Yamato still hadn't given up his rockstar dream—I had no faith in him... which was ironic given my crest, but he was putting too much faith into this career and not enough into actually getting another—but still he was in university too... all grown up I noticed. Sora had changed her classes to suit her needs now, and was through with her tennis scholarship and now was studying her fashion. I didn't really know what was going on with Mimi and the others were still pretty young, Miyako of course I was also confused about... but I knew she was making choices to fit her specific needs.

"Koushiro..." I said slowly, "Do you ever wish you could just go back?"

"Back where?" Koushiro asked.

"Back..." I tried to clarify. "As in... be kids again?"

"No, never." Koushiro said, "I'm more than content with the way my life has turned out so far. I mean my laptop has lasted over ten years... that's a pretty big accomplishment if you ask me."

The door next to us opened and a herd of people flooded out.

"That's not what I meant." I told him.

"Then what did you mean exactly?" He asked.

"I meant... do you ever want to get rid of the stress of being in control of your own life...? Don't you ever just wish someone else would do it for you again like when we were kids...?"

"No." Koushiro said. Perhaps I was asking the wrong person—I wasn't sure Koushiro had ever not been in control. He was a genius after all and as long as I had known him he hadn't had someone taking care of him. His mother always tried—but he was always one step ahead. "So how is Momoe?"

"Oh—" I faltered and blushed, "She's... good."

"Where is she now?" Koushiro asked.

"She's on a trip somewhere..." I said even slower and more awkwardly, I didn't want him to press into this topic because I wasn't sure if I could keep the secret long enough so I tried to change the subject, "what about...?" I had nothing to change it to!

"Where? When will she get back? How long have you been dating?" Koushiro asked me.

"I think it's Canada... She'll be back sometime this week... A couple years..." I said slowly, fidgeting and looking away from him as if nothing was wrong.

"Is there something you want to tell me Jou?" Koushiro asked me, it was obvious that he saw that something was wrong.

I couldn't hold it in any longer... it was time for me to tell someone... Momoe would have to accept that we couldn't keep it a secret forever—and it's not as if he really cared that much what she thought about him telling someone she was after all... gone now.

"Momoe—"

"HI GUYS!"

We both looked over to the door of the airport where Mimi stood, pink suitcases surrounding her. She was waving dramatically at us, a large smile spread across her face. Her wavy brown hair was longer than ever and it was in a ponytail on the side of her head. She was wearing a pink visor and a brown jacket over top of her pink and blue dress that reached just above her knees. She was wearing... pink cowboy boots.

"Mimi!" I called out excitedly after taking in her appearance. She was still so similar to the old Mimi it wasn't even funny, I hadn't even talked to her yet and I could tell that. I jumped to my feet and ran over to her and hugged her.

"Jou!" She laughed as I picked her up and spun her around. As I set her down she whispered in my ear. "How've you been...? I know it must be tough with Momoe and all..." I had almost forgotten that I had already told Mimi about it. I laughed to myself for a moment and then smiled weakly.

"I'll live..." I told her patting her on the shoulder.

"I'm glad." She smiled, and then looking over my shoulder she rolled her eyes at Koushiro. "Aren't you going to hug me?"

"I'm all the way over here. That seems impossible." Koushiro yelled back.

"Then get your butt over here!" Mimi laughed, but I could tell it was an order. Koushiro pulled himself to his feet and walked over to us and allowed Mimi to excitedly hug him. I smirked at Koushiro's squished face. It was red—either from blushing or from her hugging him so tightly. She pulled away and smiled. "So... let's go?" She asked.

"Yeah... sure." Koushiro smiled as he grabbed a couple of Mimi's bags. I did the same and then followed Mimi who only took one bag, the smallest of course. It felt really good to have Mimi back here in Japan... it was like the old times... only we weren't trying to save the world from the deadly evil monsters... but by this point... I wouldn't care if there were deadly monsters... so long as there were some form of digimon I would be more than content, knowing that I still had some sort of chance to see my friend again. But I knew I didn't. And so I shook those thoughts out of my head and hurried to catch up with Mimi who was trying to guess which vehicle was mine based on shape, colour, and amount of rust. The funny thing is... she got it right.

Next on Digimon Adventure 04: chapter two is on its way, where Takeru takes the reins, launching us directly into the story!