Butterfly Spirit: The Child of Knowledge Chapter 1: Chrysalis, a digimon fanfic

Author's Note: First off, I would like to thank everyone that reviewed my first story, Persona: The Gemini Subconscious

Author's Note:

First off, I would like to thank everyone that read and reviewed my Persona Series. Here is a rewrite of the episode, "A Clue from the Digi-Past." There are some references to the story Persona: the Gemini Subconscious. As usual: Really goofy dialogue, poor vocabulary, poor spelling, poor grammar, poor verb tense, and all that. I will be using a mismatch of Japanese and English character names, Digimon attacks, and other related words. Reviews are welcomed. This is a work in progress that requires A LOT of work.

Important Note:

As usual, my work pales in comparison to the other great work done by much better authors. The Butterfly Spirit series begins with a quotation from the Chinese philosopher Soshi. I first found out about this saying from this classic Playstation RPG I borrowed a year ago from my friend called, you guessed it, Persona. I know promised a series involving Sora, however that series had evolved into something bigger than I realized. If you read this story, you might find hints as to why I had to continue Sora's story some other time.

Warning: If you have followed my other series, this will not end up as a romance between Mimi and Koushiro. They will share a much different yet beautiful bond later on.

This story takes place in Season 01, after the first encounter with Devimon and the Black Gear Menace. A follow-up story to Persona: the Gemini Subconscious. No action, no romance, just a LOT of dialogue. A continuation from Koushiro's POV.

Disclaimer:

I do not own Digimon, Star Wars, or the work of Soshi.

Butterfly Spirit: Chrysalis

by Mimi, Myself, & Iz.

I dreamt I was a butterfly.
I couldn't tell if I was dreaming.
But when I woke, I was I and not a butterfly.
Was I dreaming that I was the butterfly,
or was the butterfly dreaming that it was me?

Quotation from Soshi.

Digital World
Island of the Temple Ruins
A twelve year old boy… Izumi, Koushiro

A strangers voice… "Reinheit…"

Another voice… "Kenntnis…"

FILE 21

TANE-002-101-MOTI-002-102

FILE UNDER REPAIR…
FILE UNDER REPAIR…
FILE UNDER REPAIR…

"Reinheit… Junshin…"

"Kenntnis… Chishiki…"

"Purity…"

"Knowledge…"

I awoke with a start. 'How could I have just dozed off when it was my turn for watch?' I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. 'What a dream.' I shook my head. 'I can't remember any of it… Oh well.'

Infinity Mountain was still far away. From where I could see, several other floating islands began to converge back together. The Black Gear network was reassembling. Luckily some of our missing friends should be on these islands. They too must have found a way to reverse the Black Gear process. Only when we are finally together can we face Devimon.

Being apart from each other was difficult. We were just children trapped in this alien world. It was frightening. The chances of us surviving alone were not good. That was what Devimon thought as well. Still, by being separated we learned to rely on our selves at times when it mattered. We also found new allies in our adventures. Even our Digimon companions have gained strength. Hopefully once we are reunited, with our newly found strengths, we can stand up against Devimon and the Black Gear Menace. Maybe defeating this thing for good and then we can return to our world.

'Home…'

I sighed.

I glanced at the sleeping forms of my companions Tachikawa, Mimi with our Digital Monsters, or Digimon, Palmon and Tentomon. Mimi was on the ground in a sitting position with her knees up and her back leaned against a large rock behind her. Her arms were crossed along her chest and her large pink hat was tilted over her head. From where I was sitting, I could only see her mouth and chin from beneath the brim. Palmon, Mimi's plant type Digital companion, had her leafy hands wrapped around Mimi side protectively. She was also asleep.

Tentomon, my insect type Digital companion, was snoozing on the opposite side of Mimi. In his sleeping state, he was scrunched up like a spiked ball on the ground. I was standing watch as I let them rest. Tentomon especially needed the rest to regain his energy. We all agreed that once he is able to evolve to his higher evolved form as Kabuterimon, he could carry us all and fly quickly to Infinity Mountain to find our missing friends.

I stretched myself, and opened up my Pineapple laptop. I figured I should review the information gathered from the temple ruins not too far from here. Maybe I could test a few theories, theories that do not relate to aliens…

A lot has happened to us as we were brought to this world. Prodigious I would always say. Besides encountering new Digimon or gathering new information about this world, I discovered much more about our selves as well. My attention focuses on Mimi. About 4 hours ago, I have discovered the true Tachikawa, Mimi. This fashion and popularity shrouded girl was a lot more than what was lead to believe. She was into computers! On top of that, she knew how to program. And not just any programming, but a very creative approach to machine language! Needless to say, I was awestruck by her knowledge and skills, especially that top-of-the-line Sony PalmNAVe computer she has! Small "e" meaning enhanced millenium edition! It was a dream machine! It was almost like my Pineapple laptop, but more compact, powerful, and streamlined. I wished I had one of those!

Well, just being with Mimi, you will discover things about her you would never expect…

Remembering…
The first day at camp

At first I thought Mimi was a self-centered, air-headed, ditzy, snobbish, cynical, spoiled brat, you name it. I knew some classmates like that at school. They always picked on me. Call me names and threaten to beat me up for no apparent reason. Only Sora and Taichi were there to stick up for me. However, Mimi was different. While her associates were teasing me back then on the first day to camp on that tour coach, I kept in mind that she did not participate in it. Sora was still… pis… pi… er… peeved about the whole thing. But I knew Mimi wanted them to stop as well.

When we arrived at camp, I found out that Mimi was assigned to our cabin and would be separated from her friends. Sora was especially pleased to know this. She wanted to beat Mimi up for all that cra… cr… ummm… hoopla on the bus. Thank goodness I stopped Sora from doing so. It wasn't worth it any other way. I didn't want anybody to be hurt. Camp wasn't really the place to have any fighting. I just wanted to be left alone and work on my computer.

At that time, I was still sick from that night before we arrived at camp. Paranoid I should say. My curiosity got the better of me that night when I tried to hack into a government computer database. The reason I did so was something I don't want to explain now. Just one stupid e-mail from someone with an address of , gave me courage to do so. Needless to say I was caught. Actually, I tripped the security program. Another user, probably a government security programmer, was already on my tail. It was peculiar. It all happened when I reached the twenty-first file. My VAIO Filter should have masked my access to the database. I was glad my Tracer logged me out before the security program breached my system.

Any ways, I really felt terrible since that night. I was on the edge of paranoia. I couldn't get much sleep. Needless to say, Mimi's associates didn't make me feel any better. I just wanted to be left alone for that day at camp. Only Sora was with me. Taichi had to see the head camp counselor with Mr. Fujiyama about Hikari's absence. Sora was reluctant but agreed to leave me be in the cabin for awhile. When I finally settled to our assigned cabin, I was surprised when Mimi came by. I did not know what to do. I thought she was going to make fun of me, especially when I had my laptop out.

However, what surprised me was that Mimi came by to apologize for all those rude remarks her now ex friends from her school said about me. Sora finally showed up, ready to jump in and defend me. Sora was always like that with her friends, especially when her only friends were boys! Well, Sora was shocked as I was when Mimi stayed to say her apologies. Mimi regretted everything that was said. She knew her… associates would never apologize, so she felt it right for her to do so. She said she was deeply sorry it happened. At first I was skeptical of her myself. Sora and I thought it was just a trick of being an open target for another harassment assault by this rich snob.

However, I believed Mimi and accepted her apologies. She was brave to stand up for herself, even if she wasn't actually the cause of any of it. I was glad Sora understood so too. In fact, Sora and Mimi immediately became very close friends afterwards. I've never seen Sora behave so… I don't know… un-tomboyish when she was with Mimi… Sora used to be a bully herself during school before she met up with Taichi and myself. She actually did not associate well with… er… other girls. Mimi was probably Sora's second female friend that I know of, next to Hikari.

Any ways, Mimi even apologized to Jyou and my other new friends, Yamato and his younger brother Takeru. I knew, like the others, that she was very sincere in her apologies. People could just see it in those light caramel-colored eyes of hers. Mimi stated that she no longer called her classmates her friends anymore. She deserves better friends. Now she has them. I know so when Taichi, Sora, Jyou, Yamato, Takeru, and myself became her new friends. Our current predicament in this alien world has proven our new strong bond we all share together. True friends.

Present thoughts…

I am not sure about the others, but Mimi sort of gives off an aura of happiness, if that was the correct way to describe it. Her pleasant outgoing persona seems to make, if not all, the troubles in the world go away. Sure, Mimi is pretty and cute, but it was more than that. She is a wonderful person both inside and out. Another interesting yet very cute aspect about her was that she spoke her sentences using absolutely no contractions…

'Cute.'

I smiled to myself in embarrassment. 'Cute. I keep saying she's cute. Well… can I help it if I think so?'

Still there was one thing that troubles me about Mimi. Now that when I am alone with her, I realized a lot of things I have not noticed before. To tell the truth, Mimi acts very differently when she was with the others. She used to complain a lot, whine, act clumsy, cry, say incoherent yet very cute things. 'Again with the cute. Oh well…' She was definitely not the same girl that was with me right now.

Mimi could take care of herself well on her own. I've seen the pace and strength in her strides in her walking when she complained. Not at all tired. In fact, she was always full of energy, and not just physical. It was like she was faking all of these so-called faults. It was all an act! Since then I often wondered why. I finally came to the conclusion and understood why she wears these masks… She was like myself, a computer nerd. An often victim of relentless ridicule in any school. I know so. Mimi wanted to stay away from all of that. Still, she can't hide behind masks all the time. Mimi does not know she is doing it, but she gives away her true self at times. There was another side to her trying so desperately to prove herself beyond that pink persona. I begin to see it now.

On top of that was what she wore and carried. It did not appear so at first glance, but her dress was highly durable. Probably the only dress in existence designed for extraneous outdoor activities in hot or cool climates. Mimi surely surprised us all when she unveiled her belongings in that big khaki bag of hers. To anyone, it would seem she would be carrying a lot of makeup stuff in her bag. In actuality, she carried in that bag special survival gear, equipment, toilet paper, you name it. She was packed as if she was going into battle!

Mimi's knowledge of computers was highly proficient, even to my humble standards. However, she was not as annoyingly curious, as Taichi and Sora puts it, like I was. I now believed she did not want to be perceived as some computer nerd. She wanted to hide her skills behind a veil of fashion and popularity. It was not that she wanted to be at any way deceitful. Usually one's peers can be cruel to anybody. Especially when they come from a high-class society. Rich snobs as I see it. Mimi did not want that to happen to her, nor did she ever want to participate in such cruel behavior that unpopular kids are a target from.

It was as if Mimi was trying to live two lives. There was a staggering line drawn between them. One being this extraordinarily smart individual, the other trying to fit into the popular crowd. But I have finally seen beyond those masks. I believe now that she could possess the best of both worlds. She can be anyone she wants to be. She should never set herself back by what her associates say or the public wants. She should stand on her own. Smart, kind, cute, pretty, caring, loving, beautiful, carefree, popular… Well, Mimi was all of these things and more.

I myself learned the hard way of knowing the true Tachikawa, Mimi…

4.2 hours earlier…
Cryptic Room, Temple Ruins

I was alone with Tentomon. My Pineapple laptop was plugged into the electrical socket root… the Black Gear on the side of me rotating… strange symbols on the wall before me… I was alone to do some serious work…

"These hieroglyphics are like the ones before. Let's see… that symbols means…" My voice trailed off as I started to type away…

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

I heard Tentomon mutter something, but I did not pay attention to him.

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

1.2 hours later…

'Okay… the root program requires the link from the base… Again it works! Prodigious!'

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

All of a sudden I heard a voice call out behind me that almost broke my concentration. A girl's voice… "KOUSHIRO!"

Another female voice… "And Tentomon, hi!"

"Mimi! Palmon! Glad to see you!" Tentomon said.

"Hello Tentomon. I am glad that it was you two that was here! Great to see you two are all okay." replied the girl.

"I'm glad you're all right here too, Mimi, Palmon."

"Hat-cha!"

…tap… tap…

I managed to stop my work to listen closely to the voices. 'Hmmmm… we have visitors…' I turned around to see who the two strange voices belong to that were talking to Tentomon. I was right it was Mimi and Palmon. "Oh hi, Mimi," I replied.

She greeted me with a smile. "Hello, Koushiro. It is so good to finally meet a friendly human face after a long time."

"Yeah, me too," I replied dully. With that I turned back to my laptop and continued typing away on my keyboard. 'Okay, there are several approaches to this pattern here which falls under this section here…'

"Umm… Koushiro? Koushiro."

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

"Koushiro…"

I looked at another section of the hieroglyphics and thought for a moment. 'These could mean that this glyph is the base for these other glyphs aaaaand… It worked! Prodigious! I'm definitely on to something!' I returned my attention back to my laptop and typed away at the keyboard again. 'This should be easy…'

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

Palmon… "Ummm… Mimi, I hate to say this, but I think your friend's stem is broken…"

Tentomon… "I don't think it's just his stem."

"Koushiro? Excuse me. Hello…"

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

"I wouldn't even bother, Mimi. He's been like this for over an hour…"

I could have sworn I heard Mimi giggle… 'No matter… just ignore them… Cross-reference the secondary pattern…'

I heard Mimi's voice again… "Hmmm… I guess I would call this his computer brainiac mode… You should see me when I am working…"

'I wished they would just be quiet… Glyph twelve… and section one…'

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

The sounds from my keyboard were like music to my ears… I guess it was true. Time does fly when you are having fun…

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

11 minutes later…

'Reconfigure the equation here… Place the second here… Prodigious! Now just six more to go…'

I decided to take a thirty-second break. I stretched my back a bit, hearing and feeling the small pops. I shook off the fatigue from my shoulders, arms, and hands. I stretched my fingers and cracked my knuckles… 'Whew! What a workout! Without these special gloves, I would suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome before I reach sixteen!' My back was still to the others.

"Oh joy, he stopped," Tentomon said sarcastically.

"Great! Finally he stopped that racket!" said Palmon.

"Um, really, Koushiro. I think it is about time we should go look for our friends," I heard Mimi say.

"That was what I was trying to tell him over an hour ago," said Tentomon.

Without turning to face them I calmly said, "Please, people. This is an important clue as to the secret of this alien world. I need to solve it! I can't just leave it yet. I need time."

There was a bit of silence from the group until I heard Mimi say, "Well… Okay, I guess that makes sense. I am not sure how, but the important thing is to find a way to reverse this island splitting thing. Like starting with that Black Gear thing over there."

I turned to face her. "Well, duh… I know that! Now just be patient. Don't disturb me." I turned back to my laptop and the hieroglyphs. 'Now the sixth level…'

"Great. I wished you didn't encourage him, Mimi," Tentomon said with a sigh.

"Mimi, what's a 'duh?'" Palmon asked.

I don't think Mimi answered her. All I heard from Mimi was, "Hmmm… There are other glyphs things over there." I heard her stand up and walk to the far side of the cryptic room away from the Black Gear. It was a section of hieroglyphics that I determined were just a mirror copy of the ones I was going over now. "Maybe I can help you solve some of it too, Koushiro," I heard her say.

"Sure you can…" I muttered sarcastically as I continued my calculations. I didn't care if she heard me or not. I often wondered what good was she to our group of friends…

…tap… tap… tap… tap…

21 minutes…

'This glyph means… That's it! …and this goes here… Now it has to work now…'

The program again faulted. "DAMN IT!" I groaned as I clenched my forehead with my left hand in disgust. This was the eighth time the program failed. I finally calmed down. "No time to complain. I have to keep trying." I focused my concentration and continued the process again… 'The null pattern goes here… the variable then beco-'

"Excuse me, Koushiro?"

A voice interrupted my thinking. At my current state of concentration, the voice sounded like nails grinding against the chalkboard. I realized it was Mimi. 'Damn.' I decided to just ignore her. Maybe she would just go away…

…no such luck…

"Koushiro? Sorry if I am disturbing you, but I found something interesting on why you are hav-"

'Disturbing me was right!'

My patience was getting thin. "MIMI, PLEASE! I just have a few equations to go through!"

Tentomon flew from behind her and hovered in front of me. He was blocking my view of the hieroglyphs. "Izzy, I think you should listen and take a look at what Mimi has found," he said.

"You mind?" I lightly pushed him away from me so I could have a better view the hieroglyphs. "Tentomon… I told you I just needed a few more-"

Mimi spoke again, "Well, here, Koushiro. I believe this might-"

"DAMN IT, MIMI… TENTOMON! I SAID I DON'T WANT TO BE INTERRUPTED!"

"I give up," Tentomon muttered and flew away from Mimi and I. I did not care. I went back to my laptop again.

…tap… tap…

Still Mimi continued, "I-I am sorry, Koushiro… but maybe what I worked on would help you see that these walls-"

Finally I lost all of my patience. I slowly put my laptop aside. I bolted up and fiercely turned to face her. With a raised voice I never knew I had, I heard myself explode…

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID GAMES OR WHATEVER, MIMI! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

My outburst echoed off the walls and then faded around us. Then there was an eerie silence in the room that followed. The once steady metallic rhythm of the turning Black Gear beside us never made any difference to the quiet stillness that enveloped the room. It seemed like hours until I finally noticed Mimi's face. More like a very painful expression enveloping her entire form. Her eyes were wide with shock. Her face was pale. She was unmoving. Yet I saw the tears slowly running down her checks… Never have I seen her like this. Well, not anyone in my life.

She then bowed her head down. Her pink hat now hiding her face from me. I saw her gloved fists shaking at her sides. I finally noticed she was holding something in her left hand. It was difficult to make out what it was, until she finally spoke to me in a wavering voice... "F-fine!" Her head shoots up and I saw her eyes. Angry, hateful, tearing eyes. Her voice was now raised as she cried, "Here! You finish it! SEE IF I CARE!" Mimi tosses the object that was in her left hand at me.

Despite my shocked state, I still managed to instinctively catch whatever she threw at me. I looked at what it was and my eyes, no pun intended, Tentomon, literally bugged-out. 'W-what? A PalmNAVI?' I took a closer look at it and saw what kind it really was. 'Oh my! It's the Sony PalmNAVe!' I looked at the screen at what was on it. I was shocked at what I saw. 'A cross reference program done in a helix conjoined pattern?'

Desktop Mimi – l OMNI System Commander ver. 4.0

HELIX CONFIGURATION… WORKING.

x coordinate 001011 DNA ok
y coordinate 110010 DNA ok
z coordinate – ?INPUT DNA Pineapple

i WARNING! HELIX CONFIG

Switch to NORMAL View

I scrolled down the file some more and finally it all started to click in. 'THIS WAS IT! THIS WAS WHAT I WAS MISSING!' I reviewed the program on the PalmNAVe screen again. "I've forgotten that any bit of information, bytes, or data in this world are like a living viable substance. In this case, the matching and placing patterns to that of a DNA helix structure! If arranged in this pattern… It was like trying to find the last digit of pi. Sometimes there is no absolute… WAIT! These are X and Y coordinates? And my program had the Z coordinates? That would mean…" I was oblivious to everything around me while I was examining this discovery. Time seemed to move slowly until realization struck me…

"M-Mimi… you did this?" I asked in a weak voice. However, as I finally looked up to meet her gaze, all I saw was an even angrier tearful face of Mimi. It actually hurt me to see her like this. However, the way her voice sounded… it burned through my soul…

"TAKE ALL THE CREDIT! NOT THAT IT WAS OF ANY IMPORTANCE TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE! I AM ALREADY SICK OF LOOKING AT ALL OF THESE STUPID HIEROGLYPHICS! ESPECIALLY WITH THE LIKES OF YOU AROUND! YOU CAN KEEP YOUR STUPID HIEROGLYPHICS!"

Mimi turned away from me and walked off toward one of the cryptic room doorways.

I managed to awake from my reverie. "Mimi… I…" I tried to say as I watched her walk away.

After a few steps closer to the doorway, Mimi stopped and whirled around to face me. She cried, "

KOUSHIRO! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE?"

"…"

"YOU ARE A NOTHING BUT A STUPID INCONSIDERATEJERK!" Mimi yelled.

Then she covered her face with her hands and cried. She spun around quickly and ran off towards the doorway.

Tentomon followed her. "No, Mimi, wait! Don't go off alone…"

I stood there not knowing what to do. I could feel the blood in my veins racing. The sound of rushing blood loudly in my ears. Yet, I felt like a zombie. I slowly turned away from where Mimi and Tentomon went, only to look down and see Palmon's sad, hateful, and teary-eyed face.

"She was just trying to help! HOW COULD YOU BE SO INSENSITIVE?" she yelled.

I was totally flabbergasted at what Palmon's said. 'How could I… What have I done… I didn't mean to hurt her.' I shook my head and groaned. I covered my head with my hands in total disgust. 'How could I have been so cruel?' My mind could only formulate two options on how to remedy this situation…

A. Go after Mimi and apologize to her and everyone.

B. Stay and download Mimi's program with my own.

The first should be the human thing to do. It should have been the only right thing to do! The second shouldn't even be an option! I should have listened to my heart. Instead my logical mind took over and made the choice for me. My decision would have been a logical one in any situation. 'Any situation?' I was beginning to doubt logic…

I could not believe myself… I felt no regrets… nothing… I just stayed and downloaded all of Mimi's equations to my Pineapple Laptop…

tap… tap…beep…

Desktop Izzy – l OMNI System Commander ver. 6.0

Palm NAVe

I/O Connection: INFRARED USB
OK

DOWNLOADING… PalmNAVe
Dir
UPDATING…
C:/My Doc…
Please wait…

01 x coordinate 001011 DNA ok
02 y coordinate 110010 DNA ok
03 z coordinate 100110 DNA ok
DOWNLOAD SUCCESSFUL…

MAZE PROGRAM AUTO RUN
ENGAGED

Please wait…\

USB

Laser Link

I stared at the computer message… "Maze program?"

All of a sudden, the cryptic room was slowly being enveloped by light. In fact, the three adjoining walls with the hieroglyphs were glowing. Each brick was giving a soft yellow light. I stared in amazement as transparent blocks of light emerge from the glowing walls. The blocks floated towards me. I was about to shield myself when I saw the blocks had stopped to a point not too far from me. More blocks emerged from the walls as the process repeated. They were starting to stack themselves together forming a huge structure of glowing blocks. Block after block was piled, shifted, and merged until it stopped.

I came to realize that this whole thing was a hologram! I immediately recognized a section of it that looked like the cryptic room we were in. From my understanding, the completed program produced a huge holographic image of the layout of this temple! Every wall, every stairway, passage… It was all some sort of giant labyrinth! The maze program was a three-dimensional map of it all!

'How foolish of me to think the other two hieroglyph walls were just copies. There were all different in a way. What they represented were X, Y, and Z coordinates! Coordinates to form a three-dimensional object!'

I was about to say, "Prodigious," until I was interrupted by a slight tugging on my right arm. I looked down and saw what appeared to be vines wrapping around Mimi's Sony PalmNAVe. I followed the source of the vines and saw that it was Palmon. I gave her a questioning look until…

Palmon screamed at me, "I THOUGHT SO!"

She snatched the PalmNAVe violently from my hands with her long vine-like fingers. I stared at her in shock. Her once bright green seed-like eyes were now black. Her mouth appeared to have even more sharp teeth than before.

"W-what?" I tried to ask.

Palmon clutched the little NAVI close to her. She kept her death glare at me for a moment until I saw her eyes start to turn back to their normal light green color again. She collapsed onto the floor and started to cry. I heard her say between sobs, "Sometimes I think you care more about computers than people. Even when they are the same people that care about you, you don't even care. You never cared for anyone! Never for our missing friends! Not even Mimi, Tentomon, or I!"

Her words stung me. I felt tears in my eyes. I turned back to where Mimi and Tentomon were at the doorway. Tentomon was trying to comfort Mimi's crying form. Neither of them both knew of what happened with the hologram. I saw how Tentomon gently hug Mimi and said a few things I could not hear. I felt so guilty. Even my own Digimon has given up on me. Palmon's words echoed in my head again. I found myself walking towards Mimi and Tentomon. As I was doing so, I heard my pathetic voice mutter…

"T-that's not true, Palmon…"

Present time…

I should not have misjudged her. She offered to help and I did not believe she could ever. I did not believe that she knew anything about computers. I thought was just a bother and was distracting me from trying to solve the maze program. I should have never ignored her. She called me a "stupid inconsiderate jerk." I sort agree with her of me being inconsiderate from our past event. About the "jerk" part, who knows? I am certainly not stupid! Well, maybe I was stupid and a jerk for treating her terribly like that.

I have never been one to be sociable, especially with girls. The only friends I have that were girls were Hikari and Sora. Neither of them was like Mimi. Mimi was an individual to be reckoned with! How could I have been so cruel to her? You know what, I started to agree with her for calling me a stupid inconsiderate jerk. To top it all off it was her program that finally solved the missing data, which later activated the holographic projection of the morphing maze…

My thoughts turn back to the maze…

I called Mimi and Tentomon back on what has happened with the program. Damn it! I just wanted to apologize to her, Tentomon, and Palmon! The program meant nothing! I just hurt the people I do care about! I didn't want to lose any of them! I managed to get Mimi's attention and she turned to me. From a distance I could still tell she was crying. I felt even more terrible of myself. However, what I did see was a slight cheerfulness wash over her face as I called her back. It was like a ray of hope in her eyes. I started to feel better. As she was about to return to the cryptic room from the doorway, I accidentally touched one of the holographic squares. By doing so caused the entire maze to activate. Mimi and Tentomon were unfortunately near the maze entrance and the walls closed around them before they could get to me. They were trapped.

I was scared. I shouted against the closed doorway. All I heard was rhythmic sounds of grinding stone and loud thuds of falling rocks. I then heard screams from Mimi and Tentomon. I felt sick. Palmon felt worse. She said she should have been by Mimi's side. Instead she became lost in her anger of me. She laid herself on the cold floor in a fetal position and cried. I tried to comfort her… No! I would not give up on them! They should still be alive!

I looked back at the hologram and noticed two small blinking figures among the shifting wall images, one white and one red. The white figure was larger than the red figure. The two figures were moving fast around the cleared maze corridors. It must be Mimi and Tentomon! They were alive! They were on a frantic move, escaping the constantly moving walls. The only thing I could do was to get them out somehow. With Palmon at my side, it was now up to us to guide Mimi and Tentomon out of the morphing maze.

I could not find a way to stop the maze program. All I could do now was to quickly guide Mimi and Tentomon through the shifting maze using our Digivices as communication devices. It was difficult because the maze kept on shifting and fusing the walls. It was like a huge three-dimensional version of a Tetris game with Mimi and Tentomon in the center of it all! On top of that, there was an unidentified Digimon after them. It turned out to be the guardian of the maze called Kentarumon, half-horse, half-humanoid, beast-man type, champion level Digimon. Like all the other champion Digimon we have encountered, he was possessed by one of the Black Gears. Boy, what a day it turned out to be...

I decided to lead Mimi and Tentomon to a supposedly dead-end of the maze. According to the maze program, one of the walls had a weak structure and was along the outside of the ruins. Palmon and I managed to loosen the weak wall and made an opening from the outside. Sometimes the hardest problem can be solved by the simplest solution. When we were finally reunited, Mimi apologized to me of that whole jerk thing. Palmon and Tentomon apologized too for doubting my almost forgotten loyalty to the others. Actually, it should have been I that needed to apologize to all of them. I practically was the cause of it all. Still, she apologized. She was always sincere. Mimi truly had a true pure heart.

With both our Digimon companions digivolved to the champion level, we defeated Kentarumon and freed him of the Black Gear. Exhausted from battle, our Digimon reverted back to their rookie forms to rest. Now with the maze under his control, Kentarumon led us to the sacred sanctum. Here a wall carving of the Digivice was discovered. We found out the secrets of these small devices we all carry. Kentarumon told of a prophecy that claims the carriers of the Digivices were known as the DigiDestined. They are the "preservers of light against the darkness."

Just then, Leomon, another beast-man type, champion level Digimon, showed up. He was still possessed by one of Devimon's Black Gears like before. Our Digimon were too weak from their battle with Kentarumon, that they could not digivolve into their champion forms. Even Kentarumon was no match against the possessed Leomon. All seems lost. Mimi held up her large bag to shield herself from the inevitable. I noticed a light coming from her Digivice that was fastened to the shoulder strap of her bag. The bright light seemed to affect Leomon. I've seen this happened not too long ago. It was back when we all were at the Devimon mansion. The same thing happened when the possessed Leomon cornered Taichi. I did not know what all that bright light was. I was too far up in the air to see. Now I know it was the Digivice that did that!

I got Mimi's attention and we both used our Digivices against Leomon. The intensity of the light from the reacting Digivices was too much for Leomon. He retreated and disappeared without a trace. Kentarumon said that this confirms that Mimi and I were the DigiDestined prophesied. He bids us farewell and safe journey. He returned to the inner sanctum of the ruins as the protector and disappeared. Mimi and I were still bewildered about us, including our friends, being known as the DigiDestined. 'Were we really destined to be here? What were we supposed to do? Save the world? Were we superheroes?' Mimi and I still did not have all the answers. That was not important. Still, with this new knowledge, we all decided to try and find a way to reunite with the rest of our friends.

My solution was to find some way to access the Black Gear in the cryptic room in order to reverse the floating island process. With the newly acquired understanding of glyph knowledge, this should be much easier, but would take time. This caused another annoyance from my friends. Before I realized it, I was again becoming the "stupid inconsiderate jerk." Infuriated of me about to ignore everyone in sake of curiosity again, Mimi just walked over to the Black Gear and kicked it hard. The Black Gear stopped rotating. Within moments it started to rotate in the opposite direction! The whole process was reversing! This caused the island to float back towards the center, Infinity Mountain. Like before, sometimes the hardest problem can be solved by a simple solution. I must admit, Mimi was very skillful in computers, but she had the patience of a… underachieving sloth.

Well, the entire day has been such a prodigious experience. To top it all off, Mimi and Palmon gave a sincere farewell to Sukamon and Chuumon, the "Digital Losers" as Palmon and Tentomon called them. Sukamon and Chuumon were stuck on the separate floating island half opposite from the island we were on. The Digimon duo lived in some sort of symbiosis. Something to do with sharing the same tiny brain, as Mimi has said.

I only saw a brief glimpse of them before our islands moved even further apart. The mysterious Digimon analyzer program on my laptop gave me a screen capture. According to Mimi's NAVI, her analyzer produced the same information. I was not sure which Digimon was which, but one of them looked like a big yellow custard. I could see the other one on its "shoulder." A very small violet mouse looking Digimon that looked like road kill. They said to Mimi and Palmon that they still wanted a kiss. I am still not sure of what they meant by that. Mimi and Palmon never wanted to speak about it. Yet, their version of farewell did give a hint on what their experience was with the Digimon duo.

We managed to gather some food while we continued on our journey. It was amazing that we managed to live through our adventurous day on an empty stomach. Palmon and Tentomon collected several edible nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Palmon was more interested in this fruit that looked like bananas but had a very tough layered peel. However, they were not bananas at all. Attempting to peel them was like peeling an onion to the core. Still Palmon and Tentomon liked it mostly. Palmon finally got the idea of what our version of a banana was but the Digimon had a different word for it that I can't pronounce. She managed to find some for Mimi and I. Thankfully they were like bananas and were delicious, despite its unusual bluish-violet color. Well, we had our meal for the day. We figured it was time to rest. Yes, the entire day was a prodigious experience.

It was certainly a turning point in my life…

Daybreak…

I checked the power cell level of my Pineapple Laptop. It was at full charge. Mimi had fully recharged her PalmNAVe as well. It's amazing how convenient these electrical outlets were. Mimi and I created a special program for both our NAVIs to locate these outlets. Finding these scattered outlets was easy now. Most of them could be found on large tree roots. They were hidden well, but still accessible. At the most, about one outlet was available per every 1.6-kilometer radius. Very convenient. I thought my laptop would be totally useless once I finally ran out of power.

I did a final review of the file about the information of the crests and the maze program. Satisfied, I closed the directory folder. I then noticed that there was a JPEG icon file that was behind the once open maze directory folder. I dragged it out to my desktop to have a better look at it. I clicked the file's properties and read it.

Desktop Izzy – Main

JPEG VIEWER

Date: #Error#

Type: Compressed picture file
Location: Desktop Izzy
Size: 110.0KB (110,421 bytes)
File created: December 27, 1998 10:37:45 PM
Last modified: January 5, 1999 5:00:15 PM
File accessed: #Time error#
Description: NoneSiphon
Filter

I was sure this was Mimi's picture file. She did lend me her PalmNAVe to download the holographic maze program. Well, actually she threw her NAVI at me. Still, I must have downloaded this JPEG file by mistake. The words "my first family" sounded peculiar. I knew I shouldn't open it. It was not any of my business, but… curiosity got the better of me. Sometimes I feel curiosity was a bad thing. I sometimes wind up getting myself into trouble. I should at least give it up once in awhile.

I opened Mimi's file and my PictureViewer activated. A picture of what appeared to be a young family came into view. Parts of the picture looked faded. That was strange. It appeared to have been scanned from an original photograph. It was probably a small photograph judging from the amount of dithering in the current resolution.

No doubt it was a picture of Mimi's family. I studied the photograph closer. The man and woman, the Father and Mother, both carried one child in their arms. The Mother had long light brown colored hair like Mimi's. In fact she looked exactly like Mimi, an adult version of her if you will. Still there was one striking difference. Her eyes. The eyes of the Mother were so dark. Kind of like mine. Like endless depths of darkness. The dark color may have been the result of the picture's resolution. My optometrist had trouble figuring out my eye color. It just looked totally black from afar…

The image of the Father's face was damaged a bit. His features were worn and distorted. I cannot make out the face well. Just a silhouette indicated that he was taller than the Mother was. He must have had dark slightly long spiky hair. Everything else was faded as if it was damaged by exposure to some chemical or heat. The only thing I could see clearly of the Father's face was his eyes. Eyes exactly like Mimi's. A really beautiful hazel color. I smiled at the thought. 'Beautiful… Mimi's eyes are beautiful.' I shook my head, 'What am I thinking? First I think she is pretty, then cute, now has beautiful eyes? Come on!'

I tried to concentrate on the babies they carried. They were newborns. Very little distinctive hair and their eyes were closed. One of the babies should be Mimi. Of course, she has a sibling. Mimi did mutter something to me about a baby brother when she got trapped in the maze. I figured the picture of the second baby must be a few months or a year or so younger than Mimi was or maybe not. Could be days, hours, minutes, or perhaps… seconds? I know very little about births. Maybe they're twins and she was born first. Who knows? I guess she still wants to call him his baby brother. He must not have come to camp because I would have seen him board the tour coach with Mimi. Probably he had to stay home just like Hikari. I would sure like to know more about him. I would like to know more about Mimi's family as well. 'I wonder if Mimi's brother has the same interest as Mimi and I?'

I heard a gasping sound. I turned and noticed Mimi stirring. She slowly sits up a bit and removes her large hat. I see tear stains on her cheek. She starts to clear them with her gloved hand.

Worried, I asked, "Mimi, are you all right? Is there something wrong?"

She doesn't face me. She covers her face with her hands for a moment and sniffed a little. "No, Koushiro. I am okay. Just a bad dream," she replied from behind her hands. She took her hands away and dried the remaining tears.

I couldn't help but feel concerned. "Your eyes… You look…" I thought it was about what happened today. My misunderstanding and the danger I put them through. I shook my head. I was not going to bring that up again. We already said our apologies. Well, maybe someday, I would like to ask her about the masks she hides behind. Those acts: the whining, complaining, crying… I would just like to know for sure… Maybe by sharing, we would help know each other much better…

"No… no… It was nothing. Just a dream." She took her hat off and lightly combed her long untied hair between her fingers. The she added with a smile, "Plus the humidity…"

My eyes were transfixed on her pretty form. I silently drummed my fingers on the shell of my laptop. I looked up in the sky and relaxed my eyes. 'I shouldn't stare.' Still I had her in my peripheral sight.

Being careful not to wake Palmon or Tentomon, Mimi stealthily removed herself from Palmon's leafy arms and stood up. She started to stretch a little. After a few minutes, she tied her hair up in the usual tail. She left her hat on her back.

'Still, I rather see her hair loose,'

I thought. 'Errr… What am I thinking?'I scratched the back of my head. I felt myself blushing. I tried to calm myself.

She made another stretch with her arms and let out a soft sigh. "Darn humidity. So much for my beauty sleep."

I looked back at her and gave a light chuckle. 'Still the same Mimi.'

Mimi gave me smile. She started to walk to the front of me. Not looking at me directly she asked, "So, Koushiro. What are you working on now?" She turned to face me and started to walk toward me.

I continued to watch her as she slowly walked and found a place behind me on my right. She crouched and innocently peered over my shoulder, not that I minded at all. I was about to give her an answer until I finally realized what I was "working on." I still had the JPEG image opened! A picture that was not even my business to possess or even open. "Mmmm ahhh ahhhh…" I mumbled.

"Oh," Mimi gasped.

Never have I felt so mortified. I had to say something! "OH MIMI, I'M SORRY! I-I DIDN'T MEAN TO VIEW IT!" I tried to explain hastily. I knew I sounded like an idiot. I must have looked bright red by now. I prepared myself for her wrath. I dared not to meet her gaze… Well, just a peak…

To my surprise, Mimi did not appear mad at all. Instead, she just smiled at me. "Oh, Koushiro. It is okay. Relax," She giggled as she placed a hand on my shoulders. "It was an accident on my part. I accidentally left that file open in the download section on my PalmNAVe. I forgot all about it when I gave… er… threw my NAVI at you of my program findings of the ancient hieroglyphics."

I sighed in relief. She wasn't mad. I was not sure what to do next, whether to close the file or erase it. I was still curious about the picture, so I left it open. I wanted to learn more. I said, "Um, this is a very nice picture. Your family right?"

"Yes." She seemed a bit dejected.

'Oops! Did I say something wrong? Should I just forget this picture?'

I had to make sure with Mimi. Concerned, I asked, "Are you okay, Mimi?"

"No, it was just… Just that dream I had. It was about my family in that picture." She looked as if she was about to cry.

I felt sorry for her. She misses them. I feel the same way too... in a way… "I know how you feel… I missed my parents too," I said.

"That is not the half of it." She covered her face with her hands.

"Excuse me?"

Mimi stood up for a moment. Even though her face was covered I knew she was crying again.

"Mimi, I…" I was about to stand when she put her hands on my shoulders. I looked up and clearly saw her face. Her eyes were not as teary as I thought. She actually had a pleasant expression on her face, a one of relief.

"Koushiro…" She wanted me to remain seated.

"Yes, Mimi?" I asked, puzzled.

She released her grasp on my shoulders. Mimi kneeled on both legs and sat down with her hands resting on her lap. She was looking down at her knees and spoke. "I need to ask you something."

"Y-yes?" I stuttered.

"Can I trust you, Koushiro?" Mimi asked.

I was a bit startled by her question. I quickly closed my laptop and put it aside. I shifted myself so that I was facing her. I sat myself in the same kneeling position as her. "Of course," I replied in confidence.

She closed her eyes and seemed to let out a sigh. She opened her eyes to me again. I could not read the exact expression on her anymore. Mimi looked so serious than I have ever seen her been. Her eyes seemed to bore into my soul. Then she spoke, almost in a whisper. "What I am about to tell you is something I have not told anyone else. Not my friends, ex-friends, no one, not even Palmon. I just was not ready yet. So I trust you to keep it just between us."

I was still puzzled. All I could do was stutter, "Oh… Okay."

She looked off the side and I could see her blush. "You and I know we do not know each other very well. We may have had a little misunderstanding when we first met…"

I felt myself nodding.

She then slowly clasped her hands together and graciously had them pressed against her chest… over her heart… Again she looked straight at me. She then spoke. "From all that has happened today... I feel it in my heart to trust you, Koushiro. I trust that I can finally share with someone about the secret behind that photograph."

'Secret? She put her trust in me to share her secret? What was this secret? Why does it make her sad? Trust. She trusts me above all? Why me? Why now?'

I had all of these questions swimming in my head. All I could was just listen. I replied, "You can trust me, Mimi."

My response put a smile on her face. She took my hands in hers… "Thank you, Koushiro."

I smiled in return.

Mimi took a deep breath and spoke…

"That family you see in the picture, I lost long ago when I was just a little baby. They all died in a terrible car accident." Mimi closed her eyes and started to breathe a bit deeply than before.

'Died… Oh my.'

I felt very sorry for her. It must be terrible to lose one's family. I still don't know about the fate of my biological parents. I would feel terrible if I were to lose my adoptive parents as well. I noticed her starting to cry so I tried to calm her by saying, "It's all right, Mimi."

Mimi felt better and smiled at me. She then took another breath and continued on. "Well, I only knew about it just two years ago."

'Two years ago?'

My mind started to form other questions…

She continued on. "You see, I was adopted into the Tachikawas when I was still a baby."

"Oh, I see. You were raised by your relatives-"

She shook her head, "No, I am not…" She took another breath and continued. "Look, allow me start from the beginning.

"Okay," I said as I listened…

"All during my childhood, I did not know I was adopted. I mean, why bring up such things when the child was still young and happy? You know, I guess I agree with most that it would best an adopted child should first find him or herself ready to know the truth…"

I sat there in amazement listening to her. I finally said, "Go on."

"For all the years I could remember, I did not know I was adopted. I only found out I was adopted when I was nine years old. I was not supposed to know, I guess. You see, I believed my parents thought I was not ready to know the truth yet. I was not old enough maybe…" She looked at her hands again. She looked uncertain if she wanted to continue.

I was drawn to her story… In the back of my mind, I heard myself say, 'I know how you feel, Mimi.' For some reason I wanted her to continue. I took her hand in mine and said, "It's all right, Mimi."

Mimi smiled at me and continued. "Well, one night, I caught my Mother and Father talking and I listened… I accidentally found the truth. I could not believe what they were talking about! It was then that I figured I was not really their child. These two people were not really my Father or Mother! I knew then that I was adopted."

'Just as I have found out…'

"At that time I was shocked to know the truth. I actually felt betrayed. I felt so alone. I ended up pushing them away. I started acting so foolish. I tried to act like nothing happened. I put up these masks that I was just happy to be their child. I was wrong. The pain was growing inside me. I actually ended up hating them! All the things that I never thought relevant were now falling into place." She gave a slight laugh and said, "You see, my Mother tried to make herself look like me in a way. You know, she used hair coloring to match mine and even special colored contact lenses too… I guess she thought she did the right thing. She does not wear any of that stuff now…"

She shook her head and continued, "Well, never the less, I started to feel my world fall apart." She looked down at her hands. "There was a time I could not remember, when I actually got so angry of my Mother and Father, that I actually hurt them. It began I think when I hurt my Mother. I never meant to do so. I was so shocked of my actions, I ran away from home, never to come back." She clutches her head in her hands. "Oh, damn. I cannot remember what happened after that. I lost my memory or something. I guess I suppressed those memories because I knew they were so horrible to remember. I hope I never do remember!"

She calmed down and said, "The only thing I do remember afterwards happened about two weeks later. I had no memory about the past two weeks. All I remembered was that I found myself confronting my parents and asked for their forgiveness. I had acted so foolishly to ever distance myself from them. And they did forgive me. I felt like I was part of a wonderful family again. All I do know now was that I love my parents as much even before I knew the truth. Maybe even more. I love them so much! They gave me everything any caring loving and parent would!" she said with tears falling…

I too started to cry… 'Why couldn't I be that way?'

Mimi paused to let her sobs subside. "Well… On a Christmas day in 1998, I found the courage to face the truth about my lost family. I wanted to ask my adoptive parents about my lost parents. My adoptive parents then gave me a tear-shaped pendant that rightfully belonged to me. They thought it was the right time for me to have the pendant. Well, actually it turned out to be a secret locket for that picture of my lost family. I also discovered from the picture that I had a brother, probably a twin brother! My parents told me of a police report that stated evidence, toys and child seat design, of the possibility of a second child, a male. The car wreckage and fire damages were too severe to verify all the bodies. They only found me. Now the picture was absolute proof that I did have a brother! I do believe in my heart that he was really my twin!"

I shook my head sadly. I looked up at her. She appeared to be feeling something under the storm cape of her dress. I was wondering what she was doing, but she continued on.

"The strange part was that the locket and picture were the only remaining things left of my real family. My parents told me that all records were lost or were inaccessible! The adoption agency could not find anything. No records of my biological family! Only our current adoption records and a police report! I could not believe it! I believed my parents were telling the truth, but it still sounded so odd. Absolutely nothing was known about my lost family! It was like they never existed at all!"

'How terrible…'

Despite her tears, she started to give a light chuckle and said, "You know what? I would break into government files to know the truth, but that would be wrong. Not that I could any ways…" she said with the last of her words trailing off.

I was about to say something about computer hacking, but I stayed quiet and let her continue.

Mimi let out a nervous sigh of relief. She ignored her running tears and pretended to find some humor in it all. "So here I am, a child that has lost her family when she was just a baby. A Mother, Father, and brother that she will never know. Raised by loving parents and became part of a new family. Found out that she was adopted the hard way. Faced the truth. Left with only a small pendant and a picture of my past. Only knowing my Father's first name from some time when I was a baby, Genma…

"Still, this girl will always love her adoptive parents. Yet in her heart she longs to know her real parents. What they were like. To know their names, my family name. The twin brother I would have shared my life with…" Tears started to form in her eyes. I just held her hands gently in order to comfort her feelings… and mine.

"Your brother?" I asked. "He too is with you, right?"

"Excuse me?" she replied.

"Your… twin brother," I said carefully. "He too lives with you and your adoptive parents?"

"Oh. N-no. My twin brother... died with my parents." Her tearful eyes met mine. She was now staring at me with confusion as if unsure she should have trusted me with her secret...

I was taken aback when she said. I was confused, so I asked, "But I heard you mention your brother back at the maze. Something about you not missing to take care of your baby brother. Was I mistaken?"

"No-no. I am sorry. The baby brother I spoke of is really the true biological offspring of the Tachikawa family. He is about a year old now. His birthday falls in October. Tetsuo is his name. Tachikawa, Tetsuo."

"Oh…"

"You see, my Mother had certain problems that made her… um… conceiving a child… er… difficult. Sorry, I do not know much about complications in human reproduction in general. Well, it is kind of private matter… It might have explained why they wanted to adopt me as a child. Oh well. Any ways, when Tetsuo was born, it was a miracle to my parents. Never did I mind that he gets most of my parents' attention now. I care for him a lot as well. He is a very lucky child with a bright future. I love him so much. It makes me so blessed to be part of a wonderful family."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry that I misunderstood, Mimi. I wanted to know about your… Never mind." I said sadly. The realization finally hit me as the full truth that Mimi has lost her Father, Mother, and brother in that accident. I felt a bit of shame as I was about to console her by looking on the bright side that Mimi and her brother still have each other and adopted together... that life couldn't be so fortunate for them... I wanted to meet her brother too... Finally I felt even more terrible. What seemed like moments, "I'm sorry, Mimi. I-I'm so sorry." I turned away in shame.

I then felt her hands touch mine...

"It is okay, Koushiro…" she trailed off. Mimi started to break down again. "I think about my twin brother too… What it might have been. I just wished I could still know more about them. I tried so many times, but all I came up with was nothing. I just want to know! Why was it so hard?" She broke down and cried. "I wish…" She suddenly lurched forward and wrapped herself around me. She was still in a knelt position as she did this.

I did not know what to do. I've never been this close to a girl before. I was accidentally tackled by Sora in soccer once, but that did not count. Maybe my Mom, but that was different. Those things never compared to this! With all such nagging thoughts pushed aside, I just accepted her embrace. I did not feel uncomfortable at all. I shifted myself up to my full height so I could at least wrap my arms around her kneeling form as well. 'Geez, she's tall. I HAD to be a short guy.' Still I felt comfortable embracing her too. I gave her this moment to let go of all the emotions she had bottled up. In turn I knew I was comforting her. All I found myself saying was, "It's okay, Mimi. It's okay." However, deep within me, I felt my soul also crying out with her. 'So do I… So do I.'

I could not believe it! Mimi and I were faced with the same complex in our family lives. However, my complex was different. In fact, I was the only one with the complex. She was much different than I. For here was this girl who had the courage to demand and face the truth. Now she has an even tighter bond with her adopted family, with a true sense of understanding and forgiveness. They were together a happy family none the less. Still in her heart, she longed for her past family she has lost.

Now here was I, too afraid to face the truth. I found out I was adopted the same way. It happened accidentally. So many questions plagued my mind the following months after I have learned. Knowing full well what I truly was to these people who pretended to be my parents. 'Why haven't they told me? Why all the secrecy? Was it because I was too young? That's what they thought. They thought I wouldn't understand? How long would they keep this secret? What must I do for them? What proof do they need to see that I could take it?' My mind was a blank. 'I'm I ready? Could I handle the truth?'

A year has passed, and I still felt the same. I felt betrayed. I tried to deal with my emotions any way possible. I pretend that I misunderstood. I forced myself into believing that I have not heard. I buried myself into my computer to forget I ever knew I was adopted. I started to slowly drift away from my parents. I was trying to live the rest of my childhood under this nickname I foolishly thought of to ease the pain. Izzy… a variation of my adopted last name. A name I only allowed my friends to call me. It was all to please my parents. How foolish of me to do so. It had nothing to do with my first name, Koushiro. I felt as if I had disgraced the only part of me that could not have been changed from being adopted. Now I'm stuck with my nickname as I pathetically try to carry on with my life. 'Still, was Koushiro really my name at all?'

I have never told anyone else about me being adopted. I never shared my secret to Taichi, Sora, Hikari, no one. Not even my Digimon friend, Tentomon, knew of this pain I kept bottled inside. Now this remarkable girl has opened up the truth of her life and entrusted it to me. What amazed me the most was that she told ME, plain old Izumi, Koushiro! Mimi, as I understood too, never told our friends. She too knew it might be difficult to face how her friends would react to this. Still, she wanted to share that piece of her life with me. I was the first fellow child she shared her secret with. She trusted me. I felt so… so honored.

Now I wished I too had the courage as Mimi. Courage to find and face the truth from the two wonderful people in my life that cared for me as their child. Was it too late for me to ask for forgiveness? Can I forgive my parents? No. It is not their fault. They have given me so much as any parent would give any child… I still love them. Of all that is logical in the universe, it all comes down to me… I regret everything I've done to push them away. It is all up to me. Can they forgive me?

As I was still hugging her, my logical mind asked, 'Should I tell her about my life?' I wanted to. I wanted to so much. I felt I could trust her as she has trusted me. But I was so… afraid. What was stopping me?

Finally Mimi released us from our embrace. "Thank you for listening, Koushiro. Thank you so much."

'Koushiro… Koushiro…'

I finally realized she always called me Koushiro. All this time, it never occurred to me. Mimi was just being respectful to me. She always did things in respect. She did not have to be like that with me… Not when we were friends…

"Izzy, Mimi. Please call me Izzy." I finally asked her.

She smiled and hugged me again. She whispered to me, "Thank you, Izzy."

"You were always welcomed to call me, Izzy." I am very happy to have Mimi as a friend. Somehow, this was what people would refer to both of us as being kindred spirits. I know how true it was now…

'Wait-a-minute!'

I remembered the message from the last e-mail I got from this mysterious sender with the e-mail address gennai. I received it on the day I was about to get ready to go to camp. The reason I brought my laptop in the first place…

Pineapple at your side…

…follow the palm reader

'Was this referring to Mimi with her PalmNAVe? The trust she has in me? Was this what it meant? Who sent it? Why did I ever follow it? Does Mimi know about this? I wonder if she was responsible for that e-mail…'

My mind again raced with questions… ready to seek the answers…

"Mimi?" I whispered to her while we were still in an embrace.

"Yes, Izzy?" she whispered back.

'How should I ask this?' I continued, "Um, have you received any strange e-mails before?"

She withdrew her head to look at me. "What do you mean?"

"Well, strange e-mails. Like incoherent messages? Back at camp... or before we got to camp?"

She thinks a bit then turns to me and nods. "Yes, come to think of it. I got this strange message from someone with the address-"

"Ahem…"

A voice interrupted us, a very familiar male voice. Mimi and I turned to see Palmon and Tentomon wide-awake. There were staring at us. We soon realized that we were still embracing each other.

"Awww… I just love it when you guys make up," Palmon said with tears of joy. She walked over to us and joined in our tight embrace. Her vines slowly started to wrap around Mimi and I. "Awwww… HUUUUG!" she sighed. Mimi and I smiled at Palmon and shook our heads in defeat.

However, Tentomon wasn't too moved by this at all. Mainly because he knew we had other important things to do. He was still a bit peeved at me as well, but all was forgiven. In his strange sarcastic tone, he said, "I hate to interrupt such a pleasant moment, but I think Infinity Mountain is in flying distance. I am finally strong enough and able to digivolve to my champion form and fly us all toward the Infinity Mountain to quickly meet up with the others."

We both blushed and let go of each other. Palmon was grinning at us with her toothy grin. Tentomon just sighed in disgust. I guess Palmon and Tentomon did not hear what Mimi and I shared a several minutes ago. Mimi gave me a smile and we both got to our feet. 'Well, she got to her feet. I was already standing.' Forgetting everything about the mysterious e-mail messages that were nagging the both of us, I returned her smile. Maybe another time we could continue to share things together.

Well, duty calls… I checked the bar gage on my Digivice. It was at maximum! "Prodigious, everyone!"

"That means we can finally go now!" cheered Mimi.

"Hooray!" cheered Palmon as she hugged Mimi.

Wasting no time, I said, "Tentomon, digivolve!"

My Digivice started to shine brightly and vibrated with power. The familiar loud revving whistle sound of my Digivice fills the air. The gage lights enveloped Tentomon with light and power. I could actually see the ones and zeros surrounding him. I heard Tentomon voice as the transformation takes place…

"Tentomon SHINKA… KABUTERIMON!"

Kabuterimon now stood before us, a larger insectoid Digimon. Now he was large enough to fly as all off the floating island towards Infinity Mountain.

"ALL ABOARD!" yelled Palmon.

We packed up all our belongings, making sure nothing was left behind. Mimi, Palmon and I climbed onto Kabuterimon's hand and he lifted us to the base of his neck and shoulders. I placed myself in the front and I helped Mimi up to sit behind me. Mimi helped Palmon sit behind her. Palmon used her long vines like a seatbelt for all of us to be safely seated on Kabuterimon.

"ALL READY?" asked Kabuterimon in his growl-like voice.

"All set!" I replied.

"I am ready!" Mimi said as she clutched her pink hat to head.

"Okay, back here!" replied Palmon.

"OKAY, LET'S GOOO!" Kabuterimon yelled as he charged his wings and took off…

Here we were with our Digimon companions. We were two children who, some would say, came from very different societies. As I rationalize it more, maybe it was not as different as it may seem on the outside. Could it be that it was just coincidence that seven of us children have been brought to this alien world? Coincidence that it ended up being Mimi and myself to be united after the Devimon Black Gears encounter that separated all of us?

I would rather believe it was more than just coincidence. I rather believe it in a way that defies logic. Logic aside, I believe it was fate. Fate we seven children were brought together in this world. For whatever reasons, I still yet have to uncover. Maybe it was a test of finding out our true selves… a test of character… or what defines us as human beings. Maybe…

What I do know that it was fate that I met my friend Mimi. Fate that we were now united. Ready to search for the others. Fate that we shared our little adventure. Discovered new secrets of this world and our selves. Fate in discovering why we possess these Digivices. No. Maybe fate was not the best word to describe all of this. Like our newly found purpose as us being the DigiDestined of the Digital World, maybe it should be just that… destiny.

To be continued...