So I'm starting a new story, because I want to. I have no idea what possessed me. But if my gut instinct is accurate, then it's going to be a pretty long haul. Damn.

Disclaimer: Do not own Digimon. Kouzumi would be more...canon if I did.

Prologue: For better and for worse...

Love is like a river

It eats away the will

Taking from the mind

And leaving just the chill

"Achoo!"

One sunny Friday morning, Izumi Orimoto marked the tenth anniversary of that day, known only to her and her other four friends as the beginning of their surreal journey in another world.

Now, sitting on her bed and sneezing from the dust that covered her mementos, it felt even less real than it had when she lived through it. She barely remembered what actually happened, only the people that accompanied her along the way.

Tomoki. Junpei. Takuya. Kouichi. Kouji…

People who she lost contact with bit by bit, as emails went from daily to weekly, monthly to yearly, and finally to nothing.

Friends that went on to have their own lives.

As if that would ever be able to separate them…

The door bell suddenly rang, interrupting her train of thought. She peeked over the windowsill and grinned. Speak of the devil.

Eagerness took over and she dashed out so fast that the picture album nearly knocked to the floor. As it was, the binder hung precariously over the edge of the bed.

As soon as the door opened the first visitor threw her arms around Izumi so suddenly that she nearly tumbled to the floor.

"Mimi!" Laughing, Izumi pulled her friend to the kitchen table. "Sit!"

Her classmate grinned and shook her head quickly. "No can do. I want you to come with me to see someone!" The last word was emphasized by a casual flick of long brown hair and a mischievous wink.

Izumi caught the look and sighed. "It's not another blind date, is it?"

"No, no, it's better. It's my fiancé…" She trailed off, cheekily.

"He finally proposed?!"

Mimi grabbed her hands. "Yes!"

"So then…"

"Hm?" Dreamily.

"You'll be…Kimura Mimi?"

Giggle. "Yeah."

Another voice, much calmer than hers, rose up right behind her. "Yeah." The newcomer leaned over Mimi's shoulder and grinned at Izumi.

"Kouichi!" Her voice was still warm with the delight that came from suddenly finding him in her freshman writing class after going so long without meeting a single one of their little group. It was strange how quickly things changed and reverted back to that old camaraderie. It was strange how quickly she had accepted it and forgotten her loneliness entirely.

So much like that time, ten years before…Izumi lost herself in her memories until she was called back by a question that she failed to hear.

"Huh?"

"You're not surprised?" Kouichi raised his eyebrow, mock hurt covering the strange elation in his voice.

"Oh, of course not! Only that you had the guts to actually do it, you know." She winked.

Kouichi laughed and Mimi's eyes brightened suddenly. Izumi had the sinking feeling that she had just missed something.

"So you'll come?"

"Huh?"

"To my wedding?"

"Oh…Oh! Of course," she smiled warmly even though she still felt that odd sense of anticipation and foreboding dripping from their conversation. "I'd be a very bad friend if I didn't!"

The triumph in Mimi's eyes told Izumi that she had just sealed her fate.

"Then it's settled! You'll have to come have dinner with everybody!"

"Everybody?"

"Our families." Kouichi supplied helpfully. But there was a knowing look in his eyes that made her throat suddenly dry up, because that one (short, too short) journey of a lifetime was enough for her to learn all sorts of things about him, both spoken and unspoken. And to know that whatever he was thinking, it probably involved her in situations she would rather not be in.

Like across the table from him.