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Chapter 1: A Familiar World

It was a dream that had been recurring for the past week and a half. She was back in the Digital World with all the others. A sort of nostalgic and wonderful dream that made her heart yearn for the days of when she was younger - being back in the digital world. Being with her digimon once more, fighting enemies such as Devimon and the Dark Masters. Such an experience as that had made such an impact on all of their lives that it was impossible to think about what they would have been like if their adventure hadn't brought them all together. They had all matured one way or another. Even she had matured from the childish personality that she had once lived her life by. She was a more popular person, and felt better about herself because of it.

Not very long ago she had looked at the new generation of Digidestined, in her heart aching for them to experience what she had when in the digital world. But she knew that it would be impossible. The D-Terminals and the portals through the computers and other areas always allowed them to return to the Real World after their missions were completed. They had never had a real chance to grow in her eyes. Not in the way that she and the others had grown at least. Spending weeks in the digital world with the others had caused them all to grow very close and she almost hated the fact that the reality of the Real World had separated them when they all seemed inseparable. The "New Generation" were close, but by looking at them she could tell that they were still children.

She had smiled at the thought of Takeru and Daisuke fighting; reminding her of when Taichi and Yamato used to fight with each other in almost the same way. Though she knew that all of Taichi and Yamato's fights were about leadership and what to do and when to do it, half of Takeru and Daisuke's fights were about Hikari. It had made her happy that they had grown at least a little from their experiences in the digital world and the experiences were similar to hers. She wished that all people could experience the exact same thing.

Yes, she wanted everyone to experience the exact same thing. Yet at the same time, she wanted to be selfish. The experience was theirs and theirs alone, and she wanted to keep the Digital World the way that it always had been. Some digimon were taking on more human traits than she had thought healthy, but knew that things would still go on in a same manor as always. But it seemed horrifying to her if anyone at any time were able to travel to and from the digital world whenever they pleased - she knew it would be totally ruined. The Digital World would never be the same. It would be total chaos if some other evil came to try and destroy the Digital World and there would be tourists running a muck all over the place. And the reason for all of these horrible thoughts was from the recurring dream that always followed.

It was of the Digital World being destroyed by humans as they traveled through both worlds as they pleased just as easily as if they were to walk into a building. Viewing the digimon as monsters and great wars would issue between the two, bloodshed and deletion until eventually the humans won and destruction was strewn throughout the Continent of Server and File Island. What would remain of the digimon would flee into the forests and live their lives like animals. She knew that some of them lived in the forest and others in villages and small communities of course, but it wouldn't be the same. How would their normal way of life go on? It was a dream; she knew, but she couldn't help but feel as though each and every time she had seen the dream that it was real. It was a terrible thought that swept through her mind - taking over her thoughts until she seemed to always be thinking about the Digital World and the events in the dream. It consumed her day, distracted her from her schooling, chores, daily activities and even friends. Her parents had gotten so worried that they had made her go to counseling. Not that it would have ever done any good.

The counselor - the one she was seeing at this very moment - was a kindly-looking middle aged woman with short brown hair, with pearls around her neck to compliment the red business-woman outfit that she was wearing. She had rather dull hazel eyes behind the glasses that she kept seated on her nose, looking at the young teenager as though she had seen so many like her before. She had read the name of the counselor several times already, as it seemed to be posted many places in the room. The room itself was rather cluttered, which made it seem smaller than it actually was. It wasn't that the room was a mess, she just seemed to have too many things for such a small room. There were small trinkets, pens and pencils all over the desk, as well as small piles of paperwork. There were also stuffed animals, and messily coloured pages on the walls that had been ripped out of colouring books. There were also boxes that had yet to be opened in small piles under her desk and near the doorway.

"So, can you tell me what's wrong?" She asked in a low voice. This voice of hers was docile and cautious, as if speaking to someone who had a rather short fuse. No doubt that she had met teenagers like that while she worked as a counselor. She tried to ignore it, knowing that it would be rude if she had told her that she would have appreciated a change in the tone of her voice.

"No..." It was a short reply and she had almost expected the woman - whom was named Mrs. Radilette - to be shocked at her reply, but looking at her now she knew that this wasn't going to be the case. She seemed almost expectant of the answer that was given, making her feel as though Mrs. Radilette was treating her like one of the more unmanageable teenagers in which she had met before. She didn't really know how to word it properly without revealing information about the Digiworld or seeming like she was insane. Though she did expect that even if she did try to explain about the Digiworld that she would be deemed insane. She knew that even people who lived in the very city where all the monsters had appeared four years ago had forgotten about it. None of them had gotten enough information or a long enough look at the digimon to really see what they were. Certainly no outsider from the city would believe. After what seemed like a long pause, she spoke again. "Its rather difficult to talk about... I don't really know what to say." Mrs. Radilette's expression immediately changed to a mask of sympathy; one in which you might expect of a counselor who was dealing with a more troubled and broken teenage girl who might have had something traumatic happen to them.

"Dear, I know that admitting to faults such as this can be hard. But for victims or misguided girls such as yourself it is always best to talk about them." She was now beginning to sound less like a professional with that statement. It began to annoy her more and more, seeing as Mrs. Radilette was merely assuming that she was traumatized by something that had happened to her.

"No, its nothing like that...It's just a dream that I was having a few times in a row. I just got a little carried away in thinking about it for the last three days, that's all. It's not really anything more than that." She didn't seem to buy it, though luckily decided to not press into the matter. The session had ended early and she had been able to convince her parents to not let her go again. It was beginning to get dark, and at last it was time for bed. It was a little early for one to go to bed. It was still only seven in the evening. But the sooner one went to sleep, the sooner that dreams would come.

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Long caramel coloured hair blew in the soft summer breeze, and large hazel-red eyes fluttered open. Mimi Tachikawa looked around, knowing that she wasn't in her soft comfortable bed any longer. Instead, she was outside, with colourful and tropical trees and plant life surrounding her. She stood up, almost tripping over the outfit that she was wearing. She looked down, remembering that she hadn't been wearing a dress or nightgown when she had gone to bed. Her eyes widened as she looked at her body, her hands - even her head. Tan gloves, her pink cowgirl outfit and matching pink hat. It was the outfit that she was wearing the day that she had fallen into the Digiworld - the world that she was now in.

"How in the world did I get here?" Mimi asked herself as she stood up. "And how did my old clothes manage to fit me?" She looked around, trying to figure out her exact location or if she recognized anything about her surroundings. It had been a long time since she had gone to the Digiworld, and things might have changed. She became a little uneasy knowing that Palmon wasn't by her side to keep her company or protect her. With some difficulty Mimi had managed to climb up a nearby tree in order to get a better look at her surroundings. She was glad that no one else was there because of the dress that she was wearing, and having to roll them up and then tie the skirt into a large knot to her legs just under her hips in order to make it easier to move. It would have been as embarrassing as the time that Taichi and Kushiroh had ran in on her while she was in the bathroom while in the Korromon Village when it was inhabited by Pagumon. A blush came to her face from the memories. It was probably the most awkward moment of all her time being a digidestined.

She grunted as she hauled herself up to one of the top branches that could still support her weight. "I wish I had Taichi's telescope with me..." She murmured under her breath as she looked around, squinting her eyes as if that would help her to see better. A small noise of shock escaped her lips as her eyes fell upon a certain large rock structure. "That's Infinity Mountain! I'm on File Island!" She sighed, leaning against the tree trunk, closing her eyes. It was all so confusing. Just last night she had been in her own bed back in America, and then had woken up in the Digital World. It didn't look like it was in any kind of danger, but she knew that if it was then Palmon would be with her. The others would be with her as well.

"The others!" She yelped, as she quickly jumped down from branch to branch until she reached solid ground. "I wonder if they got here as well." She quickly untied the knot and let the skirt of her dress fall back down her legs before she went running through the forest. This all feels so nostalgic... I remember it like it was yesterday. "TAICHI! YAMATO! SORA! ANYONE?!" She yelled as she ran through the forest at top speed capabilities for her condition. "TAKERU! HIKARI! Koushiro, Jou..." She stopped after a while, both tired from running and for the fact that she had not gained anything by running. The only knowledge that she had gained was that she was alone. She leaned against a tree, placing her fingers on the bridge of her nose, thinking about what to do. First she had to find Palmon. If she could succeed in that, then she could be able to live at least a little more comfortably until she met up with anyone else or find her way back home. But there was one thing that she needed to do before all of that: bathe. She always had a shower in the morning before she did anything. And running didn't help with anything either. She would just have to find a place that she could go to where she could have a quick bath, dry off and then continue her search. She loved the Digiworld, but one thing that she didn't miss above all else was not having baths for at least a few days on end.

She had soon found a lake where she could take a quick dip. It wasn't like the tubs back in the Real World, but she couldn't be choosy. She slipped her clothes off, and stepped into the water. It was freezing to her warm body - which had become rather heated from the running that she had done. She bit her lip and shivered, trying to ignore the cold as she walked deeper and deeper into the lake. By the time that she had sunk her shoulders under the surface of the cold waters she heard a twig snap in the forest. She gasped and turned around to look at the forest. Most likely it was a digimon that could cause trouble for her, and she knew that she didn't want to be caught in the lake when it happened, especially since she didn't have anyone with her. She quickly got out, grabbing her clothes and a large stone. If it was a smaller digimon - even half the size of Kuwagamon - then she could probably knock it out. She knew that a lot of little annoying digimon roamed around File Island that were smaller than an elephant. With her clothes in front of her body, and the large rock in hand, she waited for any noise. At first, there was nothing but silence. They couldn't know that she was here, she hadn't been that loud when she scrambled for her things. Soon enough, she heard footsteps as they resumed their search. Her heart began to race as she heard the footfalls coming closer and closer to her hiding place behind the tree. Her hand began to shake a little as the adrenaline ran through her body. She stayed in place, though, knowing that she would be at a disadvantage if she came out before she had a need to. Maybe it would leave her alone after it found out that it couldn't see anything here. She wished Palmon was here. She wished the others were here. It was infuriating and frightening to be here in the Digital World with absolutely no one. She had been alone and away from the others before, but she was only away from the others, and had Palmon with her to keep her company.

She snapped out of her panicked thoughts as she saw a shadow appearing on her side of the tree. This was it, she was going to have to attack. She lunged out from behind the tree and screamed when she saw who it was. It was Taichi - who seemed to go a dark shade of red when he saw Mimi. He, too, was in his old clothes that he had worn back when he first came to the Digital World, and even his hair had grown out. But her reflexes were too fast for her mind to react and stop herself as she threw the rock at him. It had only been a fraction of a second, and it was too late. Taichi fell to the ground, unconscious from the blow to the head from the rock. It had only taken Mimi another second to realize what she had done, and whom she had done it to before she reacted.

"TAICHI!" She screamed, as she fell to her knees by his side. "Oh god... I didn't mean to..." She whispered to his face, tears forming and threatening to stream down her rosy cheeks. She had brushed her fingers through his hair, trying to look at the extent of the damage. She found the injury, and to her delight it wasn't that severe. There was a little cut, and he would have a large bump, but he would be fine. She could barely keep in her emotions, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was so happy to see him, she didn't know the last time that she had been so happy to see someone in her life. She wasn't alone now; now she was with a dear friend. She stood up, wanting to dress before he gained consciousness.