"That's it. We're lost," Mimi pouted.
"We can't be lost," replied Joe rather worriedly. "I specifically remember the camp being right here!" he said, pointing at the oddly shaped tree that was just like the one back at the camp with all the others. "But there's supposed to be a cave right there!" He looked to the right, but there was no cave and the others were nowhere to be seen.
"Joe, we passed that stupid tree at least ten times now." Mimi sat herself down on a rock and rested her head in her hands. "So now what are we supposed to do?"
"I don't understand this! We only left to find some more firewood! We didn't go far!! We've wandered around this *F-ing* place for hours now and still can't find the others! How can we possibly be lost?!?!?!" Joe was seriously freaking out.
"Joe! For Christ's sake! Calm down! You're yelling isn't gonna help anything!"
"Oh shut the hell up Mimi!" he screamed. "If we didn't go over to that stupid-ass pond back there in the woods that you claimed was so very pretty…which by the way was nothing but a F-ing puddle with some freaky green shit in it…we wouldn't even be in this damn mess!!!"
"Ohh Joe," Mimi said. She began to cry and she buried her hands in her face.
Joe looked at her. He remembered the first time he saw her at camp. He was 13, the oldest among the entire group. Mimi was a year younger, but Joe had never seen anything more beautiful when she got off the bus with all the other giggling bimbos. He can still hear the sound of her laughter, the way her auburn hair flowed, and the way she would batter her big, brown eyes at everything. But, knowing how nervous he gets around girls and his unpopular reputation as a hypochondriac nerd, he avoided contact with her. Even when they were brought together with the others into the Digiworld, Joe continued to hide his true feelings for Mimi. As the months in the Digiworld went by, Joe's crush began to fade. Yet, no matter how annoying and obnoxious Mimi would get sometimes, Joe always felt something for her. He was just too afraid to say anything.
He took a deep breath and realized what a jerk he was being. He sat down beside her. "Sorry, Mimi. I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that every single time I try and do something right…I always end up screwing things up. I mean, if I've got the crest of reliability, then I should be able to handle these kinds of situations, right?" Mimi was still crying. "I'm really, really sorry Mimi. Please stop crying."
Mimi looked up at him and saw how heartfelt he was being. Holding her crest of sincerity in the palm of her hand, she wiped her tearstains off and gave him a meek smile. "Ohh Joe," she wrapped her skinny arms around his neck and buried her weeping face in this shoulder. Joe, although rather surprised, felt an incredible sensation all over him. He blushed. "I forgive you. I'm just so scared." She slowly pulled away. "What are we gonna do?"
"Don't worry. We'll think of something," he said reassuringly. He looked around the desolate desert plain. Realizing that he and Mimi were the only two people within miles, he began to worry. "Hey, I wonder where Gomamon and Palmon got off to. We split up two hours ago. Don't you think they'd be back by now?"
"Oh my," Mimi said. "Now that you mention it, I am worried. What if something happened to them? What will we do?" She held her digivice and looked at her surroundings. "Oh Palmon…where are you?"
Meanwhile, back at the camp…
Tai looked up at the murky and whirling sky.
"Hmmm…sure looks like a vicious storm is coming, and soon," said Izzy from behind.
"Yea," agreed Tai. "I hope those two get back soon," he said nervously, referring to Joe and Mimi. "Where the hell are they?"
Inside the cave, Kari and TK were asleep side-by-side along with their digimon. Sora tended to the small fire and Matt sat in the corner, quietly playing his harmonica.
Gomamon and Palmon came running into the cave, completely out of breath and exhausted.
"Hey you guys! You're back," Sora exclaimed happily. Matt and Sora stood up and the older kids gathered around the two digimon. "Ohhh, please tell me Joe and Mimi made it here already," Palmon asked eagerly. But after the two of them looked around the cave and noticed that they were two humans short of the full crew, their ambitious spirits dropped.
Gomamon sighed. "Oh Joe, I never should have left you. This is all my fault!"
"Now just wait a sec. I'm sure Joe and Mimi will be just fine," Tai said, reassuringly. "Don't worry about a thing. Once this weather clears up in the morning, we'll all go out and find them. I promise." Tai smiled, acting as his confident self. But deep down inside, he was very worried. He feared the worst.
A cold gust of wind sent chills up their spine. The sky was low and cloudy. A storm was on their way and they both new it would be dark soon. They needed to find shelter and fast. A flash of lightning lit the sky and was followed by an explosion of thunder.
Quickly, Joe grabbed Mimi by the hand. "Come on, we gotta get out of here." They ran side by side as fast as their legs could carry them. "Keep your eyes open for shelter. We can't be caught out in this storm!"
They ran for several minutes, finding nothing but sand and wind. Heavy rain began to fall from the sky, drenching the two of them from head to toe. Breathing heavily, Mimi whimpered, "Joe, we've been running forever…ahhhh!" A nearby lighting bolt shook the ground and sent the both of them flying face first into the mud.
"Come on, Mimi! We've gotta keep moving!" Joe yelled as another rumble of thunder pierced their ears.
"Joe…I can't!…I'm too tired and too scared! I…I can't move." Mimi cried, and closed her eyes.
"Mimi! Come on!" Joe protested trying to lift her up. "I can't just leave you!" he yelled back over the deafening storm. "Here." He put her arm around his neck and lifted her up with his hand around her waist. "Come on! Don't…stop…moving!!" But Mimi kept slipping out of his grasp. "Arrrrggg!" Joe, trying to get her to move, finally lifted her up and carried her in his arms. He proceeded in the brutal storm ever so slowly with the limp girl in his arms. "Remind me never to go to summer camp again," he said to himself.
Gasping for air and nearly unconscious, Joe finally spotted what looked like a cavern in the distance. "Just…a little…further," he winced, gasping for air.
Slowly but surely he made it to the foot of the cavern. He cautiously continued inside, keeping an eye out for any unwanted acquaintances. The cave was carved out of solid rock. It was quite small, just large enough to fit two people inside, but not nearly tall enough for Joe to stand. He crept inward on his knees.
Shivering, he gently placed Mimi down onto the soft dirt, opened up his shoulder bag, and felt around in it until he found the matches. "Oh please work," he pleaded to himself. He struck it and a dim light filtered the cave. Joe gathered up the remains of everything burnable in the small cave and made an undersized fire, not much bigger than his fist.
Joe took his soaking shirt off and placed it next to the fire to dry. He wrapped his arms around his legs and tried to keep himself warm. Staring across the flame at Mimi, Joe began to worry. He prayed she would wake up soon. Weak and cold, Joe drifted off to sleep against the rough rock behind him.
"What the…?" Joe said faintly, just waking up from his slumber. He found Mimi lying against his bare chest sound asleep.
Mimi woke up. "Oh hi, Joe," she said. Sorry if I startled you, but once it started to snow I got so cold…well…I needed to find some way to keep warm." She smiled at Joe, who looked rather shocked.
"What do you mean, snow?" Joe looked outside the cave to find nothing but a blanket of white fluff. "It's snowing…In the middle of the desert?? Now there's some freaky shit!"
The two of them chuckled at the fact that the Digiworld could be so odd and unpredictable at times. "Hell, why doesn't it just start to rain doughnuts er something," Joe teased. Mimi laughed. Looking at Joe now she felt something deep down. Here they are, stuck in the middle of the desert with it snowing outside. Joe saves her life and now she's resting her head on his bare chest and actually laughing.
Wow, she thought to herself, Joe can be really funny and sweet sometimes. Sure he's a bit nerdish and a major complainer, but I must admit he does have a certain adorable charm about him. And it is a nice feeling to be curled up against him. I wonder…no…do I?…have a thing for Joe??
She moved closer to Joe and she wrapped her arm around his bare abdomen. Feeling comfortable, Joe grinned, pulled her closer and the two of them drifted off for a while.
The blizzard continued through the night, getting progressively stronger and fiercer. A freezing sensation came over Joe and he quickly awakened. Snow had blown into the cave and was right up against his leg.
"Oh crap!" he said.
Mimi woke up. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"The snow…there must be five feet already, at least! And it's coming into the cave!" Joe got up from his comfortable position and tried to brush the snow away from them. "It's no use! We're trapped! And the snow keeps coming in!"
"Joe," Mimi pleaded, "please don't flip out this time, OK?" Mimi backed up into the farthest corner of the cave.
Joe looked up and saw how frightened she was. He went over to her and held her shaking body in his arms. "Don't worry, Mimi. I'll think of something. I won't let anything happen to you. Honest. After all I am the reliable guy, aren't I?" he said, smiling.
He paused. The incredible sensation he had felt before warmed his body once again. The girl he had a crush on for at least an entire year now was in his arms. "Mimi," he whispered. "I think I'm in love with you."
"Oh Joe," she said. She pulled Joe close and kissed him gently. Joe, stunned, wrapped his arms around her skinny body tightly and pressed his lips against hers once more.
They kept this up for several minutes and they began to get rather aggressive towards one another. Joe pressed her to the coarse wall and began to unzip her dress. Suddenly, in the middle of their heat, he stopped.
"Joe?" Mimi asked, out of breath. "What is it? What's wrong?" Her lips tingled from the long make-out session.
"Ha ha! That's it!" Joe exclaimed. "That's how we can stop the snow!"
Somewhat confused, Mimi said, "Huh? How? By making out?"
Joe laughed merrily. "No…the clothes. Here," he said, slipping off his kaki shorts. "We simply hang our clothes from the ceiling and tuck them into the crevices in the walls. Look," he said, sticking his shorts in a small crevice above their heads. "Come on, take off your dress and anything else you may be wearing."
Mimi was hesitant, yet it was a good idea. They both stripped down into their underclothes. Joe had on pair of blue boxers and Mimi was down to her panties and training bra. Their barrier of clothing was strong enough to keep the snow out for some time. Now the only problem was room and keeping warm.
"Well now what?" Mimi said.
"Here," said Joe. "He gently pulled her close to him. She lied down on top of his bare body and began to kiss him. (I think you know what happens next).
Dawn finally came along with the heat of the sun. The snow slowly turned to water. Joe opened his eyes. It took him a while to remember what had happened, but when he did he was rather proud. Finally, something right happened in my life, he thought holding his love tightly. His legs were exhausted from the night before and he had a feeling of inflammation down there, but all in all he felt good.
Tenderly, he kissed Mimi on her forehead. She awakened and kissed him back on his lips. "I never did tell you Joe…I love you too."
Joe embraced her once more. "Hey, look the snow's gone," he said pointing to the mouth of the cave. He took down the clothing barrier and gave Mimi her clothes back, (a bit reluctantly if you know what I mean). They scrambled out of the cave. Hand in hand, they walked and walked until finally they spotted the camp and the others in the distance.
"Joe," Mimi started, should we tell them about…well…ya know."
Joe paused in his steps. He spun Mimi around and gave her a big wet kiss that seemed to last a decade. "Nah," he said. "Let's keep it our little secret."
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