Hi Everyone!

After a lot of homework neglect, I'm happy to bring you part three of my

serious story, called Solitary Dreams. There's not much to say about it,

except that if you're confused now, you'll probably be five times as

confused by the end of this part....

Also, I'm in the process of writing "Digi-Dorks: version 4.0 - A Digital

Murder Mystery", but it's coming slow.

Also, I've changed my e-mail address. From this point on my new email

address is:

yokomansion@hotmail.com

there's a few reasons I changed it, and it will probably make sense after DD

part four comes out. I'm sorry about any trouble this causes. I'll

probably check my old email a few more times after this is posted, and then

switch completely to my new address. That's all the news for today from the

desk of Easter! Enjoy the story!

And big THANK YOUS to Ucchan for always getting fanfics up so wonderfully.

***

Solitary Dreams: Part Three

***

Sora curled up in her sheets, not wanting to get out of bed that morning.

Her hands moved to pull the heavy blankets protectively over her head. Just

then the telephone rang. Sora winced as she rose to answer the jingle.

***

Matt hung up the phone and took a deep breath. His throat was parched with

too much talking and with concern for Tai and the rest of them. In the

kitchen he found an empty chair, a glass of juice, and some solitude.

"I can't take this," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. "It's too much." He

slammed the plastic cup on the table top and made a face. "What can I

do?!?!"

***

Kari unfolded a t-shirt and pulled it over her head. She gazed at her

reflection in the mirror. Possessed with a sudden chill, she shuddered and

grabbed a wool sweater on her way out the door.

***

Joe aimlessly tapped his pencil against the hollow of his cheek, eyes raised

to the ceiling. His expression changed from wonder to confusion to anger.

Then, glancing at his watch, he ran through the hallways of his house

towards the front door.

***

Tai could barely keep his eyes open during the ride on Tokyo's subway

system. His bloodshot gaze wandered from the reality of the quiet snow

outside, to the tainted depths of his own soul and the replays of that same

nightmare, over and over....

***

Izzy's fingers marched over the keyboard on his laptop, finishing one last

task before the meeting that morning. From the front seat of their station

wagon, Mr. and Mrs. Izumi attempted an amiable chat with their son, but he

was unresponsive. His mind was contemplating something only he could truly

understand.

***

TK reached as high as his rubber boots could push him to ring the bright

doorbell of the Tachikawa residence. He patiently stood, absorbed in

childish thoughts.

The door flung wide to reveal a very cheerful Mrs. Tachikawa. She led TK

through their apartment and into Mimi's bedroom, where the young girl was

sitting between a small pile of books and a plate of cookies. Once Mrs.

Tachikawa left the room, Mimi generously invited the boy to partake of the

cookies, an offer which he immediately accepted. Mimi herself refused, and

sat on the bed in silence, watching her little friend with a concealed

sadness in her eyes.

Soon an obviously depressed Tai entered Mimi's room, followed by Sora, Izzy,

and the others. They sat together, in a circle, for the first time since

their Digital Adventures. All felt mized feelings towards the rest, and so

they sat, virtually in silence, for a while. It was broken when Izzy

clamped his laptop shut and addressed the children determinedly:

"It seems as if we have a problem. And a serious one indeed."

The childrens' small heads raised, as they felt in their hearts the same

call they'd felt that first day....a call which bound them together and made

their six months' separation seem no more than a day.

"I'll begin," Izzy said. "by informing and reminding all of you that what we

knew as the Digital World was actually another universe, connected to this

universe only by one of its three dimensions. Now we don't know, or even

have a guess as to how far the Digital World Universe ACTUALLY extended. We

could have spent our entire adventures contained in the tiniest degree of

the Digital World. On that subject, I'll introduce you to the idea that the

Digital World and our world are very probably not the only worlds out there.

It's quite possible that both worlds put together don't make up the most

minute part of an atom in the Great Universe..."

He noticed the confused and troubled looks on his friends faces.

"I'm saying that the worlds we know about are nothing compared to the

infinate quantity of worlds we don't yet know. This leaves us and the Earth

quite vulnerable to new attackes from advanced and hostile civilizations."

Tai massaged his burning eyes and asked:

"Do you mean to tell us that there are more worlds we have to be responsible

for?"

Despite the unsympathetic remark, all seven children who heard were forced

to agree with it. After so much time in the Digiworld and the final

homecoming, it was a relief to get back to normal life. Nobody wanted to be

torn away, once again, from everything important to them. Precious and

fragile peace was to be disrupted once more.

"Tai..." Mimi spoke for the first time that day. "I don't want to fight.

You know I have trouble. Let's just listen to Izzy and get whatever it is

we have to do over with. I can't sit here dreaming when the world is in my

power to protect, but the sooner we act the easier the battle will go..."

Mimi trailed off, her face contorted with shame and timidity.

Izzy stared at her. Mimi had seemed so depressed all day. She looked so

much older than the last time he'd seen her. It was as if, while six months

had passed for him, six years had passed for her. Her brown eyes were

shaded by drooping eyelashes, and framed by lines of despair. The change

was evident in her dress as well. Today she wore loose cotten pants and a

long sleeved forest green shirt. What a change from the small, sheltered

queen of six months ago...

Mimi sat back and clutched a book in her hands... Don Quixote. She had

nearly finished it.

"I know you don't want to fight, Mimi," Izzy said reassuringly. "And I

don't think you'll have to. In fact, none of us may ACTUALLY have to

fight."

"What?" Joe asked. "So... why are we here... if there's nothing to

fight...?"

"Izzy, what did you call us here for?!? Get to the point!!!" Tai was

obviously on edge that day. Matt could notice the difference, even from the

night before. Tai's eyes had been glaring at everything, and now they were

glaring at the small red haired boy. "Can't you tell us something IMPORTANT

for once?!? I'm sick of you and your constant condescending theories!!!

Just act like a normal person for once and tell us something we NEED TO

KNOW!!!"

Izzy saw Mimi's knuckles growing white as she grasped her book harder

throughout Tai's hollering. Izzy stood up and angrily faced Tai.

"I understand you're mad Tai, but that's no reason to yell." He said

harshly to the taller boy. "You only make people upset. Sit down, and

listen to what I have to say before you do something you'll regret." Izzy

knew Tai's attitudes. He would have jumped on anyone in a second. That was

Tai's way of dealing with a situation. He knew no other; it was part of how

he'd been brought up. With his parents' constant absence, Tai found his own

ways of conflict resolution. He would very probably never grow out of it.

But it was imperative for Tai to realize people can be hurt by that. Mimi

was a fragile girl. Izzy refused to let Tai hurt her more than she had been

hurt already.

Mimi's parents were kind people. But they sometimes were caught up in their

own world. They lived their life from day to day, often pushing their

daughter away to live out her life in the same way. She always came home

from school to an empty house. She always got her breakfast, lunch, and

dinner for herself. She was always responsible for her own homework. Her

parents never seemed to want to interact with her. They took pride in her

accomplishments, of course, but always seemed to be more proud of THEMSELVES

than they were of her. She was expected to grow up perfect, but alone. She

was not allowed to leave the house, except on shopping trips with her

parents... she rarely saw her friends outside of school. As a direct result

of this enclosed lifestyle, Mimi had become a sheltered little girl. She

knew nothing about what went on in the real world. Her adventures in the

Digital World had made her strong; there was no doubting that. But she was

just beginning to come to grips with the real world. Nowadays she read the

newspaper every day, and often carried a book with her; one of the classics,

like 'Great Expectations' or 'The Jungle'. This had definately taken its

toll on her. She seldom talked anymore. It was as if she resented everyone

for the problems of the world and her ignorance of them. She would refuse

to talk with her parents, angry and confused at their neglecting to teach

her about how harsh life can be. The realities of this world were too much

for someone who had grown up as Mimi had, and it was breaking her. If

talking was difficult for the girl, arguing was ten times worse.

"We don't need any more fighting," Izzy warned on Mimi's behalf. "Please try

to work out your feelings on your own, and don't take them out on other

people!" He glanced at Mimi with concern in his eyes. Tai took a hint and

sat back.

"I understand. I'm just tired. Go on, Izzy." Tai said, brushing his hair

back. He wasn't mad at them. He was mad because his heart was breaking for

their sake, and he didn't know how to help. He only listened and

desperately, like a child, tried to pretend everything was okay.

"As I was saying," Izzy continued, more quietly this time. "the chances are

very probable that there are other worlds out there. Many of them in fact.

And I have good reason to believe that one of those other worlds; one

remotely connected with the Digital World, is in trouble."

"In trouble?" Matt said. "What makes you think that?"

"....and how do we help?" Kari finished for him, speaking for the first

time into a conversation between boys three years older than her.

"Lately some of us have been experiencing some.... strange.... feelings."

Izzy stuttered over the nonscientific wording of his explaination. "I

believe that those are all connected. And the culmination happens online.

On my computer, to be precise."

"Wha-?!?" Tai gasped. Izzy had HIS dream.... on a computer file? Tai

glared at the boy, silently pleading he wouldn't tell the others about the

dream. It was too personal; too...scary.

"I won't give details because of the privacy of certain people. But some of

you have told me about feelings or dreams you've had. These feelings have

been reflected to a database on my computer. Gennai sent them to me."

"Gennai!?" Sora cried. "We haven't heard from him in so long....." A smile

lit up her face, and flashed around the room as the children recalled their

mentor from long ago. After the rushed exit following the defeat of evil in

the Digiworld, they hadn't heard from him, and never expected to again. The

rip into the Digital World had been sealed, and the children informed that

their adventures were over. It was both pleasing and shocking to hear from

Gennai once more.

"Yes, Gennai. He reflected images of this world I've never seen into my

personal database. These are images that have no particular date; they may

have happened millenia ago, they may happen tomorrow, or they may be

happening right now. I've seen all of these images; and they are the same

things that some of us have seen in our dreams. Thus, I have reason to

believe that we are in some way connected with this other world, but I don't

know how. Because of the time dimension, we may have been there already, we

may be going there.... or we may be there now."

"What? How is that possible!?" Matt demanded.

"It's very complicated. That world is not connected to ours and therefore

it is possible that we exist simultaneously in two worlds: because they are

not connected. But my point is, I don't know what's going on in that other

world; it's been difficult to talk to Gennai. I just wanted to let you all

know that what's been going on is your minds has, is, or will be happening

elsewhere."

There was silence.

"Is that all?" Tai asked. "I mean- is that all you know?"

"Yes."

"Then, I guess there's nothing we can do right now." Joe stated simply. He

had been deeply absorbed in thought the whole time. His glasses slid gently

down the arc of his nose. He pushed them back up. "I think it's important

that we not rush into anything. But what can we do in the meantime? It

seems kind of useless to just sit here..."

"Wait..." Izzy said. "And listen. And watch for whatever comes to you.

Everything you see and hear is important. Just be patient. I promise to

let you all know the minute I learn anything new. All you need to do now

is go home, and relax."

Having no other business to attend to, the children left the Tachikawa

house. Sora said she was already late, and immediatly went home. Matt and

TK went to go out for lunch. Joe took Kari home, and Tai said he wanted to

stay with Izzy.

As Izzy remained in Mimi's room, shutting down his laptop system, Tai

confronted the genius about that dream.

"Izzy...." he said. "Can I... can I see the pictures Gennai sent?"

Izzy blinked at him. "Do you really want to?" He carried a bit of a

warning tone in his voice.

"Yes."

"All right. I'll show you only the ones that reflect your own dream."

Izzy's fingers tapped over the keyboard, and his eyebrows were set in a

determined postition. After a few minutes the database had been accessed,

and small, dark pictures slowly appeared on the screen.

"They're so dark, and blurry!" Tai commented.

"You just wouldn't expect computer images from a completely different

universe to be imperfect would you?" Izzy questioned sarcastically.

Tai only squinted and moved his head closer to the screen.

"That's it!" he gasped, falling away. "That's my dream! And that's the

girl from my dream.... and that attack! It's all here!"

"What did you expect?" Izzy replied. "I said it was here, didn't I?"

"But this is incredible! There are pictures of my dream...." Tai

stammered. "Where are they coming from?"

"Besides that they were sent to me from Gennai," Izzy confessed. "I really

don't know where, or when these take place. And I don't know how there have

come to be pictures of these events. T-"

Izzy suddenly looked very lost. "I..."

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing... nothing.... just a little headache, that's all."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this is incredible!" Tai repeated, grabbing his jacket. "I need to

get home Izzy. I'll.... I'll e-mail you tonight!"

"Okay...." Izzy murmured as Mimi's door slammed shut after Tai. Then he

shut down his laptop and turned to Mimi. She was sitting at her armoir,

facing the mirror. She gave the same look she had given all evening. He

walked over to her and sat on the foot of the bed.

"Mimi...." he said. "I know your dreams have been bothering you, but

you've got to believe that it will be okay. We're all in this together, no

one will leave you behind. I promise."

She turned to look at him, showing those big, brown eyes that had never been

able to hide her feelings. It was obvious she'd been in anguish that day.

"I'm new at this, Izzy. I can't do it on my own. And I'm so scared..." The

tears that had been flooding her eyes finally spilled over her face. "I've

been by myself too long. I can't do what they asked of me if I have to be

alone again...." She sat by Izzy and he held her hand, wanting to help her,

but not knowing what to do.

Mimi had been calling Izzy repeatedly for several days now, every day more

desperate than before. She, like Tai, had been dreaming recurring

nightmares. Hers, however, did not involve the other children. It was only

Mimi, and that by itself affected her strongly. In her dream, she was

standing face to face with a large presence that kept on asking her

questions. She could never remember the questions, she only recalled

feeling as if she couldn't answer. Every night she dreaded going to sleep

for fear of being helplessly interrogated once more. So she had called

Izzy, who rationally tried to talk her out of her fears. He'd been using

the excuse that it was only a dream; it wasn't real. But Mimi had to know

the truth, like the others, and it terrified her that her worst dream was

real.

She was crying on Izzy's shoulder now. He searched for some logical way to

help her, but was saved from the task by a high- pitched beeping. It came

from the top level of Mimi's bookcase. She didn't notice, but Izzy grasped

the object which made the noise.

"Mimi," he said, awakening the miserable girl from her tears. "It's your

digivice!!!"

"Yeah," Mimi agreed, drying her face. "What's so strange about that?"

"You've had it?!?" asked Izzy, examining the small mechanism. "You've had

it all this time?"

"Mm hmm..." Mimi said. She looked at Izzy strangely. "What's the matter?"

"My digivice is gone! I had it in a safe place until yesterday. I couldn't

find it anymore and I wondered if it had some connection with the pictures

and the dreams. So I called Tai, and he had lost his digivice that morning.

Matt lost his digivice that same day. Sora brought hers to my house,

though. She still has hers. And you still have yours. Then why are ours

gone?"

"It's no surprise that Tai would lose his," Mimi said. "He loses most of his

things. But you never lose anything, and doesn't Matt always keep his

digivice with him?"

"That's what I thought..."

"I'm going to call Joe." Mimi resolved. "He won't be home yet right now, but

I'll call him later tonight. That's strange...."

"What?"

"Look at it."

The Digivice had a pink spot moving on the screen. Beside the pink spot

were several other spots of blue, purple, orange, and grey. there was also

a red spot far away from the others.

"It hasn't been working since the Digital World!!!" Mimi cried. "It's

working again!" She looked at Izzy with fear in her eyes. "What does this

mean?"

"The lights must signify the other Digivices." Izzy said, grabbing it from

Mimi. "That means all of them, except the red one, and yours, are in ONE

location...."

"Sora's is red!" Mimi recalled.

"And she has her digivice...." Izzy contemplated. "Mimi, I've got to go.

There's important research to be done. Remember to call me after you talk

to Joe!" He grabbed his laptop and rushed out the door.

"Okay...." Mimi said, clutching her digivice and watching the lights on it,

signifying her friends.

***

Tai rode the subway home by himself. Looking out the window with the same

tired eyes, they were now brightened by the hope of meaning behind his

nightmares.

***

Matt ran the water in the sink and filled a pitcher full. He stared out the

kitchen window, wondering what Izzy had in mind.

***

Izzy carried a pillow to the basement. Sora had asked to sleep at his

house again that night, and he felt it his duty to help her out. Although

he seldom understood his friends' moods, he owed them more than they knew.

There wasn't much time left, anyway....

***

Kari picked up her stuffed lion and prepared for bed. She turned out the

lights, hoping that she wouldn't see the same woman who came every night to

talk to her... she was so scary.

***

TK shoved his last t-shirt into the suitcase, to travel back to his mothers'

house. She was waiting outside. He stepped first inside the kitchen, to

say goodbye to his brother. Matt was always there to help him out. TK only

wished he got more time with his brother.....

***

Joe sat in a chair, reading. Before he knew it he forgot the book, and

dropped it to the floor. He was off in thought again.... asking himself

what may result from these confusing circumstances...

***

Sora sat on her bed, silently penning a note. She noticed the clock and

finished up. After setting it on her dresser, she left the house at quietly

as she could for Izzy's house.

***

To Be Continued

***

Whew! So what did everyone think? Getting better? Worse? Understand

what's going on? Don't have a clue? Send your questions and comments to

yokomansion@hotmail.com

Until next time.... bye everyone!

`easter