"See anything yet, Patamon?" Takeru called up at the flying Digimon. Beside him, Hikari shivered, her hands stuck under her arms like his was as she followed Tailmon. The cat Digimon looked a particular shade of pale blue as she trudged through snow that was almost as tall as she was. 

"Nothing yet." Patamon's shaky voice called from the tree tops above them. At least it had stopped snowing enough that Patamon could fly to look for shelter from the cold. Hikari's shivering grew more violent and she let out a sneeze. 

"Bless you." Tailmon said, glancing at her partner. The Digimon was obviously worried about her human. She didn't need to say it out loud, the look in her eyes spoke volumes. They needed to get out of the cold, and soon. 

Takeru shivered and nodded, mentally berating himself. They had decided to take one last run around the Digiworld. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but then it had started to snow. Heavily. Their Digimon had quickly been forced to land, and had rapidly lost the energy to re-Digivolve as the temperature dropped. And now night was almost on them.

"Here, Tailmon. Let me carry you." Hikari's soft voice interrupted his thoughts. He paused, waiting as Hikari picked up the Digimon and cradled her like a small child against her chest. The fact that Tailmon didn't protest, and curled up closer was a testimony of how cold the cat was.

Takeru gave Hikari a sympathetic smile when she looked up at him. "It's okay, Takeru." She assured him. He smiled back.

Light. That was her name and her crest. His was hope. So, he wasn't going to give up hope. They would get out of this alright.

"Takeru!" Patamon's voice rang out, startling him. He looked up. "I think I see something... Like a shack or a cave..."

"Which direction?" He called back. Patamon pointed off to the left. Squinting his eyes, Takeru scanned the area Patamon was pointing. Sure enough, there was a darker splotch admist the trees. "I see it! C'mon Hikari, this way!"

"It's about-t-time." Tailmon muttered, teeth chattering with every word. The cat did not look happy. "I thought that m-my tail was going to freeze off."

"Tailmon." Hikari gently scolded, turning to follow where Takeru was motioning. He caught up, breaking the trail ahead of them as they headed for the cabin. Patamon lead the way, even though the Digimon was clearly exhausted. 

As they got closer, Takeru could see that it was a small shack that they were headed for. It didn't seem to be in the best of conditions, but it was better than nothing. He glanced back at Hikari, who seemed to be slowing down a bit. "Need any help?" He offered. 

She shook her head, muffling a cough. "I'm fine." She said softly, hugging Tailmon tighter. "Let's get inside." 

He nodded and did not bring it up again, but kept a closer eye on her anyway. The last thing she needed was to get sick in the Digiworld again. This time, there was no Tai to find her medicine.

They finally made it to the shack. He knocked on the door, Patamon landing clumsily on his shoulder. "Hello?" He called. "Anyone home?"

There was no answer, so he tried again. "Hello-?"

"I don't think anyone's home, lets go in." Tailmon grumbled. Patamon let out a soft sigh, agreeing with his fellow Digimon. 

"Alright." He reached out and opened the door. It was un-locked and opened easily. He stepped in, looking around. No one seemed to be in it. "Looks like we're in business." He commented as Hikari followed him in.

"Yah." Tailmon cheered tiredly. Hikari shivered violently, a breeze coming in through the open door. He quickly turned and shut the door, latching it shut so the wind could not open it. Hikari continued to shiver. This was not good. 

Pushing how cold he was out of his mind, Takeru quickly searched the small cabin. There wasn't much there, a wood bunk, a cabinet and table. There was nothing in the cabinet, but under the bed, he found what he was hoping for. 

"Here we go." He shook out the gigantic blanket and draped it over Hikari. She blinked, looking up at him as she clutched it tighter. He smiled at her. She looked like a little kid. She smiled back.

"I think this must have been a mammoth Digimon." She commented, looking at the blue-grey material. It was huge, burying her under it's folds. "Thank you."

He shrugged it off. "You're welcome." Patamon yawning caught his attention. "It's cold, it's late, why don't we see about catching some zzz's before heading out in the morning?"

"That's the first sensible thing anyone's said all day." Tailmon yawned as well, her voice slightly muffled by the blanket. "That bed is calling my name..." 

"Then why don't you two take the bed?" Takeru motioned to it. 

Hikari blinked, looking at him with concerned eyes. "But if we take the bed and the blanket, where are you going to sleep?"

He waved that off as well. "Don't worry about it. Patamon and I can take care of ourselves. Right, Patamon?" A snore answered his question. Patamon had somehow fallen asleep on his shoulder. He pointed to his Digimon with an amused grin. "See?"

She nodded, the concerned look never leaving her eyes. "Alright. Sleep well, Takeru." 

"You too." He watched as she curled up with Tailmon on the wood bunk with a small smile. He had promised Sora that he would protect Hikari no matter what during the battle with Piedmon, and he was going to stick to it. Even though sometimes he wondered just who was taking care of who, he liked to think he was doing a good job of keeping his word.

Patamon made a small noise and fell forward off his shoulder perch. Takeru caught him and cradled him close to his chest, the Digimon never waking. Poor Patamon must really been worn out. 

Takeru wandered around the cabin some more, listening to the wind howl outside the cabin. At least it was warmer here, but not by much. He was still freezing cold, and his frozen clothes didn't help. Poking his head into the various nooks and crannies of the place, he discovered...

Absolutely nothing. 

The cabin was completely bare of accessories except the blanket he had found. There wasn't even a crumb of food in one of the cabinet's corners. Who ever had lived here had an extremely Clean-mon.

The pondering of when he had started adding 'mon' when thinking of types of people got derailed by a gust of wind that shook the walls of the cabin. He wrapped his arms around himself, teeth chattering in the frigid air once more. Enough exploring, he was freezing again.

Trying not to look like he was shaking too much, he curled up on top of the table, leaning against the wall. At least the surface of the table was slightly warmer than the floor.

Wrapping around Patamon, he slowly became aware he was being watched. Glancing over at the blue bundle of blanket, he spotted a pair of large brown eyes watching him with concern. 

"I-I'm fine." He assured her before she could ask again, hoping his teeth didn't chatter as much as he thought they did. Or at least not loud enough for her to hear.

"I swear," Tailmon grumbled, a mass moving under the blanket. "Humans can be so stupid sometimes. Hikari, move over. Takeru, get under here. And don't let all the cold air out."

Takeru blinked. Should he? It seemed a bit improper, but-

"C'mon, Takeru. It's a lot warmer under here than it is out there." Hikari offered, rolling over so she faced the wall.

Takeru shrugged to himself, not finding a logical defense for not going getting under the blanket. If she was fine with it, than so was he. And he was cold. Takeru practically flew under the blanket, wrapping it around him and Patamon. 

"Gee, couldja have moved any slower?" Tailmon teased. He didn't say anything, concentrating on just warming up and feeling human again. Hikari giggled at his behavior. 

"No funny business now." She commented, barely hiding the smile in her voice. "Or Tailmon will scratch your eyes out."

"You think I don't know that?" He retorted, turning so his back was to hers. "And it's not like I would anyway."

"You got that right." Tailmon muttered. "Now are you two going to jabber all night or are we going to get some sleep?"

"Goodnight, Tailmon." He chirped angelically. Tailmon snorted as Hikari giggled some more, shaking the blanket. Patamon sighed in his arms, relaxing in the warmth. He did the same, sleep fuzzing his brain.

"Thanks, Hikari." He murmured, drifting off. A soft snore was his answer.



Takeru vaguely woke up to the sound of someone screaming his name and threatening to kill him. Since he normally did not dream about people trying to mangle him, he cracked open an eye to make sure it wasn't a dream.

Daisuke was being held back by Yamato and Taichi, a hand firmly clamped over Daisuke's mouth to muffle the noises coming out of it. Takeru blinked. That couldn't be right. "Whah...?"

"Morning!" Patamon's cheerful voice greeted him. 

Takeru blinked again, slowly waking up. Why was Patamon's voice above him?

The warm bundle in his arms moved, cuddling closer. "Just five more minutes Ta..." Hikari mumbled, not clear if she was saying her brothers name or his. 

Takeru woke up real fast. 

His brother and Taichi were holding Daisuke, who looked about ready to burst a blood vessel. V-mon was standing behind them, looking confused. Patamon was hovering cheerfully above him. And if Patamon was there...

Takeru looked down, almost dreading what he was going to find.

Somehow during the night, he and Hikari had gotten turned around. She was using his shoulder as a pillow, Tailmon in between them like a kitten sandwich. Hikari had an arm around him, as did he her, and he wasn't quite sure exactly where his legs were and hers weren't. 

He blushed and tried to un-tangle himself to stand up, but her grip on him wouldn't allow that. Hikari then proceeded to try to bury her head under his chin. "You-you're not helping." He croaked, swallowing. 

"We'll be outside when you two decide to get up." Yamato informed him, guiding a protesting Daisuke out the door with Taichi's help. Takeru knew he was in trouble from the smirk on Yamato's face. The matching look on Taichi's face did nothing to help aleve that fear.

That was it, Takeru knew. He was dead. He was beyond dead. He wasn't even in the realm of living anymore. He was a spirit. And a dead one at that.

"What's the matter, Takeru?" Patamon asked innocently. He glared at the bat-pig.

"Huh?" Tailmon stirred in their combined grasp, waking up and poking her partner. "Morning already? Hikari, wake up."

"Our brothers are here." Takeru deadpanned. It sounded like the knell of doom to him.

"Taichi is here?" Hikari echoed, releasing him and yawning. "What are he and Yamato doing here?"

"Looking for you." Patamon supplied. "I heard them outside so I lead them here. They were worried about you two."

Takeru mentally muttered some phrases he wasn't supposed to know as he scrambled out from under the blanket. It was still cold in the cabin, but no where near as bad as it had been the night before. 

Hikari sat up and stretched, the blanket falling off of her as she did so. "Help me fold up the blanket?" She requested as Tailmon hopped out of her lap. He nodded, mutely leaning over and taking the far corners of the blanket. They folded the blanket up and returned it to where he had found it in silence.

"You... you ready to go?" He asked softly. She nodded, then hesitated as Patamon landed on his shoulder, giving him a strange look. She shrugged slightly and headed for the door, opening it.

"I'm doomed." He muttered to himself, turning to follow her. 

Patamon raised an eyebrow. "Why?" 

Hikari paused at the door, her shoulders shaking slightly. She glanced back at him, smiling. "Relax, Takeru. Your eyes are still intact."

He paused, then smiled back, a weight lifted off his back. "You're right." He admitted, joining her at the door. 

Outside, Daisuke glared at him, no longer held back by the older brothers but now sulking. "What are you so happy about?" He growled. At his feet, V-mon shrugged and waved at them.

"My eyeballs are intact." Takeru grinned at Daisuke as he stepped out the door and into the snow filled clearing. Hikari followed him, an amused look on her face as they proceeded to walk past the trio.

"What?!"

"Hikari told Takeru that if he tried anything funny that I would scratch his eyes out." Tailmon supplied proudly, following them with a dismayed look on her face. She was not enjoying the snow. 

Taichi started laughing. 

"And sense his eyeballs are intact, I take it we don't have to worry about last night?" Yamato smirked, pushing himself off the wall to take the lead.

"Why would you be worried anyway?" Patamon questioned. "Takeru, Hikari, Tailmon and I used to fall asleep together all the time in the Digiworld."

Daisuke choked. "Wha-WHAT?!"

"We were in Second Grade at the time, Daisuke." Hakari informed the goggled headed boy dryly. He just stared dumbly at her. Veemon hid a grin.

"And besides, It's like I said. No one touches Hikari without going through me." Tailmon stated, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"And me." Taichi added, casually coping Tailmon's pose as he smiled at his sister. 

"And then Takeru would have to explain to me why he got beaten up by Tailmon and Taichi." Yamato remarked helpfully.

Takeru shot his brother a look. "Just who's side are you on?" Yamato merely grinned fondly and shrugged.

"Don't I have any say in this?" Both Hikari and Daisuke demanded at the same time. V-mon was having trouble keeping a straight face now..

"No."

"Hey, Hikari is MY girl. No one gets to sleep with her but me!" Daisuke protested.

This gained him glares from Taichi, Hikari and Takeru. "Who's YOUR girl?" The Yagami siblings snapped.

"Well... uh... ah..." Daisuke stammered, taking a step back. "V-mon! Help?"

"You got yourself into this one, Daisuke." V-mon scolded good naturedly. Daisuke groaned, slumping.

Yamato intervened, motioning toward the path with a nod of his head. "C'mon. Taichi and I covered for the two of you last night, but I don't think we can get away with two days."

Hikari nodded. "Right. As much as I like the Digiworld, it'll be nice to be home."

Takeru merely grinned at the comment, re-adjusting Patamon. Their hope was his hope, he had said once.

As long as his friends were nearby, he was home.

Fin.

*blinks* I have no idea where this ending came from... the original thought was a snowball fight... huh.