Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was Christmas Eve morning and Kari awoke groggily to Gatomon's paw in her side.

"Mmph, Gatomon that hurt! It's so early and cold, I want to sleep longer." she moaned, turning towards the wall and pulling the covers over her face. Gatomon growled softly, grabbing the blanket and tugging it off Kari's sleeping form.

"Kari! Get. Up. Now. Do you realize what today is? You have to meet up with everyone in the Digital World." the bipedal cat hissed. Kari didn't move. "Hello!"

"So? Can't it wait another hour? It's barely 10 in the morning."

"It's the Christmas party!" With that Kari sat up quickly, banging her head on the bunk bed her and her brother had shared since they were kids. Their apartment was small but it was more than enough for the two teens and their parents. Besides there was hardly a time when all four of them were home at one time. Tripping over the sheets, Kari nearly fell out of bed before freeing her foot from their grasp.

The sight of Kari scrambling around desperately trying to get ready to go and still look fairly nice at the same time made Gatomon snicker. The cat-like digimon sat on the edge of the bed, flicking her tail back and forth impatiently. After almost forty-five minutes of waiting, Kari was finally ready to go. Clad in heavy pink boots and layered in a warm long-sleeve shirt and giant fluffy pink winter jacket. After all, it had snowed the night before. They'd been expecting a snowstorm that night and sure enough it came leaving behind a blanket of two feet of snow.

Upon exiting the apartment Gatomon hissed in disgust at the wetness engulfing the previously dry ground and looked up hopefully at Kari; the pre-teen obliged without hesitation at her partners' silent plea to be carried and scooped up the cat in her arms.

"I loathe the snow." Gatomon grumbled, snuggling closer to the warmth radiating off Kari.

The normal 10 minute walk to the computer room in the school took almost a half hour due to the amount of snow; it was made worst by the plows that dumped even more snow onto the already full sidewalks.

"Ready?" Kari asked her partner, whom answered with a quick nod, before holding up her digivice to the computer screen. In a quick wave that always made her body feel tingly, she was whisked away into the Digital World.

Upon entering the Digital World they found themselves in the snowy tundra of Freezeland and were quickly greeted by the other Digidestined nearby as well as a couple of Penguinmon dressed as elves and their good friend Frigimon who was dressed festively as Santa Claus. To this Kari and Gatomon couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the sight of them.

"What took you so long Kari!" yelled Davis from across the snowy field. To this she rolled her eyes as he came bounding over before he fell face first into the snow and TK beat him to her along with Tai and Agumon.

"Oh why did we have to pick a place with so much snow..." Gatomon whined from her new position inside Kari's jacket.

"It wouldn't be a Christmas party without snow Gatomon," came Kari's quick reply and sweet smile.

"Don't worry, we won't actually be out in the snow; we'll be in there," Agumon chirped, pointing to a giant igloo nearby. "The Peguinmon are letting us use their chief's house for our little party."

As everyone filed into the igloo, finding it decorated with tinsel, mistletoe, holly and a giant beautifully glowing tree they began chatting away; catching up on all they've missed with each other. Kari looked down at her digital best friend who was sitting beside her now and frowned slightly. The feline digimon had the most miserable look on her face and an audible sigh escaped her lips making the brunette wonder just what exactly was wrong with her.

For a moment she wanted to ask about her behavior but a tackle from behind made her suddenly forget. Davis had broken into the eggnog and happily tried to snuggle the girl from behind as TK wasn't looking.

"Davis!" both her and TK yelled to which the goggle-headed brunette grinned and hurried back to get some more snacks and eggnog.

Gatomon sat quietly in the same spot she'd been sitting in since they got there. Everyone had seemed to have forgotten about little old her, not that she minded. If anyone had noticed her surely they would have asked and she wouldn't have the heart to lie to them. The truth was, she missed a dear friend of hers. The whole thing reminded her of him and she wasn't a happy camper. Her ears perked as she heard someone speak loudly and this time it wasn't Davis.

"So what did everyone ask Santa for this year?" asked Mimi, plopping herself back down in a seat.

"A new soccer ball; Agumon popped mine with his claws." Everyone laughed as Agumon blushed and babbled out excuses.

"I saw these really cute barrettes in the mall the other day." Sora piped up.

"I want a new guitar, mines getting kind of worn and the amp plug doesn't stay in right. I've had to duct tape it." Matt added in.

Gatomon smiled a little, even if she wasn't happy it was still nice to spend time all together again. She was barely listening now but caught brief clips; like Joe wanting to ace his next exam and Izzy needing a new laptop. Davis blushed and stuttered before saying quickly that he needed a new soccer ball as well; everyone knew he wasn't telling the truth but they let it go. Finally the talking stopped and everyone had turned their attention to her and she looked up at them.

"Well Gatomon, what did you wish for for Christmas?" Kari asked, smiling her sweet smile like always.

"I... I don't want to say; it might not come true." she said hesitantly.

"Well it won't matter now, everyone has already bought their presents so it's not like it could be returned." TK said with a curious look on his face.

"Well I... I asked for Wizardmon to come back..."

The room was silent for a couple moments. The air felt tense and heavy suddenly and the bubbly cheer that had previously filled the room was gone. Gatomon ducked her head, upset she brought it up and ruined everyone's fun time.

"It's been a long time, huh Gatomon. I miss him too, but I can only imagine how much you miss him." Kari said softly, pulling Gatomon onto her lap and hugging her close.

"Thanks guys, s'cuse me a minute; I'm going to use the restroom." With that Gatomon scrambled off, out the door and behind the igloo. She couldn't bear to have the others see her cry but here she was, tears streaming from her eyes and freezing her fur as the pain of losing Wizardmon that fateful day came back to her in a wave.

Over the sound of wind and the resumed laughing coming from the igloo she heard footsteps approaching and dismissed them as Kari's, coming to check on her. She wouldn't mind it if Kari saw her, after all they were best friends and partners. She drew her knees up to her chin and buried her face in them as she cried silently, ignoring the footsteps as they came to a halt in front of her.

"Gatomon?" She didn't look up, too busy crying and wishing herself to another world.

"Gatomon." This time she did look up and her eyes widened at the sight; Wizardmon stood before her but not as a ghost this time. He was solid, and just to check she held out her paw to grasp at his leg. Instead he met her halfway and held her paw tightly in his own gloved hand. His eyes softened and he pulled down his cape to reveal a smile.

Gatomon's tears flowed more now, and as reality set on her she leapt to her feet and hugged the Wizard digimon tightly, burying her face into his tan jumper. He returned the hug and affectionately stroked her head.

"I've miss you so much Wizardmon! It's all my fault you died!"

"I missed you too Gatomon, my friend. Don't worry about that now, it's in the past and I would not have jumped in front of you if I had not intended to die in the first place."

A wide smiled spread across the feline's face and she laughed. They both shivered a bit and she took him by the hand back inside to the others. Everyone was shocked to say the least, silence once again engulfing the room. This time it shattered quickly and it took only seconds for the room to liven up again, voices asking questions and welcome backs.

Gatomon once again found herself sitting by herself but this time her heart felt warm and fuzzy. Her wide smile still on her face as if she couldn't stop it, her eyes plastered to Wizardmon as he talked happily with the others. She couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift.