This chapter serves two purposes, despite not been particulaly long. One, is to bridge the gap between the beginning of the story and the actual story. Second, is to convey as much information between the DigiDestined and Tamers as possible. Two groups, one already knowing a lot about the other due to inter-dimensional TV shows, means a lot of information has to be processed.

Also, it is really, really difficult making sure people get an equal share of time speaking. There are forty humans and Digimon to cover. Therefore, I've decided that the majority of the talk will come from the humans and I want you just to imagine that the Digimon will be having thereown conversations in the background. That still leaves me with twenty people to talk, therefore, I'm going to have them split into smaller groups as often as possible, but when they're together, it'll be the older ones that get more in, and the most talkative ones like Mimi obviously.

I don't own Digimon. Enjoy.

'What do you mean you and Kari never got together!' shouted Kazu. [AN1]

TK looked at Davis and then back at Kazu. 'We just never did,' he said.

'But why! You two were destined for each other!'

'Ignore Kazu,' said Kenta, 'He's a massive Takari fan.'

'O-kay,' said TK, 'And what is Takari exactly?'

'Don't ask,' answered Kenta.

'Did you at least get with her?' Kazu asked Davis.

'No dude, she's single.'

'Then who the hell are you two going out with?'

Davis and TK looked at each other slightly embarrassed.

'Well you see...' TK started before Davis took hold of his hand. Kazu saw this and put two and two together.

'You've got to be shitting me,' he said, 'The slash fic writers were right!'

'Slash fic?' said Davis, 'People write slash fiction about us?' [AN2]

'Yeah,' said Kazu before quickly adding, 'Not that I've read any of it!'

On the other side of the dining room, the females of both groups had gathered.

'I love the punky look,' Yolei said to Rika, looking her up and down, 'You know not many girls could pull that off as easily as you do.'

'Err, thanks,' replied Rika half heartedly, not wanting to get into a conversation about fashion.

'I suppose your boyfriend must like it though,' said Mimi smiling.

'Excuse me?' said Rika.

'Oh come on, a girl like you can't be single. Plus I saw how you were around that Ryo guy...'

Rika looked ready to explode, luckily though, Jeri intervened. 'Actually, she's going out with Takato.'

'Really? I could have sworn...'

Jeri gave Mimi a look that clearly said "drop it before someone gets hurt" and so she quickly shut up.

'So, have you got a boyfriend Jeri?' asked Sora.

'Yeah, Henry's my guy.'

'He seems a bit serious for a nice girl like you,' said Yolei, 'How did you two get together?'

'Yeah right,' snorted Rika as Jeri turned red, 'Good luck getting an answer out of her. The two of them won't even tell us other Tamers.' [AN3]

'Aww, I bet it was so romantic that you don't want to embarress yourself repeating it,' said Mimi.

'Or so awkward you don't want anyone laughing at you,' Rika muttered under her breath.

'Tai's with Sora!'

'Yes Kazu,' answered TK.

'... Not Matt?'

'No, not Matt,' said TK, 'I don't see your problem with all this is?'

'Okay fine, I'll admit you and Kari were never canon, but Matt and Sora were!' answered Kazu, 'They were together in the epilogue.'

Kenta pulled Kazu to one side, 'Dude, that twenty five years later thing hasn't happened yet.'

'So?'

'So? Have you never seen any time travel movie before? We know what happens in the future, if we say too much we could change it. You never know, Matt and Sora might get back together.'

'Good point, I'll keep my mouth shut about it.'

Davis and TK viewed the other two with intrigue, Kazu especially. As much as the DigiDestined had developed a sort of fanbase in their world, no one was any near Kazu's level.

'So, how's this gonna work?' Takato asked Tai.

'How do you mean?' he asked back.

'We're going to be fighting a war,' said Henry, 'That means we've got to ensure leadership and structure within the group.'

'What do you propose?' asked Matt.

'Someone is going to have to be overall leader, but with two seperate groups it's going to be hard to coordinate,' answered Henry.

'Which one of you is the leader of you guys anyway?' Tai asked Takato.

'We don't really have a leader,' responded Takato, 'If anything, we're split into two groups of me, Henry, Rika and Ryo and then the other three providing backup.'

'Three? But there are four other Tamers,' pointed out Izzy.

Takato and Henry looked at each nervously. 'Yeah... Calumon isn't really Jeri's Digimon,' explained Henry, 'It's complicated, just don't bring it up with her.' [AN4]

The three DigiDestined didn't have time to question further, as Ryo and Joe came back from checking the upstairs rooms. The others came over to hear what they had to say.

'Okay,' started Joe, 'There are two large bedrooms with about a dozen beds in each which have clearly been set up for us.'

'All the other rooms are empty,' finished Ryo.

'So we either split the rooms between DigiDestined and Tamers or along male and female lines,' said Joe.

'Male and female,' said Mimi before anyone else could say anything.

'Yeah, male and female,' agreed Jeri.

The other women agreed prompting Tai to ask, 'Do we men have any say in this?'

'Don't be stupid Tai honey,' replied Sora. [AN5]

'Hey, what about us?' asked Terriermon.

'Our Digimon usually sleep with us in bed,' explained Kari to the Tamers, 'I don't know what it's like for you guys.'

'Have you seen Guardramon?' said Kazu, 'I'm not sleeping in the same bed as him!'

'Also, what do I do?' asked Hawkmon, 'I'm a guy but I'm not leaving Yolei's side.'

'Okay okay,' said Tai waving down any other objections, 'Digimon can just go with your partners for now. I'm sure you can leave the room, Hawkmon, if any of the girls need to change clothes or something.'

'Fine, we'll put up with him,' said Gatomon.

'Running around all day has tired me out anyway,' said Kenta yawning, 'What time is it?'

'Late,' answered Henry also surpressing a yawn, 'I vote bed and we finish discussing things in the morning.'

Everyone quickly agreed and traipsed upstairs. The guys and girls said goodnight to each other, with the couples sharing a quick kiss, before disappearing into their seperate bedrooms.

'Man, these are pretty comfortable,' said Davis having collapsed onto a bed.

'Didn't Gennai say he still had to repair these rooms earlier?' questioned Joe, 'Either he works quickly or there wasn't much to do.'

'Joe, shut up and lay down,' said Tai, 'Let's not question comfy beds. I've had enough nights into the DigiWorld spent trying to sleep on the hard ground.'

'Takato, where am I going to sleep?' asked Guilmon.

'Wherever on the bed that I'm not laying,' answered Takato.

'You know, I've read up on preactically every Digimon,' said Izzy, 'But I've never heard of Guilmon before. Or come to think of it, I've never heard of Calumon either.'

'The two of them are pretty unique,' explained Henry, 'Calumon and Guilmon were created more recently and in a different way than other Digimon.'

'Yeah, Takato created me,' said Guilmon.

'Err, how?' asked Cody.

'Long story,' said Takato, 'It involved a drawing, statistics and a Digivice, and blind luck more than anything I think.'

'What about Calumon?' asked Ken.

'Created by the Sovereigns as an embodiment of the light of Digivolution,' answered Henry.

'Of course,' said Davis stumped.

Meanwhile, the girls were also discussing Digimon.

'He's so cute,' said Mimi looking at Calumon who was already asleep in Jeri's arms.

'I've never heard of a Calumon before though,' said Gatomon.

'He's unique to our DigiWorld,' explained Jeri, 'He's one of a kind.'

'Hawkmon! We're all in bed now, you can come back in,' Yolei shouted towards the door.

Hawkmon came in and flew over to Yolei's bed, 'How are the sleeping clothes Gennai provided for you?'

'They're so soft and silky,' said Kari, 'I hope the boys got something similar.'

'Damn these are itchy,' complained Kazu.

'I think you put it on inside out Kazu,' pointed out Kenta.

'Oh.'

'Hey, how come the girls complained about putting up with Hawkmon and yet we've got two gay guys eyeing us when we changed?' said Tai jokingly.

'Yeah you wish,' muttered TK.

'Wait, gay?' asked Takato intrigued.

'Erm, yeah, me and TK are a couple,' said Davis, 'You haven't got a problem have you?'

'No, no,' said Takato quickly, 'Just a surprise really. Neither of you ended up getting with Kari?'

'We've already had this discussion Takato,' said Kazu, 'Just drop it.'

'Yeah and any more talk of my sister and I don't care if I've only just met you. I will kill you,' said Tai, 'Besides, they're not the only gay couple.'

'Oh, you and Matt are..?' started Henry before been cut off by laughter from the other DigiDestined boys.

'Why does everyone always assume that?' asked Tai annoyed. [AN6]

'Hang on,' said Matt, 'People only really assume that when they learn Agumon and Gabumon are together. Why did you automatically assume the couple in question was me and Tai?'

'Well,' said Henry scratching the back of his head, 'There kind of are certain... signs in the anime series.'

This set off the DigiDestined boys laughing again whilst Tai and Matt sat there embarrassed.

'Oh great,' said Tai, 'My entire life has been broadcast as a homoerotic fantasy with Matt.'

'Seems like that TV show was pretty accurate,' said TK earning a dirty look from the older boys.

That night, the DigiDestined and Tamers went to sleep in good spirits. But many of them had one thought on their minds; what would tomorrow bring? The answer they all came up with, wasn't an answer they could put into words, but all could see the dark clouds of war coming their way.

The dark clouds of war are coming. Who will win? Will it be anything but total victory? Will anyone die? Will I stop asking questions I already know the answer to? The answer to that last one, yes. Next chapter will deal with the start of the war. A war no one yet knows much about.

I do. You will not believe the amount of research I've put into this. I'm pretty certain I could command an entire fucking army with everything I know now. Looking at the DigiDestined/Tamers group, you have to take into account that they are a small but very powerful guerilla force. I've therefore looked at guerilla campaigns around the world and tried to model tactics and everything. It was a rather enjoyable process really.

Anyway, I don't know when the next chapter will be here, I've got a fair bit going on at the moment. However, I have run dry of original ideas for oneshots, so this is the only story I've got to work on. See you next time.

AN1 - If Digimon ever did turn out to be real; Kazu's reaction would be like a lot of people on this website. In other words: who ended up getting with who. And you just know some groups would be disappointed. Especially if Takari turned out not to be true. Seriously, you guys are the most fanatical I've come across, I wouldn't be surprised if some of you comitted ritual suicide in response.

AN2 - Also, imagine the screams of joy from some if there favourite slash fiction pair turned out to be true. Alternatively, imagine if you learnt you were the subject of slash fiction... yeah, it'd be a bit weird even if you were gay.

AN3 - I might eventually tell you how they got together, I might not. I'm evil that way.

AN4 - Leomon will not be appearing in this story. There's gonna be no deus ex machina for him to come back. Which does raise the point of why Jeri and Calumon are there in the first place since Calumon can't fight...

AN5 - Is it just me, or no matter what straight pairing you put together in Digimon, you imagine the women would practically always be in charge? I've seen people complain before that there aren't enough female DigiDestined, but when the women are so strong willed... hell, I'd rather meet any of the men down a dark alley one night than say, Rika.

AN6 - Ah yes, I think you could probably argue Taito exists more than any other gay pairing in Digimon. Hmm, maybe Daiken.