~~~~Raya POV~~~~

I sighed in exhaustion, the barrier was slowly growing weaker day by day, and I was hoping every minute of the days that passed that I could be reunited with my friends.

"Raya, you need to rest for a little longer." Luna said in a worried tone. I looked down at her with tired eyes and smiled.

"You know what happens when I sleep for too long, Luna." I said looking at the slightly faded barrier around us, "The barrier around us will disappear faster if I don't keep awake to see it stay."

Luna sighed and pressed her small hands onto mine on my lap. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, subconsciously transferring some of her power into me.

I smiled peacefully as her power became my own and slowly let my eyes droop closed.

~~~Tai POV~~~

It had been a day or two since we split up with Matt and Tk and we soon found a little paddle boat to taoe across the nearby waters.

"Hey, what's wrong you guys, can't you make this bucket go any faster?" Agumon asked from the top of the boat.

"What are you doing to help?" Joe asked, panting from the paddling we've been doing,

"Watching for icebergs." Agumon replied.

"We'd gladly trade places with you but..." Gomamon said from in fromt of the boat in the water.

"Unfortunately our little legs won't reach the peddles." The two digimon laughed.

"Hey, we could go faster if we threw you off." I threatened.

"You wouldn't." Agumon gasped.

"It's tempting."

"Better not." Gomamon muttered under his breath.

Soon, we made it to shore, to our legs relief. We got out of the boat and inspected the sandy beach we landed on.

It wasn't long before we looked up at the large cliff above and saw something at the top.

"Whoa, that palace is huge." Joe gasped in awe.

Indeed, there was a large castle at the top of the cliff. It was amazing from this point of view at the bottom.

"And way up there." I said, "As if my legs weren't tired already."

I looked down at my digivice and tilted it up towards the palace. Thw screen showed a little red dot blinking where the palace was.

"But there's no doubt about it, that is Mimi. So up we go." I said. We walked around and found a flight of stairs heading up towards the palace.

With a lot of will power, huffing anf puffing, we eventually made it to the palace doors.

"How do they get their mail?" Joe asked panting in exhaustion.

We cracked the doors open a sliver and were immediately surrounded with rushed voices.

Several digimon were running around the palace like chickens with their heads cut off in a panic.

"Is this a palace, or some kind of a looney bin?" I asked.

"Seems like it's both." Joe said.

"Oh, these are Geckomon?" Gomamon said questioningly, as if he was surprised by the little green digimom with tubas wrapped around their necks, "I've heard of them. They really love music, not surprising since they're born with those horns."

"And I've heard of the other digimon." Agumon said, talmong about the little purole tadpole looking digimon, "They're called Otamamon."

We opened the doors completely and ran inside.

"Um, hello." Gomamon said grabbing a Geckomon's attention, "Can you help us, we're looking for someone.

"About time you got here. Where's the triple hot fudge sundae we ordered for delivery to the princess?"

"That's not us." We said.

"Then you must be delivering her bacon chili cheeseburger with fries and a super sized milkshake." Another Geckomon said, but we weren't them either.

"Of course not." A third Geckomon said, "They're delivering the garden fresh salad with low fat dressing without desert."

"We'd like to ask a question if you dont mind." We said.

"Her highness asked for a fudge sundae!"

"No, she wants a bacon chili cheeseburger!"

"She said she wanted a green salad!"

I laughed nervously and tried to call them down, "Excuse me, have you seen a girl in a hat?" I asked.

"Hey, we're ordering lunch, here!" An Otamamon said.

"Well then I'll have a burger." Joe said.

"All the princess really cares about is that polka dot party dress she ordered."

"Old news." Another Otamamon said, "Now she wants pink leather pants with matching boots and accessories."

"No one told me that."

"Oh get with the program."

We watched these digimon argue about what this so called 'Princess' wanted.

"It sounds to me like this princess of theirs is extremely picky." Joe said.

"She sounds konda spoiled if you ask me." I added.

"I wonder what happens when they don't do what she says." Agumon wondered.

"Here she comes!" The digimon said, then scrambled off in fear.

"Presenting her highness, the princess."

We looked up at the top of the tall stairs, waiting for the princess to show.

"Cool, we're gonna get to meet the princess." I said, but our jaws dropped to the floor when we saw who the princess was.

The princess was Mimi! She was dressed in a fancy and frilly pink ball gown with a tiara and holding a feathered fan in her gloved hands.

She looked down at us with a disappointed look on her face.

"Oh, bummer what a surprise." She said slightly smiling.

"You're telling me, what are you doing up there?" I asked.

"Ha, what do you think? I'm being a princess, of course." Mimi replied.

"So you're the spoiled princess we've been hearing about?" Agumon said.

"We should've known it was Mimi." We said.

Her face turned from smiling to angry within a second.

"Don't call me Mimi anymore!" She yelled, "That's Princess, now."

We quickly apologized and she forgave us, inviting us to her royal bedroom.

If there's such a thing as too much pink, then her room was the definition.

It was covered in pink and frilly things, heck, even the roses in the golden vase were pink.

"Well, the important thing is that you're all right." Joe said happily.

"Yeah, that's for sure." I said, holding out my hand towards Mimi, "Well, let's get a move on."

"No way." Mimi declined.

"Oh, right, you'll want to change first. We'll wait." Joe politely said.

"For what? I'm keeping this dress on." Mimi said.

"And it's beautiful, but it's not the best thing to wear when walking long distances." Agumon pointed out.

"Walking?" Mimi said with disgust, "I have no intention of walking anywhere."

"Are you expecting to carry you out of here, your majesty?" Joe asked. I was surprised, she knew she had to go with us, so why expect all of this?

"No, I'm not going." She stated, making us gasp in confusion and surprise.

"Why would I leave? I am a princess here. Besides, who knows if we'll ever find our way home. So, I might as well live life large and in charge."

"You nust be kidding." Joe said, but Mimi was dead serious.

"No way, take a look around. I've got a nice bed, pretty clothes, good food. It's like having a birthday everyday. I am a princess!" Mimi said happily, "And you want me to give all this up? I don't think so."

"Is something wrong?" Someone asked from the door.

"Another servant?" Agumon questioned as we turned to see who the voice belonged to.

"No, it's Palmon." Gomamon said.

"Finally, a voice of reason." Joe said in relief, "Hey, Palmon, come talk some semse into Mimi."

"As in Princess?" Palmon said, walking through the door in an identical dress as Mimi. We groaned at the sight.

"Oh, no, not you, too!" Joe cried.

"Okay, that's enough." I said, fed up with everything in this palace, "This is no time for playing game. Both of you change out of those dumb clothes and let's get out of here."

"I am not playing a game, Tai!" Mimi shouted, "I am staying! You can go at anytime. Why don't you guys go look for the others? Begone from my palace!"

"Wait, Mimi. Dont be mean to them, they're our friends." Palmon said sincerely.

"If you wanna go, be my guest." Mimi shouted back.

I had had enough of Mimi' s selfish and spoiled attitude.

"You are coming with us!" I yelled, "Get down off that high horse of yours and shift your rear into high gear."

"Yeah, c'mon. Why do you thino we almost killed ourselves trying to find you?" Joe asked, "Cause you are part of the team."

"That's very nice, but I'm not going." Mimi said.

"That's it, Mimi!" I shouted, "Like it or not, Joe's right, we've got to stick together. So, I'm not budging from this spot til you come to your senses and leave with us."

I sat down on the carpeted floor along with Gomamon and Agumon following my actions.

"Oh, really?" Mimi asked, "You all keep forgetting who's in charge around here."

Mimi reached behins her fan and pulled out a small bell, ringing it loudly.

In an instant, several Geckomon appeared to serve Mimi.

"Your Highness, what is it that you desire?" They asked.

"I desire these rude and bothersome peasants to be removed from my boudoir at once." Mimi ordered.

They complied with her orders and dragged us out of the palace.

"I won't dissect frogs in biology class, okay?" I said as they threw us on the drawbridge.

"If that's how you treat guests we're never coming back." Gomamon said to the Geckomon.

"Now what are we going to do? She's completely inti this digi fairy tale." Joe said as we stood straight.

"I wonder what she must have done to get them to waiter om her hand and foot like this." I said.

"You really wanna know?" Someone asked. We turned back to the entrance and saw three Geckomon and two Otamamon standing there with tired looks on their faces.

"Uh, sure." I said. They told us to follow them and so we did. We walked through the halls and slowly made it to an open hallway.

"Uh, you're not taking us to an evil digimon, are you?" Joe asked.

"No." They replied.

"What if Mimi catches us?" I asked.

"She won't."

We walked into this large room and gasped in awe at the room. It was covered in curtains, lights and speakers and in the center of the room was a large red digimon in front of a microphone.

"Here's our master, Lord ShogunGeckomon." They said gesturing to the large red digimon.

"Whoa, someone's had a few too many donuts!" I exclaimed.

"Is it a statue or what?" Joe asked.

"No, it's not a statue. He's very much alive."

"He may be alive, but he's not lively is he." Agumon said.

"He's sleeping."

"He's been this way for over three hundred years." Geckomon said, "You see, Lord ShogunGeckomon was proud of his voice and entered this singing contest, but he lost. He felt so bad that he fell into a deep sleep from which he's never recovered. It's said that a voice as beautiful as the one who beat him could wake him. For centuries we've tried, but every song failed."

"We Geckomon love music, but unfortunately not one of us has a voice considered beautiful." The other Geckomon said.

"Then we got a break. A strange little digimon spoke of a girl with a pretty voice." The Otamamon said, "He told us where to find her and we did. She sang for us and our master began to wake up, but she forgot the words and he continued to sleep. We have her food to help her remember the words. She happily took it and tried again, but then claimed that the room was too dark. We gave her everything she told us in hopes that she would sing and wake our master."

"And if anyone of us complains to her,  she claimed that she would lose her temper and in turn, lose her voice."

"We're in a terrible position, you see. We're hopeless."

"Unfortunately, you've given Mimi the life she's always been accustomed to and then some." Joe said.

"Well, since youre friends of hers..." Geckomon said.

"Can you please reason with her? Please, we'd be so eternally grateful."

"I don't think she knows what reasoning is." Agumon said.

After a minute of thinking while they talked, I came up with a plan.

"Just leave it to me, guys. I've got it." I said confidently.

The digimon cheered happily.

"What are you thinking, Tai?" Joe asked.

"Who says you need Mimi to wake up Jumbo?" I asked. I ran up to the microphone and held it in ny hand.

"Crank it up and let me try to wake him up." Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor in shock.

I tried to sing my best, but, it didn't work. Next up was Joe, but he wasn't good enough either.

Last but not least came our digimon, but just like the rest of us, they weren't good enough either.

"Just for that, he might not wake up for another three hundred years." I said holding my hands over my ears.

"Hey guys." We heard Palmon sat as she walked into the room, "Why did you all run out of the room like that? It's like you weren't even happy to see us."

"What are you talking about?" Agumon asked, "In case you haven't noticed, Mimi's gone nuts."

"Yeah?" Palmon srunched her brow in thought, before gasping in realization, "Now that I think about it, she has kinda gone off the deep end, even for her."

"Oh, you noticed?" I sighed

"You're so observant." Gomamon added.

Next up came plan B. I asked the other digimon if they had a tape recorder and a karaoke machine, which thankfully they did.

We went up to Mimi's balcony and hooked up the equipment.

"So, she'll be performing, and not even know it." Joe said.

"Yeah, and we'll get the whole thing on tape." I said. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening caught our attention. I out the headphones on and got ready to record as soon as Mimi started to sing.

Palmon played her part perfectly and Mimi had no idea fhat she was about to be recorded, but when she didn't sing asfter the music was being played, I grew a little confused and concerned.

Just then, I felt like my eardrums were gonna burst as Mimi screamed into the microphone.

She quickly came to the balcony and found us hiding. In an instant, it more of a blur, we were taken by the Geckomon and brought to the dungeons, then locked away in a cell.

"So, you thought you could pull a fast one on Princess Mimi, did you?" Mimi said.

"That's Princess Meanie!" I shitued through the bars.

"Yeah!" Agumon said.

"Who do you think you are anyway?" Joe asked angrily, "Don't you remember we're your friends?"

"I remember you tried to trick me." Mimi said playfully.

"We tried to trick you because we were trying to save you." I said, "Have you completely forgotten about the crest of sincerity?"

"Have you completely forgotten that it's not nice to lock people up in your dungeon? Where are your manners?" Agumon asked.

Mimi huffed and began to walk away, but was stopped by Palmon.

"Uh, before you go, there's something I wanna tell you." She said. Mimi stopped and looked down at her digimon partner, "No one likes you more than I do. It hurts me deeply to have to say this, but... You're a spoiled brat!"

Mimi gasped as Palmon cried, her words cutting deep.

"Is that a fact? Well, it's nice to know how you really feel!" Mimi shouted, then stomped away in anger.

I slid against the wall and sat down om the stone floor.

"Why even choose Mimi to sing, I mean, Raya has the best voice I had ever heard." I muttered, but then I regretted speaking about Raya.

Just metioning her name, made everyone sigh in sadness.

"I really hope she's okay, wherever she is." Agumon said.

"What do you mean? What happened to Raya?" Palmon asked.

We sat in silence after explaining to Palmon what had happened to Raya. Palmon was shocked and sad at the same time.

In fact, we all were sad about Raya and hoped that she would be okay until we found her.

~~~Raya POV~~~

My heavy eye lids slowly opened, a warm feeling rushing through me. I looked down sleepily at Luna, who was sleeping peacefully on my lap.

I smiled and gently rubbed her head as to not wake her up.

"I'm sorry you had to be stuck here with me." I whispered softly, "If I had been more careful, you wouldn't have been caught along with me."

Suddenly, a quick jab stabbed my heart. And I knew whay it meant. One of mu friends needed help.

I scooted over to the barrier wall and thought of my friends. A small portion of the wall cleared up and I saw Mimi shifting in her sleep from a nightmare.

However, her crest of sincerity had lost some of its shine. Nit a very good sign.

"Mimi." I frowned, "You are so sincere, but right now, you have thought about yourself, pushing away your friends and forgetting what really matters. Do not lose sight of what really matters: your friends."

I closed my eyes and felt my body become lighter.

~~~Mimi POV~~~

I shot awake in my bed, panting heavily from the terrible nightmare I just had. I was in trouble and since I acted so spoiled and selfish, now one would come and help me.

I felt so alone and afraid.

"Hey, hey." I heard someone say, stirring me from my sleep. I opened my eyes and saw Sora standing over me.

"Hey, Mimi."

"Where am I? What?" I asked.

"Do you have any idea what that horrible dream was trying to tell you, Mimi?" Sora asked. My eyes teared up quickly.

"I'm sorry. Oh, I really am." I said.

"Then you know what you have to do to make things right."

"Yes."

Sora smiled at me as I closed my eyes and fell back to sleep, but just then I was awoken again to the bright glow of my crest.

"My crest!" I said in surprise. I sat up in bed and looked around for Sora, but she wasn't there.

Sighing, I got out of bed and walked out onto my balcony, feeling the coll night wind blow on my face.

"I know what I have to do to make everything better, but, will my friends really forgive me?"

I began to cry again, just the thought of being alone really hurt me. It was a pain that I didn't want to ever feel again.

"Mimi." I heard someone say. I looked back up towards the distance and saw Raya smiling sweetly at me.

"Raya?!" I shouted surprised. She smiled brighter and nodded. However, I quickly noticed that she wasn't standing on anything, but instead hovering in the air.

"Raya, how are you floating in the air like that?" I asked.

She didn't answer, but instead floated closer to me, wrapping her arms around me and began singing softly in my ear.

(Play song below)

The song was soft and sweet, making me feel so warm and safe. The soft melody was even better than my voice, ringing like a bell in the wind.
It felt like my heart was beating right along with her voice.

I smiled softly as I felt her let me go. I looked back up and saw her smiling, but her body was fading quickly.

"Wait, Raya, what happened to you? Where are you going?" I asked.

She just kept smiling at me and said, "Keep being sincere, Mimi. Get back together with our friends and find me."

Then, she disappeared into the night sky. I was confused, surprised and sad all at the same time. But, true to her words, I would do as she told me.

~~~Tai POV~~~

We were woken from our sleep in the middle of the night to a couple of Geckomon telling us that Mimi wanted us.

We followed them to the seem place hwere ShogunGeckomon was keeping, and we were surprised when Mimi appeared im her normal clothes in front of the mic.

She looked sad when she stepped up to the mic and said, "First of all, there's something I have to say to everyone here.  Tai and Joe, Gomamon and Agumon, Palmon. All of you have been so nice. I'm so sorry!" She bowed in apology, "Ive been such a little idiot, and if you can find it in your hearts to fogive me, and I don't know why you would, but if you can then I'd be honored to sing for you one more time."

She lifted her head and openly cried with red dusting on her cheeks.

Of course, we forgave her and urged her to sing.

"Hit the lights and cue the music!" Palmon said. The lights turned down for a second befire turning up again and the music turned up.

Mimi sang the best she could, and ShogunGeckomon's tail began to lift into the air. When it was fully in the air, the gianr digimon woke up and the music stopped playing.

He stood uo and turned around, showing us his cranky and angry expression.

"Do not panic, it is our Lord and Master ShogunGeckomon!" One of the Geckomon said.

"I was having such a nice sleep." ShogunGeckomon said grumpily, "Which one of you clowns woke me up, to should I just squash all of ya?"

ShogunGeckomon went on a rampage, smashing walls and trying to squash us because he was woken up.

"And I thought I was cranky when I first wake up." Joe said as we ran.

"Give me the mean Mimi back any day." Gomamon added.

~~~~Mimi POV~~~~

ShogunGeckomon was out of control, I wake him up for the other digimon and this is the thanks I get?! Rude!"

"You wanna hear some singing?!" He shouted, stomping his feet again, "The ground will shake, when you hear the noise I make because I'm glad to be a awake!" He sang, but due to his powerful voice, it shot waves through the castle and threw everyone but me and Palmon out through the walls.

I looked up and screamed in fear as pieces of broken stone fell towards me, covering my head in a bad attempt to shield myself.

"Mimi!" Palmon shouted, digivolving into Togemon and smacking the stone away.

"That was a close one." Togemon said. I stood back up and looked up Togemon with teary eyes.

"Can you ever forgive me?" I asked.

She smiled, "Of course I forgive you."

I smiled and hugged her large gloved hand.

~~~~Raya POV~~~

I smiled happily as Mimi and Togemon hugged each other faced the rampaging ShogunGeckomon.

"The sincere Mimi we love has finally returned to us, Luna." I said. My digimon smiled back at me anf hugged my waist best she could.

"Now all we need is Sora." Luna said.

I nodded, "Yes, but however, Sora is confused and sad. We'll have to help her when the time finally comes for her crest to activate. But for now, let's help Mimi best we can."

Luna nodded, closed her eyes and transferred her power to me, changing my form and strengthening the barrier around us.

The crests of Courage appeared on the barrier wall, ready to be used whenever needed.

~~~Mimi POV~~~

Angry and frustrated with ShogunGeckomon, I grabbed the nearby microphone and yelled, "Hey you, how about some gratitude!"

He looked down at us confused by what I had said.

"I just sang you out of your three hundred year nap, you wanna be cruner!"

"All that racket, that was you?!" He shouted. He stomped closer to us and we backed away.

Suddenly, a large torpedo came rushing towards ShogunGeckomon and blasted him right in the face.

We looked out where the torpedo came from and saw Greymon, Ikkakumon, Tai and Joe standing out in the beach with the Geckomon and Otamamon.

ShogunGeckomon hopped like the nasty frog he was towards the large opening in the wall.

"Nove Blast!"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

The attacks sailed through the air, but ShogunGeckomon was prepared.

"Now, why'd ya try that? 'Cause I'll knock ya flat, and now you're gonna feel it! Yeah!" Large sonic waves blasted at Greymon and Ikkakumon, knocking them down into the sand.

But just then, ShogunGeckomon leaped out of the castle and trued to slam into the others, when all of a sudden, Greymon began to glow brightly.

In an instant, a brand new digimon, MetalGreymon appeared and threw ShogunGeckomon back into the castle.

Togemon picked me up and we dropped down to the sandy beach.

"Digi-Blaster!" MetalGreymon shouted, shooting off two torpedoes from his chest and into ShogunGeckomon's horns.

The digimon exploded and was buried in the remaining rubble.

A few minutes, later, we walked around the destroyed part of the Castle as the sun rose high into the sky.

"He deserved to hear that last flat not, don't you think?" I asked, making everyone, including myself, laugh.

"Well, ready to go, Mimi?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, do you think I could take some of my princess clothes with me?" I asked.

"Mimi!" Tai groaned.

"Well, it seems such a waste. The jewels at least?"

The boys sighed and walked away. I ran to catch up with them.

"I mean, come on, at least one dress or two jewels. I need to repay Raya for what she did for me last night." The boys stopped in their tracks when I mentioned Raya.

They turned aorund towards me with shocked faces, pale as if they had seen a ghost.

"You saw Raya?" Joe asked. I was confused. Why did he sound so shocked?

I nodded dumbly, "Yeah, she appeared in my room last time and sang to me, but then for some reason she disappeared just like the Sora in my dream. Why? Is something wrong?"

The group looked down with sad expressions.

"Raya..." Tai said, "Raya's been missing for a while. According to Tk, she was kidnapped by this digimon called Demidevimon for his master. So we have to get to the others quick-"

I ran right past them without a second thought, and this time they would have to catch up with me.

My lungs hurt and my legs burned. This was the hardest I had ever run, and I didnt like it. But I had to help. I had to help find Raya.