Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters, they belong to Toei and their creators.

Author's Notes: Another "end of 02" fic by moi.  I'm sure many of you faithful to the Mimoe following are devastated that Mimi and Joe aren't together.  Or maybe the aren't mentioned as being together... Hm... Anyways, I thought of another in between the years fic, featuring Miss Mimi Tachikawa and her loves.

Playing the Part

I should start from the beginning.  How far back did it go?  Ever since that fateful summer at camp.

Me and seven other children became the Digidestined; saving two worlds with our digimon.  Our companions, our friends, confidants... Mmm... what else?  Oh yes, the yin to our yang.

Palmon was there to keep me grounded when I got all bratty and turned into a total princess.  I was the princess.  The picture of grace, regality, and beauty.  Then I was also the picture of a spoiled, bubble-headed, brat.  Not to say I'm not even a princess now.  Let's just say that as I grew up, I've learned some style, grace, and poise to carry me through.

Continuing...

Through all our time together, relationship prospects were far from our minds.  We were either trying to get home, find another Digidestined, or save both worlds from an icky fate.

But somehow, through it all, the thought of hooking up with one of your fellow destined seemed to pop up once in a while.

I could tell with Sora.  She always did have a thing for Tai.  A woman's intuition never lies.  But that was then, this is now.

Though, this isn't about Sora and who she loved/loves.  This about me and who I loved and lost and found.

Throughout our time down there, I was always being matched up with three boys.

Mimi and Izzy.  The princess and the nerd.  Oh God, how many times have I seen movies about that?  Lemme tell you, as much of a nice fantasy that is, it would never work.  He was already in a meaningful relationship with a computer and it was a passing crush for me.

Mimi and Matt.  The princess and the rebel.  Another flight of fancy.  Again, it was too superficial.  Even for me!  He was too cold and too distant.  As much as that's a turn on to most girls, that act got old real soon.

Mimi and Joe.  The princess and the geek.  That was some Hollywood movie plot I almost could buy, because I almost lived it, almost acted it through.  As much as Izzy and Matt were friends to me, Joe... he passed them all on that level.  He stood by me when I couldn't go on.  He guided me when I wandered around.  But maybe it was just Stockholm Syndrome.

Stockholm Syndrome is when two people who survive a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation together relate the bond that they shared through that time as love.  So, it's another illusion of love.  But it came to us in the disguise of a strong friendship.

See?  I know my psychology.  I'm not that dumb.  And this is where I giggle and stick my tongue out.

That fateful summer was over, and we slowly and surely grew up.  Another summer later, another threat faced us.  But I was away on vacation in Hawaii, so I don't have much to say on that.  All I know was that it involved a new digimon and the Internet.

We came back from that trip, and to my shock, I found a surprise from Joe.  A heart shaped box from him.  That was sweet.  Truly it was.  But he was my best friend!  Very good friends go around giving gifts and tokens of affection to each other, right?

I didn't have much time to figure out the answer.  It seemed that my family loved America so much, they decided that we should live there!

I put on the part, I was the strong one.  Mimi could stay in Japan and live her sheltered life with all her friends from home.  Or she could go out into the world, and embark on a new life and make new friends!

And that's who I am.

Miss Mimi Tachikawa.

The future Mrs. Joe Kido, or the future Mrs. Koushiro Izumi, or maybe even the future Mrs. Yamato Ishida.

And the current Mrs. Michael Robinson.

Yes, you heard me, I'm Mimi Tachikawa-Robinson.

Does that surprise you?  It still surprises me.

Out of all the roles I could have chosen, all the parts I could have taken up, I had to take that of another actor.

You're all wondering, "Why him?  Why not Joe?  Or Izzy?  Or Matt?"

I can only reply in my princess act with, "Why chose some straight laced Japanese boy when I can have a straight laced American boy?"

I chose Michael over them.  To be honest, as much as I loved each of Matt, Izzy, and Joe, certain things got in the way.

Izzy had his hands full with his Digiworld and digimon research, as well as helping the new Digidestined.  I was flattered that I was the first person he told about the digi-port in America, but that was business related.

Matt had a band to run, a stalker to dodge, and Sora to love.  He tells me these things.  It's almost like he's a male girl friend!  I'm still kinda miffed about that three-hour long phone bill, though.

Joe, finally sweet plain old Joe, he backed down on his wants for his family.  He didn't want to be a doctor, and yet, he did it anyway.  I found that almost noble, in a way.  But he could have always shown a little more backbone about the whole being a doctor issue.  It wasn't at all like the strong and courageous Joe who was willing to risk life and limb during the Dark Masters ordeal.

Even if any of us got together, we'd eventually fall apart; I heard that couples could never could maintain a long-distance relationship.

I met Michael, we became friends, we became a couple, and then we got married.

I can remember when we first met.  He was the most popular boy in school, and he was the first one to approach the lost Japanese girl and show her around the school.

Then he was another Digidestined who traveled to and from the Digiworld with me.  Now it was my turn to show him around.

I guess things came together at the great defeat of MaloMyotismon.  Maybe there was something monumental about the fact that the two of us were together and that we helped vanquish that final darkness.  When we all showed up in the Digiworld...

It was so cold and the wind whipped at us.  But we held our ground and held our digivices high.  And little by little, that awful MaloMyotismon disappeared.

It was over, and it was still cold.  I was so tired, so I collapsed into the nearest thing.  The ground.

And then Michael got in the way and caught me.  He picked me back up on my feet and held me.  So tenderly...

I guess I didn't hear Joe running up to greet me and celebrate with me, because when I looked up, he had the most numbed and hurt look on his face.

After that, he moved on with his life, I did with mine.  We were still friends, but... not like we were before.  Not as close.

He became even more determined to be a doctor after that.  I guess to get back at him, I decided to take up what my parents wanted me to do.

Unfortunately, they were one of those liberal parents who let me be anything I wanted to.  So I followed after Mama and became a culinary analyst.  Good looks and spunk take you a long way, I was almost as popular as Martha Stewart!

Michael took after his father and became an actor, starring in all the box office hits; from romantic comedies to adrenaline pumping action flicks.

How did we ever get together?  Let's put together this recipe.  We shared a common bond as Digidestined.  We were good friends.  We were both beautiful people.  He was famous, I was famous.  And since we were both famous, add a fistful of media speculation... and ta-da!  Instant storybook romance.

Hm, we did some more cooking of our own.  Nine months after our much publicized wedding, we had little Peter.

I love Michael very much.  He's as happy as he can ever make someone like me.  The only thing that nags me is I don't know why I ended up with him.  Only one clear reason stands out.  Our son.  Our sweet Peter.

It's just that... I can't help but wonder.

If only my life wasn't scripted like this.

I play Mrs. Mimi Tachikawa-Robinson and I'm a culinary analyst that stars in my own cooking show.

Or I could have won the role of Mrs. Mimi Tachikawa-Kido, or Tachikawa-Ishida, or even Tachikawa-Izumi; fashion designer, or singer, or model.

If only things were perfect and I would just be Mimi Tachikawa.

The End

Additional Author's Notes: I don't know what I was thinking when I did this.  I don't know why I did this fic too, but maybe the Davis fic triggered it.  You ask, why Michael?  Please compare Mimi's little boy to her and Michael.  Uncanny resemblance, no?  I got the idea from CrapBoardia.  Then they said something about Kari's boy resembling Wallace...  Who knows?