Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Rose Diaries - Paris Adventures 2004 ❯ Entry 1 - Many Happy Returns ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Digimon belongs to Toei Animation, Saban Entertainment, FoxKids and
possibly other companies whose names I do not know. I'm only
borrowing them temporarily, and I promise to return them when I'm
done. The Diaries timeline was devised by Lord Archive who is
graciously allowing me to play in his universe. Thanks, Archive! I
promise I won't let you down.

-----------

"Oh, I so do enjoy weddings!" Catherine Ducharme sighed, stretching
her arms above her head. Her Floramon giggled, as did the other
members of her team.

Colette, another member of the team partnered with a Gazimon, grinned.
"Hikari made such a lovely bride. I hope I look that beautiful when I
get married."

"So long as you're not that young when you get married," countered Joan
as she adjusted her hold on her sleeping Elecmon. "Thirteen and a baby
on the way...I don't know if I could handle it."

"I just wish I had been able to catch the bouquet," the blonde leader
of the French team pouted. She had been one of the five girls to
successfully make a grab for the bridal bouquet, only to end up with
two baby's breath and a couple roses when it ripped apart.

"Don't worry about it, Cathy," Paul consoled her. "Maybe next time."
His Gotsumon rolled his eyes.

"Well, here's my street," Catherine said as they came upon the next block.
"I'll see you all tomorrow! Goodnight, all!" The others wished
her good night before continuing the walk back to their homes.

The other male of the team, a boy with blonde hair and glasses and
partnered with a Mushmon, snickered as soon as they were out of
Catherine's earshot. "My God, Paul. When are you going to give it up?
You know Catherine's never going to give you the time of day."

"A boy can dream, Gerard," Paul retorted. "A boy can dream." The others
shook their heads and chuckled as they continued down the street.

------------

Rose Diaries - Paris Adventures Zero-Four
By Lady Iapetus

Entry 1: Many Happy Returns

------------

"Bonjour, Mama. Happy birthday."

Genevieve Riveare smiled wistfully as she set the framed picture of her
mother back down on her night table before picking up her brush and
running it through her short red hair. She studied her reflection for
a moment, thinking back to how many times her father had said she
resembled her mother. In the old days Genevieve had always thought it
fun that she shared her special day with her mother, but now the thought
only brought pain with it.

There was a knock on her bedroom door, followed by her father's voice
requesting, "Genevieve? May I come in?"

"Yes, Papa," Genevieve called back. The door opened, allowing the man
to enter. As always he was dressed in a spotless white suit with a silk
cravat tied around his neck providing the only color to the ensemble.

"Happy birthday, Genevieve," Louie Riveare wished his daughter. She
smiled, accepting the kiss he planted on her cheek. "I have something
for you."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to open presents until I got home from
school," Genevieve said in confusion as her father handed her a package
wrapped in pink and purple paper.

"I decided we'd change things, just this once," Louie replied. "Besides,
you've been pestering me about it for so long that if I held off any
longer I might have gone insane." He smiled as he watched Genevieve pull
off the bow and tear away the paper to reveal what lay underneath.

Genevieve's eyes widened as she found herself holding a Pineapple
laptop computer with a rose-pink color scheme. She'd first set her
sights on it when she had seen it in a computer store window while
window shopping with her parents...before her mother had gotten ill.

"Oh, Papa! Thank you!" Genevieve exclaimed, hugging her father. "Can I
take it to school with me? I want to show Rene and Ellen."

"Of course," her father answered. "Now you'd better hurry or else you'll
be late, hm?"

"Yes, Papa," she replied. Louie nodded and went downstairs as she set
about getting her school things together, slipping her new computer into
her backpack before zipping it shut and hurrying out of her bedroom.

Genevieve trotted down the stairs, waving to some of her father's guests
as she headed out the door. One of the perks of living at a bed and
breakfast like The Rose of Paris was the different varieties of people
she was exposed to on a daily basis. The guests enjoyed having
Genevieve around pleasant as well, as she was always interested in a
good story.

Louie smiled as he watched his daughter leave from his vantage point
behind the check-in desk. This was going to be a difficult day for both
of them to get through, but he had faith that they'd be able to get
through it. Then thoughts of his daughter were forgotten as a new
guest approached the desk and he returned to work.

--------------

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up."

Ellen Belvoir narrowed her eyes. "Very funny, Rene. It wasn't my fault
that the airport screwed up and gave my seat to someone else, and I had
to wait two days to get a flight back here." Rene LeSalle shrugged as
if to say he didn't believe her. "I'm just damn lucky our teachers
actually _read_ their e-mail."

"So, how is good ol' America?" he asked.

This time it was Ellen who shrugged. "It's there. Mother's there,
Gary's there and Nelson's there. Not much else to say." Rene nodded;
although they appeared to enjoy getting on each other's nerves a lot,
it was mutually agreed between Ellen and Rene that the topic of
Ellen's step-relations in America wasn't discussed.

"Hey look! There's the birthday girl!" Rene called out a few moments
later when he spotted Genevieve in the crowd of students walking to
school. The younger girl waved as she walked over to her friends.
"Happy birthday, Genevieve." Ellen echoed his sentiments.

"Thank you," Genevieve told both of her friends. "You'll never guess
what Papa got me for my birthday." The pair looked at her expectantly
but before she could say anything, the bell rang.

Ellen shouldered her bookbag. "There's the bell. You'll have to show
us at lunch, Genevieve." The trio joined the scramble of students
heading for the door.

By the time the lunch hour rolled around Genevieve was almost bouncing
with anticipation. She waited impatiently for her friends to show up
at their usual table at the school's open courtyard. When they finally
did appear, she made a big show of acting impatient. "It's about time,"
she said huffily. "Where were you guys?"

"Don't ask, please," Ellen requested as they sat down. "Okay,
Genevieve. What's this big present your dad got you for your birthday
that you just couldn't wait to show us?"

"This," Genevieve replied, and pulled out her new laptop. Rene
whistled, running a hand over it.

"God, that's nice," he commented. "You turned it on yet?"

"No," she answered. "I didn't have time this morning." Genevieve opened
the computer and all three of them grinned as the screen came to life.
"It works!" its owner announced unnecessarily.

Ellen frowned as the glow brightened. "Is it supposed to be doing that?"
she asked. Suddenly it flared, like a large flashbulb and the trio was
forced to avert their eyes. Genevieve, who had flung up her hands to
protect her sight, felt something hit them and she reflexively wrapped
her fingers around it. When she opened her eyes she found herself
holding an egg-shaped object with rose-pink rubber grips on either side,
a small black antennae and a screen.

"What is this?" Rene murmured, and Genevieve noticed that he had a
similar object only it had grips of dark blue. A third, this one with a
spring green border, was in Ellen's possession.

"That...wasn't supposed to happen." Ellen's statement wasn't a question,
but Genevieve shook her head just the same. The three of them stared
at the computer before the younger girl cautiously reached out, turned
it off and then quickly flipped it shut.

-------------

After school let out Genevieve rushed home, partly in anticipation of
whatever else her father might have planned for her birthday, and
partly because she wanted a chance to examine the thing that had come
out of her computer at lunch that day. A note on his office door told
Genevieve that her father had had to leave unexpectedly, but would be
back as soon as possible. Armed with this information Genevieve
hurried up to her bedroom, shut the door, pulled out her laptop and
turned it on then pulled out the strange device from earlier in the day.

At first she had thought it to be part of a watch, but it was too big
to be a watch face. Plus it was too oddly shaped. And then there was
the way she had received it; Genevieve was pretty certain that solid
objects flying out of computer screens was not a normal, every day
occurrence.

Genevieve held the device up to examine it. "Just what in the world
are you?" she asked it. As if it were answering her question her
laptop beeped. Genevieve looked at it to see some sort of window
up on the screen. "Now that's funny," she remarked, leaning closer
to get a better look. Her hand holding the device came closer to
the screen as well, and the window opened.

All Genevieve had time to do was scream as she was sucked into her
computer.

----------------

Koushiro's message board for the Chosen Children and Digidestined of
the world was normally busy every day, but the day following Takeru
and Hikari's wedding it was especially busy. Everyone was talking
about the wedding, or the various events of the reception. Several
congratulatory messages had been given to Hank and Jessica of the
Oklahoma team, as well as to their Digimon partners. Another post
was devoted to the Vadermon that had showed up and had been killed
by two of the Londoners, and what possible reason he had for being
there.

Catherine giggled as she read through one thread, this one discussing
the "duel" between Iori and Henry of the London team. In it, Henry
had challenged Iori to a rematch the next time the Odaiba and London
teams met and someone had tried to start a betting pool on who would
win their next confrontation.

Suddenly her computer chimed, signifying that she had a new e-mail.
It was from Koushiro, asking who of the French team had opened the
digiport that he had just detected. Catherine e-mailed him back that
it hadn't been her but she'd find out who had opened it. She then
forwarded his e-mail to the rest of her teammates with her own little
note. All answers came back negative, though Joan did mention in her
reply that she thought she had seen her brother Rene with a D-3.
Colette offered to go into the Digital World to see if anyone had gone
in, and Catherine agreed to the course of action.

Catherine's brow furrowed. She'd heard about the random digital
portals opening in Odaiba and Digimon coming out of them. More
specifically, she'd heard of the Dark Ocean portal that had opened a
few days before the wedding and that the Odaiba team had had to destroy
all who had come through it. The thought that something similar might
be happening in Paris frightened her.

--------------

Genevieve opened her eyes to find herself looking up at a blue sky,
not at her bedroom ceiling like she had expected. "Okay, this is
different," she said aloud to no one in particular.

"Hey, are you awake now?"

"Huh? Who said that, and how'd I get here?" Genevieve sat up and saw she
was in some sort of field or meadow that was surrounded by trees. Her
gaze finally rested on what looked like a small brown rabbit with long,
floppy ears. It had purple stripes on its ears and a purple mark around
its neck that reminded Genevieve of one of her father's neckerchiefs. It
also had three horns on its head.

"I did," the rabbit answered. "And I'm glad you're awake now; do you know
how boring it is to watch somebody sleeping?"

Genevieve blinked. "Who are you?"

"Oh! Pardon me; my name is Lopmon," the little rabbit introduced herself.
"I'm a Digimon. In fact, I'm your Digimon partner."

"Digimon...partner?" Genevieve repeated. Lopmon nodded. The French girl
vaguely recalled the events of wintertime two years ago, when strange
creatures had invaded Paris. She remembered seeing a busload of them
drive by, several accompanied by children; one of them she had recognized
as Rene's older sister Joan. "You mean, you're like those creatures that
invaded Paris over Christmas in 2002?"

"Yes," Lopmon replied "but they were mainly Virus types who were just
lost and confused. My purpose is to protect you, and your friends and
family. I only answer to you."

"Are there other children in France with Digimon, or am I the only one?"
asked Genevieve.

"There are already several Digidestined in Paris alone," the rabbit
Digimon replied. "You're just one of the newer ones."

Genevieve mouthed the word "Digidestined," but before she could ask about
that a loud crashing from above distracted both of them. Hovering above
them was a red insect with large pincers. And it didn't appear all that
happy. Genevieve let out a shriek of fright.

"Oh no, a Kuwagamon!" moaned her Digimon partner.

"A what?" asked Genevieve.

Lopmon didn't answer the question. Instead she commanded, "Run,
Genevieve! I'll hold him off!" She turned and faced the angry insect.
"Blazing Ice!" Kuwagamon growled, dodging Lopmon's attack and
continuing its pursuit of Genevieve. Growling, Lopmon tried again.
"Petit Twister!" She spun in place, creating a whirlwind that hit
the Kuwagamon in the face but did nothing to phase him. "This is looking
very bad."

"Lopmon!" Genevieve shrieked. She had only known the small Digimon
a short time but already felt an attachment to her. She picked up a
rock she saw on the ground and threw it at the Kuwagamon. The rock
bounced off his head, pulling his attention away from Lopmon.
Genevieve swallowed as the realization of what she had just done hit
her. "Uh-oh..."

"Leave Genevieve alone! Lopmon evolve!" Light surrounded the small
Digimon. When it vanished there was a brown rabbit twice Lopmon's
size with large metal paws and long ears that ended in razor blades.
"Prariemon. Sonic Ear!" Prariemon threw her head back before
whipping it forward, her ears flying in front of her. Twin beams of
energy flew from the razors on her ears, which the Kuwagamon ducked.

Genevieve's eyes widened. "You missed!"

"Wait for it..." Prariemon directed. Her attacks had missed the
Kuwagamon, true, but they didn't miss a pair of nearby trees. The
Sonic Ear sliced neatly through their trunks, causing both to fall
forward on top of the Kuwagamon. He fell to the ground with a heavy
thud, pinned by massive amounts of lumber.

Prariemon smirked as she devolved to Lopmon. "That's one way to get rid
of an annoying pest."

"Is he...is he dead?" asked Genevieve.

"No. He'll probably need a couple aspirin when he wakes up, at which
time we'll be long gone," Lopmon answered.

"Oh, darn!" a new voice pouted. "I didn't get to do anything!" Lopmon
and Genevieve turned to see a rabbit Digimon larger than Lopmon standing
at the grove's edge. Standing beside her was a teenage girl with dirty-
blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop complaining." She walked over to
Genevieve and extended her hand in greeting. "Hello. I'm Colette
Arwall, and this is my partner Gazimon. I take it you're the one who
opened the gate?"

Genevieve nodded. "Yes. Genevieve Riveare, and this is Lopmon. And I
didn't mean to open the gate, honest. It just sort of happened."

Colette nodded. "That's normal, especially if you're a new Digidestined.
So, were you the only one to get a D-3 or were there others that
received them?"

"D-3? You mean, this?" Genevieve pulled out the strange device and
showed it to Colette. She nodded and explained that all digivices that
looked like the one she had were called D-3s. "Well, two of my other
friends also got them. Ellen and Rene."

"Hmm. We'll have to keep a lookout for them, then," Colette remarked.

"You're the second person to call me a Digidestined," Genevieve said.
"Just what is a Digidestined?"

"A Digidestined is a child who is chosen to have a Digimon partner who
will help them defend both this world and the real world from threats,"
explained the blonde. "Right now the various Chosen and Digidestined of
the world are just doing peace keeping in their respective areas, but
all Digidestined have an initial task to perform. We just have to figure
out what yours is. In any case, I think you ought to get home before
anyone misses you."

The younger girl's eyes widened as she remembered that her father could
be home at any minute. "Oh, no! But how do I get home?"

"The same way you got here, and can get here in the future," the
blonde answered. "You hold up your D-3 to your computer screen and say
Digi-port, open. It works the same way here, only you use a television."

The red-haired girl blinked. "A...television?" she echoed.

"A television," Colette confirmed with a nod, pointing to the set that
sat a few feet away. "Well, Gazimon and I are going to hang around here
for a bit just in case any one else shows up. It was nice to meet you,
Genevieve."

"Nice to meet you too," Genevieve returned as Colette and Gazimon walked
away. She and Lopmon then approached the television that the older girl
had indicated. "Well, here goes nothing," she sighed, holding out her
D-3 in front of her. "Digi-port, open! Whoa!"

----------------------

Genevieve winced as she and Lopmon hit the floor. "Ouch. I'm going to
have to learn how to land on my feet if I'm going to be one of these
Digidestined."

There was a knock on her door, followed by her father's voice
asking, "Genevieve, is everything all right in there?"

"Yes, Papa!" Genevieve called out. She stood up just as Louie opened
the door to check for himself. He smiled when he saw for himself that
she was fine, but then his gaze turned to something on the floor and he
frowned.

"What is that?" Louie asked. Genevieve saw that he was looking at
Lopmon. She glanced at her partner to find that she had adopted a
shoe button stare the minute Genevieve's father had entered the room.
"I don't remember you having that toy."

Genevieve thought fast. "Oh! This is a birthday present from Rene
and Ellen. They both chipped in, since they know how much I like
rabbits." Louie nodded, apparently accepting this answer.

"Well, you get ready to go all right? I got us reservations at your
favorite restaurant," he told her. Genevieve nodded, grinning, and
he left so that she could change into something nicer.

'A new computer, becoming a Digidestined and dinner at my favorite
restaurant,' Genevieve thought to herself. 'All in all, not bad for
my ninth birthday.'

------------------

Author's Notes:

First off, a huge thank you to Lord Archive for allowing me to do
this. I realize I know very little about French culture, but this
will be an interesting learning experience.

Genevieve's father: Louie Riveare is based off of the character of
Bon Chance Louie who was marvelously portrayed by Roddy McDowall in
the short-lived series 'Tales of the Gold Monkey.' Roddy is my
favorite actor of all time, and I thought this would be a nice
tribute to him.

First French Team: Catherine Ducharme (Floramon - Kiwimon), Joan
LaSalle (Elecmon), Paul Renard (Gotsumon), Colette Arwall (Gazimon)
and Gerard (Mushmon).

Information for the new French Digidestined will be coming in later
entries.

Upcoming Entry:
Rose Diaries - Entry 2: The Odd Couple
Rene and Ellen take their own trip to the Digiworld while Colette
notifies her teammates of the existence of new Digidestined in their
part of the world.