Disclaimer: No, Digimon does not belong to me.
Everybody happy now?! Thought so. ^^;;
Crimson Feathers
By Koneko Kamiya
No matter how hard Taichi Kamiya tried, he couldn't forget that last instant in which he had been happy. He had been happy with her in his arms, her cheerful laughter ringing in the air as he spun her around in the street. Then the feeling of her soft lips on his, kissing him, not knowing that that would be the last time.
The rest was a blur; him walking her home, the street light, the truck, the blood. Her blood. Red stains on the concrete and her body in his arms again. Both of them under rain that had silently began to fall. Him kissing her now cold lips, his tears cascading down on her pale cheeks, pleading her to come back to him, telling her he needed her, that she couldn't leave him. She didn't listen, she left him. The deafening sound of his own anguished wail. The sound of the falling rain drowning everything else.
He couldn't remember the funeral. It was like he had never attended it. Like he hadn't been sitting in the front row, crying on his sister's shoulder. Like he hadn't left a crimson rose on her gravestone that day. He could just remember the rain. The unbearable sound of raindrops hitting the pavement.
It hadn't stopped raining since the day of the accident. The rain had washed away her blood from the street but couldn't wash away the pain. The pain Taichi felt in his soul. He had lost her. She wouldn't come back.
He felt tears in his eyes again and didn't bother trying to stop them from spilling down his cheeks. He looked up from a photograph of them together and stared out of the window and into the ashen sky. Rain. Raindrops falling down the windowpane silently, drawing patterns on the cold glass. Suddenly he could hear it again, the sound that would forever be carved into his mind as the sound of death. The soft pitter-patter on the window sill, the soft and soothing sound of rain. Only that that sound wasn't as soothing any more. It reminded him of tears, ambulances and her pale cheeks smeared with blood.
He stood up suddenly causing the chair to fly back; his shaking hands let go of the photograph and covered his ears. He couldn't stand that sound any more, why couldn't it just stop and leave him alone? He tried to block the sound out but that only caused him to concentrate on it more.
He wailed in agony as unwanted images flew through his mind. Her voice, her smile, her shy eyes and her ruby colored lips. He whimpered. Her short auburn hair, her fingers, her breath on his neck, her loving crimson eyes. Crimson, the color of blood. Her blood on the street slowly mixing with his salty tears.
He tried to run away from his memories but he tripped over the fallen chair and crashed to the floor. He lay there, sobbing, allowing the pain to wash over him.
Hours passed and Taichi fell asleep. He dreamed of her. He dreamed of kissing her, of laughing with her, of talking to her and then she suddenly faded into nothing. His dream became an endless black plain where he would actually see her from time to time, catch a glimpse of her smile in the darkness. But as soon as he would notice her she would disappear into the terrifying nothingness.
He woke up screaming. He drew in a shuddering breath to try and calm his racing heart, but failed. He shakily stood up, leaning against the wall for support and looked out the window again. It was nearly morning and the sky was brighter but it hadn't stopped raining.
Taichi grabbed his coat and ran out of the door silently enough not to wake anyone up. The cold hit him as soon as he started walking; the light drizzle painfully fell against his pale face. He closed his eyes and allowed his feet to take him were they wanted.
When he opened his eyes again he stared in horror at the crossing were it all began. It started to rain harder then before. He closed his eyes and tears slowly rolled down his cheeks until the reached his jaw; from there they fell and splashed into a forming puddle mixed with raindrops.
The sound of the falling rain was growing louder again and, by sheer willpower, Taichi managed to stop listening. He opened his eyes again and looked across the road. He managed to cross it, not really minding the few cars that were already speeding by. He forced his eyes to ignore the spot were she had been hit, forced his mind to shut down and ordered his feet to keep on moving one in front of the other.
After having crossed the road he entered the park. His destination was at the other side of the park and he steadfastly refused to acknowledge anything around him. But as he walked he could feel unwanted memories resurfacing.
Two children playing on the swings, a little girl falling... he tried to concentrate on blocking that train of thought. He failed. Two kids playing soccer in the grass, running around until they collapsed from exhaustion. The same two kids eating ice creams in the summer heat, the little girl dropping the treat and the little boy sharing his own with her. Two teenagers walking through the tall trees, hand in hand, sharing their first kiss under the moonlight.
He could hear the rain now. He could hear it clearly as he walked into the cemetery looking for the grave of his loved one. When his eyes rested on the gravestone he found himself walking towards it. The crimson rose was still there, a bit wilted but still in its place.
Taichi picked the flower up tenderly and stared at it. He gasped as one of its petals fell and landed softly on the cold stone. Raindrops fell on the crimson petal; crimson the color of blood.
The rain was deafening now. He still held the rose in his hand as he gazed at the photo of a young girl on the gravestone. She had been smiling in that picture, her beautiful eyes shining in the sunshine.
Sunshine. How long was it from the last time he had seen the sun? How long since he had last felt it's warm rays on his skin? It had been that afternoon. They had gone out, walked in the park laughing all the way like little children. They had kissed, they had talked, they had been happy together.
Together. That word was engraved in his soul, and he kept repeating it like a mantra. Together. Together they would be happy again.
Taichi dropped the rose, and with shaking hands he grabbed the pocketknife from his jacket pocket. He took it out and, for the first time in days, he smiled. He smiled at the raindrops sliding down its metal surface.
The rain was falling harder, big drops splashing onto the smooth marble of her grave. He liked the sound now. It reminded him of death: his own death. He knelt down under the pouring rain and stared, mesmerized, at the deathly beauty of the weapon in his hand. He then shakily ran the blade across his pale wrist. Crimson blood gushed from the cut; crimson drops fell, mixing with the rain, forming a scarlet puddle on the ground.
Taichi smiled again, he would see her soon. His shaking hand dropped the knife and fell by his side. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the cold stone of the grave. He could feel raindrops falling on him, trickling down the back of shirt, sending shivers down his spine. He concentrated on them. In his mind he could picture their path: falling from the sky and then landing on his back, drenching his shirt and finding their way to chill him to the bone...
Suddenly, he couldn't feel the rain drops any more. He opened his eyes, confused, and saw only white. White feathers. He turned round and stared into the eyes of the girl he had so much longed to see.
"Sora..." his voice as soft as a whisper. He looked into her crimson eyes again. Crimson, the color of love. Then he noticed she was crying. Crystal tears were falling down her cheeks, and onto her white gown. An angel. His Sora had become an angel.
"Sora... " He whispered again. This time he felt her arms encircling him and he rested his head in her lap. He gazed at her, mesmerized by her angelic beauty. Raindrops were trickling down her auburn hair and were soaking her wings. The wings she was using to shield him from the rain.
"Why?"
Just that one word escaped her lips. Taichi smiled.
"Because I love you." he simply replied. "Because I love you too much to live without you."
Taichi found it very difficult to speak, he felt too weak to do so, but he still managed to raise his hand and stroke her cheek tenderly, leaving a bloody smear on it. Blood was dripping onto her gown, staining it red.
She stroked his hair and grasped his hand in her own. She continued to cry, tears falling down her cheeks and splashing onto his.
"Please Sora, don't cry..." Taichi whispered in her ear.
She nodded and kissed him sweetly on the lips murmuring "I love you".
He sighed contently and closed his eyes, but he opened them again when he felt warmth against his closed eyelids.
"The sun..." he whispered so softly it was nearly impossible for her to understand. She nodded again.
Sure enough, the sun's rays were filtering through the clouds, and it had finally stopped raining.
"I had forgotten it was so beautiful."
This time she didn't hear him. For he murmured his thoughts to himself only.
He looked at the bright sky for the last time and then he closed his eyes again and this time he didn't find the strength to open them again.
He couldn't feel anything anymore except the sounds of her silent crying and her lips pressed against his own one last time.
Sora started sobbing loudly as Taichi's body when limp in her arms and she started to fade away. She cradled her lover's body in her arms one last time and planted a soft kiss on his forehead, then disappeared completely in a flutter of wings.
And the only thing the two lovers left behind were pure white feathers stained crimson with blood.
~ owari ~
Okay, that was depressing. This is my first sad fic so I would really like to hear your opinions on it. If you feel like flaming by all means do so, just as long as you have something intelligent to say. ^^;;
Thank you again for reading my story.
dewa mata
Koneko.