Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or any of its characters or story line. However, I do own the story line for this fanfic. Please don't sue!
Patamon glanced at the entrance to the gym. "Do you think she can help him?" He asked his friend worriedly.
Tailmon gave a feline shrug. "Hey, you're the one who's supposed to be Hope. Don't worry. If Hikari can get through to a half-crazed Monochromon with a dark ring around his neck, she should be able to handle one human boy. If anyone can get through to Takeru, she will."
"I hope so." Patamon glanced back at the door, and heaved a sigh.
Tailmon batted a paw at him playfully. "C'mon, Patamon. You gotta have faith!"
Hikari stood for a long time, simply wrapped up in Takeru's embrace, her head on his chest. She smiled blissfully, as the couple unknowingly swayed slowly. 'I don't want this moment to end...' She thought to herself. It had taken a scare for her best friends' sanity for Hikari to see the light. She never truly realized just how much she cared for the blond.
Resting his head on Hikari's, his eyes closed, Takeru breathed a mental sigh. 'She loves me...Gods above, I can't believe how lucky I am...' He opened his eyes as Hikari moved slightly out of his embrace.
She smiled and whispered "I love you", tasting the phrase in her mouth. Raising her voice a little, Hikari tried again. "I love you, TK." It just sounded so right to her.
Takeru answered her by pressing his lips against hers. "I love you too, 'Kari." He murmured, with his mouth on hers. She blushed slightly, but returned his kiss whole-heartedly.
"Hey, Tailmon!" Tailmon turned around to hear a familiar brunet's voice. She mentally groaned; if anyone could screw up whatever was going on in the gym, it was Daisuke.
The aforementioned digi-destined ran up to the feline digimon, panting. "Is Hikari here? Iori said she was heading this way."
"Did he say why she was coming here?" Tailmon asked him pointedly.
Daisuke got the ever-familiar clueless look on his face, and Patamon piped up, "She's in there having a very important talk with Takeru!"
Daisuke blanched first at his archenemy in love's name, then reddened. "Important, huh? It can't be that important, and I need to talk to her!"
As Tailmon shot Patamon an incredulous look and Patamon gave her an innocent "What?" Daisuke ran into the gym.
"Great..." Tailmon groaned, and Chibimon came bounding up.
"Hey, what's up?" He glanced at Tailmon, who was looking towards the gym doors mournfully. "What's wrong, Tailmon?"
"W-wh-what's going on here?" Hikari and Takeru broke off in mid kiss guiltily, as Daisuke stood just inside the door, staring at them in shock. Shock turned to embarrassment, which quickly led to anger, and Daisuke's cheeks were stained red.
Hikari took a small step away from Takeru, but their hands remained interlaced. "Daisuke," She began gently, her mind whirling for a good way to put this, but Daisuke interrupted her.
"No, don't say anything. Just don't say anything." He clenched his teeth together, and glared at Takeru, who kept his gaze even. "I don't want to hear it." With those words, he rushed back out of the gym.
Hikari watched him go, and sighed unhappily. Takeru pulled her close, and she leaned up against him for support. "What are we going to do?" She moaned softly.
Takeru glanced down at his girl, unhappy to see her so upset. In a small, selfish corner, Takeru was secretly glad, but that was quickly suppressed in his pain for the other boy. He didn't hate him, and Takeru knew he'd be feeling pretty low if he were in Daisuke's shoes. He smoothed Hikari's soft brown hair, and said softly, "I don't know. But we'll figure something out."
Hikari rewarded him with a smile, and the two walked out of the gym into the sunlight.
Patamon looked eagerly at the entrance when Hikari and Takeru came out, hand in hand. He still wasn't completely sure what was going on; Chibimon had fled after Daisuke when the boy came running out.
"Mind explaining what happened?" Tailmon asked dryly, her tail flicking behind her. Her keen eyes noticed the two pre-teens hand in hand.
Hikari's cheeks were a little pink, and Takeru tightened his grip on her. "He, uh, saw something he didn't want to see." He mumbled.
"I see." And she did. Oh, that digimon saw all to well, and also saw nothing wrong with it, barring the mess with the digi-destined of both Friendship and Courage. Both of which he was probably pretty low on right now. "So, what are you going to do about it?" Tailmon yawned delicately; it was nearing the time for her noon nap.
Hikari lifted her eyes. "We'll see." She smiled mischievously. "But right now I think it's about time that someone gets her beauty rest."
"Takes a lot out of a girl rescuing pretty blondes." Tailmon sniffed, then turned her blue eyes on Hikari and said archly, "Perhaps you can take your nap with this one."
Both Hikari and Takeru blushed furiously, and Patamon watched the three bewildered. "I don't get it." He finally announced.
Tailmon merely smiled, and said, "C'mon Patamon. Let's go find a nice tree and leave these two alone. I want to sleep." She turned and walked off, with Patamon flapping behind her, glancing over his 'shoulder'.
"Is Takeru going to be okay?" Hikari and Takeru could just make out Patamon's voice as he and Tailmon grew farther and farther away.
"He'll be fine now. Come along."
Takeru shot Hikari a slightly amused look. "What's this about rescuing?" He asked gently.
"We were worried about you." Hikari smiled, leading him off on a different path. "Iori was the one who came to me, I had thought it was just me, but he was worried too. He asked if I would talk with you, because he didn't feel he could."
"Well, I'm glad he did." Takeru slung an arm over her shoulders and the two walked in silence, enjoying each other's company.
"Your mom makes the best brownies, Iori." Miyako said, taking a bite out of her chocolate treat. Iori gave her a small smile, but his mind was elsewhere.
'I wonder if Hikari has talked to Takeru yet...I hope everything is okay.' He fretted over his friend, munching absently on a brownie.
"What's wrong, Iori?" Ken asked him tentatively. The poor boy was still unsure around Iori. The three digi-destined were hanging out with their partners at the computer lab after school, waiting for any word on the remaining destiny stones.
Iori looked over at Ken, unsure, and opened his mouth when the door slammed open. All six heads whipped around, digimon and human alike, to see Daisuke panting, his face flushed, at the door.
"Daisuke what's-"
Daisuke quickly cut Ken off, his words coming out in a jumbled rush. "HikariwaskissingTakeruandI'mgonnakillhimandshedoe sn'tlovemeandit'snotfa-
irandI'mgonnakillhim!"
"Say what?" Miyako asked.
"Slow down, Daisuke." Iori told him.
"Take a deep breath and say it again slower." Ken suggested.
"Daisuke I don't understand, what got you so angry? Why'd you run out from Hikari so fast? And why'd you leave me behind?" Chibimon finally caught up with him, and crawled into the room, exhausted.
Daisuke managed to control himself to take Ken's advice, but instead of immediately answering, he turned on Iori. "Why didn't you tell me Hikari was with HIM?"
Iori blinked. "Him? You mean Takeru? I wasn't sure if she'd be with him right then..."
"Well, she WAS." Daisuke told him, his anger rising. "And they didn't want me around."
Miyako laughed a little. "Well, Daisuke, not everyone is always happy to see-" She stopped at the look on his face.
"They wanted to be alone. Together." Daisuke said sullenly.
Ken mentally went over what Daisuke had first blurted out, and realization dawned in his eyes. "You caught them...um..." He blushed.
"They. Were. Kissing." Daisuke clenched his fists together. "I. Will. Kill him."
Iori's eyes widened. "Oh my. I didn't think that would happen when I asked Hikari to go talk to him..." He immediately regretted saying that when he saw the murderous look in Daisuke's eyes.
Ken caught Daisuke before he leapt on to the small boy, trying to calm him down. "Let's not overreact now, Daisuke. It's not Iori's fault you caught them in the middle of something you'd rather not see."
The furious look on Daisuke's face melted away, and he suddenly burst into heart-wrenching sobs. Miyako and Iori watched Daisuke sadly, unsure of what to do.
"Why?" He managed. "Why does she like him better than me? What does he have that I don't?"
Hesitantly, Ken wrapped his arms around Daisuke, and rubbed his back soothingly. Daisuke willingly accepted this comfort, crying into Ken's shoulder. "Shhh..." Ken said softly. "It'll be alright. Just let it out."
Oblivious to Daisuke's state of mind, Hikari and Takeru blissfully enjoyed each other's company, practically glued at the hip. As they came out of the forest path, Hikari saw the tall spires of...
"A carnival! Oh, TK, can we go? Please?"
Takeru laughed, looking down at the amusement twinkling in his new girlfriend's eyes. "Anything for you, fair maiden." He said gallantly. Then he winked. "Saves me the trouble of asking you out."
He was rewarded with a swift fist to his shoulder.
"Ow!"
They soon reached the front gate, where Takeru bought two passes. "After all," He told Hikari as he handed her her pass, "This is our first date, right?"
The teenage girl at the counter smiled. "Aw, how cute!" She exclaimed, leaving both Hikari and Takeru blushing bright red as they quickly entered the park.
Meanwhile, Taichi had been watching the two from the bushes. "Did I hear right?" He asked aloud. "Are they really out on a date?" A mischievous grin spread across his face. "Aw, man, I've gotta call Yamato. This needs looking into!"