Hello hello long time no see (: Before you proceed, do take note that this isn't Chapter 1, as some may be thinking, but Chapter 2. This is the result of a collaboration between two brilliant writers on this site, namely KnightAngel765 and myself. Or, the count could just stand at one brilliant writer and an egomaniac and everyone's favourite narcissist, (ME ME ME!).

I'll be writing as Hikari, and he'll be writing as Takeru (: It could vacillate from letters to emails, and from serious topics to completely random and unimportant drabble. But any form of conversation builds a relationship, and nobody could really stay friends without some wacky-ness or randomness from time to time (: We would know, considering we live on the opposites of the big round round world and have been exchanging emails daily since February. (:

Just to straighten out any confusion, this takes place in between 01 and 02, and also some time after 02. They will be sixteen-going-on-seventeen in Letters (:

ANYWAY, proceed at your own risk. Just take note that only alternate chapters will be uploaded here, and Takeru's letter content is already uploaded as Chapter one in Letters, by KnightAngel765 (: Enjoy, and thank you for taking the time and effort to read this note (:

By the time she'd reached the end of the letter, involuntary tears were about to fall. Emotion rushed at her chest and warmed her cheeks.

Strangely enough, considering the letter hadn't told her what she didn't already know. Her special bond with Takeru had always been undeniable. Nonetheless, she felt a sweet pleasure at seeing it all in black and white. While the blue lined paper was common enough, the sentiments it held were enormous. She knew he had chosen the everyday plain paper for a reason. It was the exact type and even brand he'd write to her on, both before and after he returned. Everything about him was familiar.
The smile that she knew was hanging on her lips widened. She knew he would have had to push himself to pen his feelings so aptly. She knew it couldn't have been easy. She herself had trouble putting to words that very special feeling that she always felt with him.

It was the three words near the end of the letter that had brought on the tears. Through her blurred vision, she saw TK now watching her intently, trying to read her expression. The moment he saw her tears, his expression turned to panic.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry! I-I-" he broke off as he fumbled in his jeans pockets for tissues. She wiped away the tears with her sleeve and gave him a weak smile. Suddenly, she had the urge to get home as soon as possible. Her thoughts were running haphazardly in her head. All she wanted to do was to get into a hot bath and put it all in place.

"I… I'd like to go home," she said, once she found her voice again. At this point, TK was looking absolutely crushed. She reached out and touched her hand to his cheek. He leaned into her warm touch almost instinctively. "I just need some time to think," she whispered.

He watched her brown eyes, damp from recent tears, for a long moment, and she held his gaze steady. He saw something in them that assuaged the crushing sadness. Finally, he nodded.

Before they parted at her apartment building, he opened his arms for their usual hug. She took the step closer to him and held him close. Today, however, the routine felt different. His arms were awkward, his eyes were hesitant, and his heart was taking quick, stuttering beats. For the first time, she wondered at the curiousness of their relationship. What were they, exactly? He had made it clear how he saw her, and she wondered what had jolted him into defining their relationship. What was Takeru to her?

She tapped the pen to the sheath of paper in front of her. Her mind was close to overflowing, but she couldn't find words to shape her response to Takeru's letter. The only words she had written on the lined paper were Dear Takeru, and she had no inkling of where to go from there. The words didn't come as easily to her as they did to Takeru; He'd always had a flair for putting his thoughts to paper.

Her eyes flickered blankly around the room, as though trying to pluck words from the air. Instead, she saw Takeru in all the details of her room.

The faded lilac curtains, their colour leeched away by time, and repeated washes. Her mother taken her to the shop for new curtains all those years ago, and she hadn't been able to make a choice. The very next day, she'd pulled him to the shop. He'd looked intently at each design and at every colour, before finally singling out the lilac curtains, made from a material that was light, yet just heavy enough to offer privacy. Thoughtful and meticulous, that was what she liked about him.

Liked?

The paint strokes on the walls. She and Takeru had painted them onto her walls nearly nine years ago, just a while after they had returned from their first adventures in the Digital World. Bold orange lines entwined with pink curlicue. They were childish and spontaneous, yet Hikari knew she would never outgrow them. They were two contrasting colours that Hikari knew were never meant to be paired, yet, there was something in the way they spun around each other that she loved. They seemed to complete the balance of the whole room.

Loved?

Her eyes fell on the framed photograph on her desk. Takeru had given the photograph to her as a birthday present, after bugging Koushiro (their regional expert, or rather, their only expert) for weeks on end to find a way to download it from the Digital World database. It was a copy of the commemorative photo they had all taken all those years ago in the Digital World, captured by Andromon.

She smiled at the memories that rushed back. All those adventures in the Digital World that had brought everyone closer as a group had also strengthened the bond between Takeru and Hikari. More than that, they spent nearly every moment together every time he returned from France during his school breaks. If their school vacations clashed, he'd go to school with her for the duration of his stay. She often felt terrible for it, knowing that he could very well be enjoying himself elsewhere other than school. But his answering smile always clearly showed her that there was nowhere he'd rather be. Slowly, gradually, Hikari let go of prickling guilt and allowed herself to simply enjoy his company.

They've always had an irresistible bond between them, and to be honest, neither had found the need to do any resisting. Their eight-year-old minds had accepted the bond quite easily. Hope and Light had always existed as a separate entity from the others, but they couldn't exist without each other.

Was that all there was to their relationship? A cunningly-placed inception of some ancient Digimon's efforts to rid the Digital World of evil? That it was entirely out of their control and that magnetic pull she felt towards him was no product of their individual hearts?

Hikari concentrated.

No.

She was absolutely certain that it was more than that. The bond was an internal construct, but she often caught herself mesmerized by the physical as well. The way his unusual blond hair was always adorably mused whenever she could convince him to remove the silly fishing hat; the way he could pick up her up like she weighed nothing at all; the way she could see the thought behind his every action; the way his blue eyes always sparkled when they found her even in the most crowded rooms.

Without the bond, they may not even have met.

Without that extra something she felt for him, they may not have stayed together, a full five years after saving the Digital World for good. Three hundred and sixty-five days per year, multiplied by five. A thousand, eight hundred and twenty-five days later, and they were closer than ever.

If she didn't love him, she wouldn't be so confused now.

Friendship was one thing, but between love and friendship was a world of difference.

From what little she knew of it, love was more of a burden than anything else. Her parents' and brother's were familial, and completely unconditional. This was different.

Unconditional love was Taichi struggling to find medicine for her in a world completely unknown, steadfast and uncomplaining. It was her parents awakening her from nightmare after nightmare, just to tell her that she was in safe hands. It was her, knowing that she would do anything in her power to protect them.

But hadn't Takeru already managed all that?

In Piedmon's castle, hadn't he urged her in front of himself, in spite of imminent danger? At that very point, they were only kids at eight years old, and hadn't even known each other that long. Yet, he was willing to put her life before his, ignoring his own fear and igniting his Crest of Hope.

At the fathomless dark ocean, when her shouts of bravado had faded to pitiful sobs, hadn't he found her? Hadn't the skies broken through the grey just to let him through?

When his return from France coincided with their reappearance in the Digital World, Hikari thought her world could not have been more perfect. Except their new adventures were more difficult than before. Once the protected youngest, they were now the most experienced of the new group. Hikari, much prone to reliance on others, suddenly found herself lost. She kept her fears to herself, of course, not wanting the others to worry. She wasn't sure how Takeru realised, or if he even knew, but before she knew it, he had become a great source of comfort to her

He left her room to grow, but not without leaving her a shelter to fall back into. There were times when she thought that if she were to allocate crests, he'd definitely be the recipient of her crest of Reliability.

He had more than proven himself willing.

The real question was, was Hikari willing to let him?

Unreasonable frustration started boiling in Hikari. In a sudden sweep of anger, she snatched a pillow from her bed burrowed her face deep into it, and screamed. She screamed until her breath ran out, until her face burned as red as the hot knot in her chest.

When she was done releasing the cacophonic demons that clouded her mind, she somehow had an answer.

The answer was simple, as it very often was.

From now on, it'll go back to the beginning of the letters. Next chapter will be uploaded by KnightAngel765! Please review (: