Author's Notes: Sorry, I didn't update sooner. I've been kind of lazy lately. I don't own Digimon.

How do you leave the past behind

When it keeps finding ways to get to

Your heart

It reaches way down deep and tears

You inside out

Til you're torn apart

"Rent," Company, Rent

Coming to Terms

Michael sighed and nervously wiped the sweat of his brow. He strode down the hallway quickly and stood in front of the entrance of the library, hesitant to go in. If he did his task he would betray the order he served his entire life and if he didn't Jyou would…well he didn't want to think about what Jyou would do to him.

Releasing a breath he had no idea he was holding in, he pushed through the doors and stared around at the vast room. The walls and floor were made of solid gold and the hundreds upon hundreds of bookshelves were all made from the finest mahogany.

Then there were the books themselves. Some were written in tongues most humans would not understand, some were so old they looked as if the slightest touch would reduce them to a pile of dust, and still others appeared to have the eerie quality of being made from human parts, such as skin.

He climbed the ladder leaning against the row nearest him and stopped two-thirds of the way to the top. Eyes searching the shelf carefully he smiled and removed his prey from its rightful place. He shivered as he studied it; the cover of the book appeared to have been made out of patches of different human skin, the words on the cover had been written in blood, and the lock across the center seemed to have been crafted from the bones of some demon.

"Bonsour Michael!"

Startled, he jumped and stared down at the young woman leaning against the bookshelf. She was incredibly attractive with long, blonde hair, pale skin, and ocean blue eyes; she was dressed in the Order's traditional black but her clothes were a little more revealing than most of the conservatives would have found appropriate.

He unstuck his throat and muttered, "Hello Catharine."

Catharine crossed her arms across her chest and watched as he descended the ladder. Her eyes met his and he shuddered; it was at times like these he wondered if the French Knight had the gift of telepathy. Thankfully she broke the contact and he mentally sighed in relief.

"There is a meeting in an hour. Gennai sent me to tell you."

"Thank you."

She stared at him hard for a second before nodding and turning on her heel towards the exit. "Au revoir." A minute later she was out the door and out of his sight completely.

He pressed the book almost protectively to his chest and left to meet Jyou at the spot where he was to deliver the package. Picking a book out of the Order's library was not an act of treason. Inviting a vampire into headquarters was another matter entirely.

An hour later Mimi jumped from rooftop to rooftop as she made her way home. Her feet directed her unconsciously; her mind was still at the park with Yamato. She clenched her fists at her sides and muttered an oath under her breath.

It was a good thing she left as abruptly as she did. Before he had unknowingly ripped open a wound she thought was practically healed, she couldn't stop thinking about how soft his lips looked. And they were sitting so close together on the bench she could have leaned over and kissed him.

No! She smacked herself on the head and uttered another in barely more than a whisper. "No, Mimi don't go there. He's a vampire hunter for God's sake! Nothing can happen between you two!"

Why did that thought hurt so much? With a sigh she grinded to a stop and sat on the edge of a roof with her feet dangling in empty air. She pulled a vial of pig's blood out of her coat pocket and took a long drag.

"This is why I can't get close to him," she thought disgustedly. "Because of who-what I am, what I've done, the people I've hurt, I can't let myself love him. I don't deserve to feel love ever again."

"Now what do we have here? I must say there isn't a sadder sight in the world than a vampire with a soul," said a mocking voice from behind her.

She tilted her head ever so slightly to see Jyou standing with his arms crossed on the roof across from the building she was on. A smirk twitched out the corner of his mouth and he jumped the space between them to land behind her with his feet on the ledge.

His long coat billowed as he somersaulted over her head and touched ground right in front of her. She rolled her eyes and climbed on the ledge with her back facing him.

"Going so soon Mimi? Oh I see. You only have time for Blondie."

Eyes wide, she swung around to glare at his snickering form. In an effort to discredit him she asked, "What are you talking about?"

He was not impressed. "Please. I saw that little scene in the park; you really aren't that good when it comes to hiding your emotions. A complete idiot could see you have feelings for him."

"I-,"

"But I thought you of all demons would have more sense than that. Falling in love with a mortal and a vampire hunter no less. Tsk." He waggled on of his long pale fingers at her in the manner and adult would use to reprimand a small child.

"He's right. I should be smarter than this. Yet every time I see him I can't help but feel something."

Out loud, she smirked and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "C'mon Jyou! You should know that I'd never allow myself to fall in love. It would interfere in my mission."

She turned her back on him and prepared to jump to the next building. "The only feelings I could feel for him are sexual. I haven't been with a man in a hundred years."

"I can't let him know the truth. I just have to tell him the opposite about what I think about Yamato."

"Good one though," she grinned though the smile didn't reach her eyes. "As if I could ever love…"

Slowly he nodded his head and a small smile appeared on his face. "You're right Mimi, I was being stupid. You can't even love yourself let alone anyone else." His smile turned in a full blown smirk and he nodded. "It's just as well."

He reached a hand out and ran his fingers down her pale face. "I wouldn't play with him either though. Toys can break so easily…"

She slapped his hand away and leapt to the next rooftop. She was able to run five steps before turning around to see that he had disappeared. Muttering she took another drag from the vial and continued on her way home.

Blocks away from Mimi another person was having a similar problem. Hikari cried her eyes out and pressed a tissue to her face as the movie the "Notebook" played on the televison in her room.

Her brother had come up with the master plan of setting up Mimi and Yamato and had taken the opportunity to drag Sora off the movies. She sighed and switched the televison off as the main character returned home from the war.

All night she'd been regretting her part in her brother's plan. They didn't have the right to interfere in Mimi and Yamato's lives. If the two were supposed to get together they would do it in their own time. And if they weren't well that was that.

She stumbled to her feet, accidentally knocking into her bedside table, and the sound of glass shattering split the quiet of her room. Hesitantly she picked the picture up from the broke shards of glass and stared at it with tearing over eyes.

It was of herself two years ago with Takeru. The two were at Odaiba Park and he was pushing her forward on the screen. His blonde hair was free from his hat for once and a big grin was on his face. Hikari looked like she had died and went to heaven.

She remembered that day. It was before they discovered the secret that Yamato, Sora, and Taichi had been guarding from them was that demons existed. They had gone to the park for a picnic and Takeru had carried her over his shoulder towards the swings.

She had laughed the entire time he pushed her higher and higher in the air. She smirked and before he knew what happened she jumped off the swing and maneuvered in the air so she landed on top of him. He glared at her but his stare softened when she pressed her lips against his.

She shivered and suddenly that image was replaced with a more recent one. Earlier that day Daisuke had sat down to have a cup of coffee with her. He placed his hand on top her hers and a feeling acute to an electric shock passed up her arm. It had felt really nice.

With a sigh she went into the kitchen to retrieve the dust pan and ten minutes later the glass had been cleaned up and the picture had been put in a new frame. Though there was something different about it.

The picture had been turned away from her bed and now faced the wall.

Author's Notes: Yes, I know this was another short chapter. I promise I'll try to make the one longer. Until then please read and review.