Epilogue: The Conclusion
Years Later
The Who.
The waves from the ocean came crashing down almost violently against the shore, sending her into fits of shrieks and giggles. I watched her kick up the pure blue water as if it were a soccer ball, then observed her as she blissfully spun around in a circle with her arms spread out like wings of a phoenix, creating a little hurricane of water dancing around her. She stopped dead in her tracks suddenly, then held a lingering stare at me, smiling. The wind picked up slightly, and her hair, now grown past shoulder length, gently clung to her face. Glistening strands of bright orange hair, tickling her cheeks. Her mouth tugged upward as she laughed, nose crinkling and all, still locking her gaze upon me, inviting me to come over and join her. Amber eyes, shining from the reflection of the sunset – the kind of eyes that had seen both good and bad, traumatic and beautiful; the kind that will never age as she does. Timeless eyes.
I ran a hand above my forehead to push my hair out of my eyes, and put my other hand in my pocket, ensuring that the tiny box with the ring inside was still safely intact, even though I already knew it was.
I gulped, stepping toward her.
The What.
The butterflies. They never left my side – or, rather, my stomach. Even now, as she was crying in pain, I could feel them. I used a cloth to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She looked at me desperately, urging me to make this all end, but all I could do was smile and reassure her that I was there. I am here, and I am not leaving. I planted a kiss on her head. Then, I moved some of her hair out of her face as she shut her eyes and clenched her teeth, squeezing my hand so hard that I swore blood circulation had stopped flowing and I, myself, would have to check in as a patient after this whole ideal.
Screaming – then, panting. Sighs of relief.
A soft cry, then cooing.
I looked up, with butterflies fluttering all over me inside when I saw – inside my stomach, inside my mind, inside my heart.
Hands. I saw hands. Little, soft hands, reaching for life.
I took a hold of her small hand, grasping them gently with mine. Already she made me feel so much bigger, physically and mentally, and suddenly this all became too real. I looked at my wife, who was holding the tiny bundle of joy and life in her arms, slowly rocking her back and forth. She returned my gaze, smiling. I was now a father, and my wife was now a mother. Wow.
The doctor placed a hand on my shoulder. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya. Isn't she beautiful?"
I nodded at him, glancing at my new little love, then over at Sora. "Yes. Yes, she is."
The When.
"Wanna know something kind of cool?"
"Hm?"
"Looking back now, I know the exact moment when I realized I loved you."
"When?"
"When I realized I didn't want you eating any of my mother's cooking. Remember when I used to not know how to do anything in the kitchen besides microwave some instant noodles? When you first came over to my place as my official girlfriend, I realized in horror that our first 'family' dinner would not, could not be cooked by my mother. Don't get me wrong - I love her, absolutely love the woman, but, man, she can't cook to save her life. And I was not about to let you get sick from eating her food after meeting her for the first time - you know, as my actual girlfriend. I learned how to cook by watching videos online, experimenting in the kitchen with Kari weeks before you came over that night. I almost burned down the apartment a few times. I had cooked everything on my own that night. I mean, if it was any other person, I'd be like, 'Eh, go ahead. You can try my mom's stuff if you want.' I wanted it to be perfect for you. It was a big moment of my life, even if it was as simple as having dinner with my mom and sister, even though you've met them a kazillion times prior. It was the first time all of us would be together, with you and me as boyfriend-girlfriend. I realized I loved you, and for the first time the prospect of being in love wasn't scary to me anymore."
The Where.
"Where the hell is that supposed to be?" She groaned in frustration, and I couldn't help but laugh. The first clue for her birthday scavenger hunt was,
You have the key to this,
Forever and always.
(Except when you make me clean up Baby Girl's poo.
Then you're on your own.)
"Oh, come on, that one is easy!" I exclaimed. She rolled her eyes.
"You suck at this! I hardly call it clue. Plus, you've totally copied what I've done for you before!" She paused, thinking about it. "This can't even be a place. I… I have the key to your heart?"
I smiled, and suddenly she realized the reason I was bundled up with a hooded jacket on a warm, spring day. She slowly pulled down on the zipper of the jacket, revealing what I was adorned with underneath: a gold, heart-shaped key necklace, dangling right by my own heart. She turned pink in embarrassment, grinning up at me as I removed the necklace from myself and put it around her neck. Then, she kissed me. I wrapped my arms around her, wholeheartedly returning the kiss.
And although this "where" was not a physical place, I could not help but refer to where it had all started – the heart.
The Why.
Sora hardly sang. Like, ever. Not even in front of me.
So, when the opportunity would ever arise, whenever I heard her sing to Baby Girl without realizing I was about to enter the room, I'd pause. I'd listen, closing my eyes at times, and I'd reflect on how lucky and happy I was to be present and in the moment, right then, with my two girls, with another little one on the way. I was just happy. Happy, and happy ever after.
I did not need a reason why.
I just was.
And what led up to this unimaginable attainment of happiness was because of The How. The underrated, fantastic how, that shaped and molded what I was today, and what I will ever be. The how made it all possible, and, although I was sure our love story wasn't the only one to be this incredible, it felt unique, and I was grateful to have gone through both the hard and the lovely times. Little did I know it had all started when the dorky fifth-grader met the bright-eyed, talented orange-haired girl on the soccer field, who'd become his new team mate, and, later, his wife.
She struck him with lightning and he hadn't recovered since.
I mean, all I had to do was get mugged by Davis Motomiya and save her White Day presents, mistakenly believe Sora was going to kiss me when she was actually going to give me a Hershey's kiss chocolate, watch her date my best friend, accidentally become Jun Motomiya's boyfriend for two hours, have our crazy friends try to set us up by trapping us in the Digital World, battle against a Tyrannomon with my bare hands, and break my leg and wear a cast for two months. No big deal.
And it was funny that our little 'how' had led to different 'how's' for others. Matt eventually recovered from his break up with Sora, and found solace in a certain pink-loving friend of ours (how the hell they managed to have their opposite personalities match, I didn't know). Oh, and pretty-in-pink Mimi did end up kissing Numemon in the Digital World as promised (though, she refused to speak to any of us for a whole week after and locked herself in the house the whole time. Some say she took three showers a day that week). Takeru proposed to Kari not too long ago, and the pair had just started the process of planning their wedding. Izzy and Joe found girls of their own too, even though Izzy was occupied being a computer-wiz-tech-guy at a company he founded, and Joe was busy saving lives as a doctor at the hospital I stayed at years ago. Davis and Jun, were, well, still Davis and Jun. That 'how' – what a concept.
If you had asked me ages ago if I'd ever thought I'd marry the girl who looked like she was a graceful, delicate dancer when she played soccer, I'd have laugh. Who, her? No way. I wouldn't have believed you, not even for a second. Funny how these things work, right? Don't underestimate falling in love. I told you, I'm not one for romance, but even I could admit that it's a powerful force. It'll happen to you, whether you want it to or not. It's just up to you how it'll play out. Sometimes, things will go wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Was it worth it, you ask? Through the heartbreak, the hassle, the pain?
Was it worth it?
For her, I'd say: hell yeah.
Author's Note: As Frodo in LOTR said, "It's done." IT'S OVER. DONE! FINISHED! BYE FELICIA!
Several things, for those interested:
1. This fic is so different from what I intended. It was supposed to be more like the epilogue, with nothing really in a traditional narrative.
2. I'm surprised I actually finished this fic (and this epilogue was posted on the one year anniversary of this story. Happy birthday, The How!)
3. Just about everything written was on a whim, so, I hope it all made sense and that it was somewhat entertaining.
4. This is (most likely) my last Digimon fic. I think I've just about exhausted my creative outlet for Taiora, but I can't say I'll never write for it again.
5. Though, on that note, I will be re-editing Chapter 3 someday b/c I loathe it.
6. This site seems to have a huge fanbase for Mimato, which I'm not a fan of (nor against), so I wrote the pairing in there since a lot of people seem to like it.
7. THANK YOU for reading this far, to those who've read from chapter one.
Thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts by reviewing: Sora Loves Rain, DutchGirl, shrimproll, Fier66, rabbit, weather741, Palooza, SoraxKairi7, DazzlingClouds, Supershooter, Niederdeut, Sweet Cari, dbzgtfan2004, dhair2423/David, Rdk3, Guest (s), naturaldisaster7, blackXmage, Ryner510.
and thank you to those who added this story onto their favorites or alert list. You have all encouraged me to continue and finish this story.
Please consider leaving one last review to let me know what you thought of the epilogue!
Sorry for the long note! Take care :)
- remaerd x