Rainy Day
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Digimon. It all belongs to Toei Animation. Celeste, Sabrina/Cancer, the song lyrics, and the plot belong to me. Oh, and the concept of the DigiMasters belongs to me too. Well, part of that concept anyway.
Author's Note: Everything in the first person is from Mimi's point of view.
***
I managed to stifle a gasp, and tried in vain to keep tears from welling up in my eyes when I heard those words. I felt as though I was dead, devoid of all life and emotion. I felt like an empty shell with no mind, heart or soul, inside it. My entire body went numb, but I somehow managed to hang onto the phone. I wanted to get up and just run out of the house, but I regained some of my composure and managed to ask, "When?"
It took the detective a few minutes to answer my question. It seemed as though he fought some kind of internal struggle over whether or not to tell me what I wanted to know. Finally, after about 3 minutes of silence, he decided to answer me. "Did you see the news yesterday?" he asked me.
For a brief moment, my grief was overcome by curiosity. *What on earth does that have to do with anything?* I asked myself. * The man I love just died and this..this baka is asking me if I watched the news yesterday!*
" Yes," I said. " I saw some of it. Why?"
" Well, " he said. " Do you remember hearing a report at 3:30 about a hit and run accident at the intersection of Ryu Boulevard and Shinju Street?"
I searched my memory before saying, " Yes, I remember hearing it and thinking, 'what a shame'. That's about it though. Oh wait, I remember hearing that the pedestrian who was hit, died shortly after at the Odaiba Regional Hospital, and that the driver of the car has yet to be caught. That's all. Why?"
There was a small sound at the other end of the telephone that I couldn't make out.
Then the detective said, " The pedestrian who had died, was Yamato Ishida. As soon as the med. teams arrived at the scene of the accident, we sent him directly to Odaiba Regional Hospital. The sad part is, is that at first, he didn't seem to be injured all that badly, as we expected from a hit and run victim. We should have know that that was too good to be true. As it turned out, the doctors later found that he had suffered massive internal hemorrhaging and there was absolutely no way that he could've hoped to survive. The doctors told him that he had at most a half an hour to live. He died at 4:15 PM at Odaiba Regional Hospital, the cause of death, massive internal hemorrhaging. I'm sorry, Ms. Tahchikawa. We had said that we wouldn't release the name of the victim until we notified his family. We couldn't notify his parents because his mother is very ill, and we fear that if we tell her this, that there'll be some complications. I don't know if her heart could take it."
" What about his father?" I asked.
" I'm afraid he's dead too. He died about 3 years ago. He lost a battle with lung disease. We are aware that he has a younger half-brother, Takeru Takaishi. We are going to have to notify him next. Do you have any idea where we can contact him?"
Now it was my turn to fight an internal struggle. It took me a while before I said," No, how did you know to contact me?"
" A friend of his came and told us that you were one of his close friends."
" Who told you that?"
" I can't say, all I can tell you is that she was with him at the time of the accident. That's all."
" Well," I said sadly, " I…I've got to go. I don't think my heart can take anymore of this." I heard the Detective start to say something else, but I hung up the phone without even caring what he was saying.
It took a while before that statement actually hit me, but when it did, it hit with a vengeance. My gut clenched and my heart felt as though it was ripped out from inside me while I was still alive. I wanted to just cry my heart out, but I knew that this was not the place for that, not here, not in front of all the others. What could I possibly do? Suddenly, it came to me. I knew what to do. I needed to get away for a while to rest and recover. I wanted to get out as soon as possible, so I took the most direct route to the front door. That route just so happened to take me directly through the party room. I didn't care though, I just wanted to get out of here.
I walked into the party room. The music was blaring loudly, but I didn't hear a note of it. All I was aware of was the pain and sadness welling up inside of me. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I wasn't paying any attention at all to where I was going. Because of that, I walked smack-dab into Tai.
"Oh, sorry," I said absentmindedly as I continued walking, not even giving him a chance to reply.
" Sure," he said to my back as I walked away, " no problem." He must have picked up on something because he ran up in front of me and asked, " Mimi, what's wrong?"
" Oh nothing," I said, my voice belaying a hint of sadness every now and again. That was a particularly large lie, and I knew it. So did my Crest of Sincerity. It turned ice cold, and it lost some of it's luster. I flinched unwillingly at the ice cold stone against my warm flesh, but I guess that Tai didn't notice that, because he walked away, leaving me free to go.
It took me a few minutes to get to the door, mainly because I kept bumping into people along the way. Once I was at the door, I grabbed my pink jacket and a spare set of keys before opening the door and stepping outside. Once outside, I took a minute to look around, before walking down to two large metal gates at the end of the walkway. Once there, I punched in a special code, the gates opened and I walked outside. I waved to the guard at the gate, who asked where I was going. I told him that I was going for a quick walk, and that I'd be back shortly. He asked if he should send a bodyguard with me, but I said that I'd be okay and not to worry. He then nodded at me, and said that he hoped I'd have a nice walk. He then turned back to whatever he had been doing before we talked. I then walked out as calmly as I could.
Once I was a good distance away from the mansion, I broke out into an all out run, as I began to cry uncontrollably. As I ran, my tears flew out behind me like a string of miniature crystals, each one containing an equally small portion of the grief I felt. Once again, I felt the same as I did on April 5, 1995. Everything was exactly the same, except for the fact that at this time, it wasn't raining. Everything else was the same. On April 5,1995, he left me for another woman, and this time, he had left me again, but this time, he had left me forever. I just wanted to run away from everyone and everything that I knew.
As I ran, I was crying. No, not just crying. What I was doing was more like grieving or mourning. I still couldn't believe it. The only one I had ever loved was gone, taken away from me by some careless driver who hadn't even stopped to help Matt. I was so deeply hurt, so deeply upset, because Matt had died, but at the same time, I was angry, I was looking for someone to blame. I could blame the driver of the car that had hit and killed him, but I knew that that wouldn't get me anywhere. All that would do was make me angrier. Even if they did catch him, all they could do was jail him and maybe put a couple of deep scars on his driving record. That wouldn't be enough though. My heart was scarred too. It was scarred so deeply that it felt as though it had been completely cut in half.
I could blame the doctors, but that too would have been useless. They did what they could to save him. I couldn't blame them.
I could think of no one else to blame except myself. Unless I could somehow pin the whole thing on Matt. If only I hadn't been so stubborn. If only on that night, 10 years ago, or anytime before that, if only I had told him that I love him. I don't know why he thought that I didn't love him. I had no idea. Did he think that I thought that he wasn't good enough? Did he think that there was someone else? No. He knew that he was my one and only. I loved him more than anyone else in the world. I thought he knew that. I just wish that I had the chance to tell him. If I had been there with him at the time of the accident, I might have been able to do something. If I had known that he was hurt, I would have run to his bedside no matter where he was. I just wish that I had had the courage to tell him that I loved him face to face once again. I just wondered what made him decided to leave me. Something must have happened between the time that we got home and the time that he left. Something must have happened, something that made him decided to leave me.
I knew that I had to figure it out. I had to know what made him decide to leave me. All I remember was that I didn't let him kiss me. That's all. I had this nagging feeling that some time, a little bit of time had passed. All I had to do, was remember what had happened. Why couldn't I remember?
I stopped running, and took a moment to regain my bearings. It turned out that I had ended up at a park, not too far from my house. I found a nearby park bench, sat down and began to think.
*Why can't I remember?!* I yelled at myself. * Why oh why can't I remember what happened?!* I was so frustrated that I clutched at my head and began to cry wildly. " Why can't I remember?!" I sobbed. " Why…?!" I sat and cried like that until my head began to start spinning again, just like the time that I had those visions in the parking lot. I knew that I was getting an answer to my question, but I wasn't sure that I was going to like it.
***
The next thing I was aware of was that I was in a place that was completely empty except for some white fog that swirled around me, and wrapped me in a blanket. I was shocked at first, but I quickly adjusted to my new surroundings. I found that I was sitting on what I supposed was the ground. I stood up, then something drew my attention. Gone, where the long pink dress and pink jacket that I had bee wearing. I was now dressed in some kind of silver bodysuit with the symbol of the Crest of Sincerity printed on one side.
" Where am I?" I shouted aloud, no knowing whether some one would hear me. I listened to my voice echo through what I presumed was a vastly large area.
I was getting fed up with this. " Is anyone here?" I shouted. Once again, I listened to my voice echo, but this time, I heard something else. I heard a sound other than the echo. I heard something that sounded like someone walking around in that fog.
Now that I knew that someone was here, it was time to move onto the next step. " Who's there?" I shouted.
This time something weird happened. Unlike the first two times, my voice didn't echo, and this time, a human woman's voice answered me back. " You are here," she said.
" Where is here?" I asked.
" That is irrelelvant," she said.
"If that is irrelevant," I said, " then what is relevant?"
" I will tell you what is," she said as she stepped out from behind a wall of fog. " What is important, is what you want to know."
I gasped when I saw her. She was about my height. With blue eyes, and long blond hair that cascaded down and around her shoulders in long curls. As I took in her appearance, I couldn't help but feel that she looked somewhat familiar. She was wearing another silver bodysuit with a symbol resembling a crab on it. on it. I racked my brain trying to figure out if and when I had seen her before. I stood there for a minute, staring, when suddenly, it came to me.
"It was you!" I yelled at her. " you were the one who me and Matt saw on our way back from the theater. I remember now. You were the one that he ran off with! You stole him from me! Palmon was the one who came and told me that she had seen you two together!" I was furious now. " You were the one with him at the time of the accident, weren't you?! You could have saved him! But you didn't do anything did you?! You just stood there and let him die, didn't you?!"
As I stood there, accusing the woman of all this stuff, she stood there, giving me this puzzled look. She shook her head dubiously with each of the accusations that I threw at her. After I accused her of letting Matt die, she stood and held her hands out to silence me.
" Now wait a minute," she said calmly. " I am not the person that you are thinking of!"
I was shocked for a moment. I stood and stared blankly at her for a moment before saying, " Then who are you?"
" My name is Sabrina. I am also known as Cancer."
" Are you one of Celeste's friends? Why are you here?"
" Yes," she said, " I am one of Celeste's allies. As for why I'm here, you were wishing that you could remember what caused Matt to leave you. I am here to show you why he left."
" How can you?" I asked.
" I am Cancer. My elements are time and space. I can arrange little trips into the past, and with you consent, we'll take a little trip into your past to see why Matt left you. Do I have your consent?"
" Yes," I said, " you have my consent."
" All right then," she said. " Here goes!"
She pointed at me and I felt myself blackout yet again. This time when I woke up, I found myself watching myself walk up four small stone steps with Matt, and stand under the overhang. It was raining cats and dogs again. This time frame was familiar to me. It was during the time that I lived in the city, the time before I was discovered. That could only mean one thing. I quickly turned to Sabrina.
" This is a flashback, isn't it? This was the night that Matt left me, isn't it?"
Cancer nodded in return. Then she said simply, " Watch."
I followed her instruction and stood and watched carefully. I saw a past version of myself, a younger more naïve version, walk up to the door with Matt. We stood there, protected from the rain by the overhang . Matt braced the umbrella against the door. Then, things started to seem unfamiliar. A car passed. It sounded like it was running without a muffler;it was so noisy. Then, the streetlights flickered slightly, and the past me gasped.
( All right, this is getting hard! To save myself what little energy I have left, I'm going to change everything until further notice, to the third person. Instead of having the present Mimi, actually watch this and us watching it from her P.O.V. I'm just going to have it as though we are the only ones seeing it, k? Well, back to writing. When I say Mimi now, it's the past Mimi.)
There was an ocassional pedestrian passing by, and there was a few cars too. Matt and Mimi just stood staring out at the street. The fog swirled around them, wrapping them in a cloud. Everything was just as it had been when they had left for the movies. It was a little bit cold, but between her pink jacket, and Matt, she was as warm as ever.
They stood underneath the overhang, just staring out at the street, for a couple of minutes. Actually, only Matt was staring out at the street, whereas Mimi, was wondering what on earth he was staring at. There was nothing new about the street, it was still that same. No new buildings had sprung up suddenly, and no one was outside in the downpour except for them. It was unsually quiet though, but that was all that was unsual.
She was about to tap Matt on the shoulder and asked him what he was looking at, when, almost as if on cue, he turned to her. He moved closer to her so that he could see into her eyes. He was just slightly taller than she was, but that didn't bother her. It was almost comforting. He gently lifted her chin, just to make sure that he could see into her eyes clearly. They stood like that, staring into the other's eyes, for a couple of minutes. During that time, Matt seemed like he was wrestling with some kind of internal decision, whereas Mimi was staring back at him, her eyes filled with love and admiration.
Mimi guessed, that if he was wrestling with a decision, that it must be a really important decision because he was taking so long. It seemed like they stood there forever without saying a word. Mimi was just about to ask him if he wanted to go inside and have a drink, and maybe have something to eat, when, he looked away from her, his head turned back to the street.
Mimi's curiosity was peaked by this, so she decided to talk to him. " What's wrong Matt?" she asked.
He turned back to her, and he seemed to have had made an important decision. " Nothing at all, Mimi," he said as he smiled at her. " Nothing at all."
Then, something unexpected happened. Matt reached in the pocket of his trenchcoat and pulled out a small, black, velvet covered box, and got down on his knees. Mimi gasped. She knew what was coming.
He opened the box to reveal a ring with a heart shaped diamond on it. The diamond glowed and sparkled in the dim illumination of the streetlights.
Then he spoke. " I love you with all my heart, all my mind and all my soul," he said. " There is not one person in my life more important than you. I would give my life and my freedom for you. I love you so much. I will love you now and forever. Please accpet this ring as a symbol of my everlasting love for you." He paused, then said, " Mimi, will you marry me?"
***
Mimi was shocked at this. She stood stock still, staring at him, wanting to look away, but she knew she couldn't. She was scared. Now, that was stupid. This was exactly what she had been waiting for. Since she had first met him, she had loved him, ever since she had first laid eyes on him. She loved everything about him. She loved the way he had been so protective of everyone, especially his younger brother. She loved the way his eyes lit up when he laughed, and she loved the way his hair always looked like a bird's nest even at the best of times. Most of all, she loved the way he loved her. She had been waiting five long years for this moment, but that still didn't calm her irrational, inexplicable fear. She didn't feel as though she was ready for this. She wasn't sure if she wanted to make such a commitment. She was scared.
She stood there and stared blankly at him, but on the inside, she was fighting a battle between love and fear. They stood there for a long time, Matt kneeling and waiting for her answer, and Mimi, fighting a battle. Both were there, neither one moving.
Eventually, Mimi spoke. She turned back to Matt and said, " I'm honored," she said. She paused. Then, she made a mistake that she would regret for the rest of her life. She continued speaking. " But, I'm afraid I can't marry you. I'm just not sure that I'm ready to make that big a commitment. I'm sorry, Matt."
He was just plain shocked. He just kept staring at her as though he couldn't believe what she had just said. He had an, I can't believe you just said that, look on his face.
He sat on the cold stone step for a moment and stared at her, trying to figure out what he was going to do. Meanwhile, Mimi just stood there staring at him staring at her, staring sadly.
She wished that she hadn't had to have told him that, but that left only one other option, to say yes, but she just wasn't sure that she was ready for marriage. She hated herself for doing this to him, but it had to be said, she couldn't have remained silent. Staying silent, would have thrust her into marriage, which, at this point, was all too possible. They remained like that for quite a while, until Matt broke the silence and stood up with a smile on his face.
" It's okay," he said as he tucked the box containing the ring back in his jacket pocket. " I understand."
" You do?" she asked excitedly as her face brightened greatly.
" Yes," he said. " I understand about you not being ready for marriage. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure that I was ready either. I don't want to rush you into anything that you're not ready to handle. I was really hoping that you would become my wife, but I'm willing to settle for you to be my girlfriend."
" I'm so glad you understand," she said. " I was so scared that you wouldn't. I really don't want this relationship to end." She tried to stifle a yawn, but she failed.
" I see that you're tired," he said. " Maybe you should go and get some sleep. I think that I'll go home and do the same."
" That would be great," she said. " Goodnight," she said as she stifled another yawn.
He then moved over to kiss her, but she pushed him away.
( All right, everything is now back in the 1st person. Instead of saying Mimi said…well, you know the drill.)
I knew what was going to happen next. The rest was engraved in my memory, never to be forgotten.
Then, Cancer turned to me and said, " We will now return to the present."
Then, I felt myself black out yet again, and this time, when I awoke, I found myself back in the park where I had stopped to rest after taking off from the mansion. I looked around for a second to get my bearings. I found, that in the actual time that I had been blacked out in this park, I had fallen off the bench, and onto the ground. The strange thing was that with all the people that usually walked through this park at this time of day, no one had even noticed that I was unconcious. Well, no one that I knew of. It seemed that I had been taken somewhere and sent back here. *What on earth happened?* I asked myself. *Where was I? Was that real?* My mind was full of a thousand and one questions, each one crazier than the next, but I managed to block out those questions long enough to get myself back onto the park bench. I sat there, somewhat stunned, until a woman dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, who looked eerily like Cancer, came walking up to me.
" Hello, Mimi," she said.
I was somewhat shocked that she knew my name, but I wasn't surprised. With the kind of day that I'd been having, nothing, nothing at all, could have surprised me. " Is that you Cancer?" I asked cautiously.
" Yes," she said as she waved a hand at me, " but please, call me Sabrina. After all, we are now in your world. It would be almost inappropriate to call me Cancer since that could bring misfortune upon me."
" How's that?" I asked.
" That is…" she began.
" I know, I know," I said, " that is irrelevant. Forgive me for asking," I said somewhat irritatedly. " Anyway, why are you here?"
" To make sure that nothing happened to you during the time that you where unconcious."
" How long was I?" I asked.
" Not long, but long enough. Anyway, my job is complete now. I must be going. I have other obligations," she said as she turned to walk away gracefully.
" Wait!" I called out. She stopped walking and turned to face me. " Please. Thank you." I said. " Thank you for showing me what really happened that day."
" You're welcome," she said as she turned again to walk away. " I really must be going now. Goodbye, Mimi."
" Bye Sabrina!" I called as she walked back down the path that I had run down a while ago. As she vanished around a bend in the road, I still sat on the park bench, lost in my thoughts.
* I can't believe I said that!* I screamed at myself. *What an idiot I was! I thought that if I knew the reason why he left me in the first place, it might ease the pain caused by his death, but it didn't!* I pounded my hand helplessly, and frustratedly on the bench. * It didn't make it easier at all! It just made it harder! All the more harder! What an idiot I was! I had had the oppurtunity to marry the man I loved, but being the idiot that I was, I turned it down!*
I sat there, and was internally screaming at myself, when, I suddenly felt a cold wet thing drop on my nose. I was surprised by it, but it wasn't the same when another cold wet drop landed on my cheek. I looked up, skywards, and saw that the once sunny sky, had been covered in large foreboding storm clouds. As I looked up, yet another raindrop fell right into my eyes. I blinked, and rubbed at my eyes before looking up again. As I sat there, I watched many more raindrops fall from the sky, until the infrequent drops turned into a light shower, then into a full fledged downpour.
Usually, I would have run for the nearest shelter, but in the condition I was in, I truly didn't care. So, I just sat there on the park bench, in the rain, and thought. About a minute or so after the storm had started, I was soaked from head to toe, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do, was sit there and cry, which is what I did.
I don't know how long I sat there, and simply cried my heart out, but I guess that I wasn't long, because, what seemed like fifteen minutes after I had started crying, someone, I don't know who, stopped running through the rain, and said to me,
"Are you okay, miss?" the man who had stopped asked.
I looked up at him when he said that. He looked about my age and height. He had blondish hair. He had blue eyes, that looked as though they could see my very soul. He looked a lot like Matt, but I knew that it couldn't be him, since he was dead. The man had a somewhat worried and concerned expression on his face. " Uh, yes," I said shakily. " I'm fine."
" Well," he said as eyed me, " you probably won't be if you stay out in this downpour. Come on," he said as he moved the umbrella so that it was covering both our heads. " We should both get out of this rain."
" Sure. Thanks," I said as I got up and stood next to him. We then walked out of the park together.
***
( Okay, P.O.V.'s switched back to 3rd person because, this little section takes place back at the mansion where Mimi's not there to see what's going on so… on with the story.)
Meanwhile
***
Brring! Brring! All of the phones in the house were ringing off the hook, but this time, there was no loud music to block out the sound. The party that had been taking place a little while ago, had completely ceased due to the fact that the guest of honor, had run off.
Tai had been a little suspicious that something was wrong with Mimi because she seemed out of it, more so than he remembered was normal. He had watched her walk away, and wondered if he should go after her, but he decided not to. She had walked out the door, and she had left the grounds of the mansion, he knew, but still he had no idea where she was.
After that two minute encounter with Mimi, shortly after she walked out the door, Palmon had come running in frantically screaming that something was really wrong with Mimi.
Kari had asked what was wrong, and Palmon had said that she didn't know. All she knew was that Mimi had received a phone call, and that shortly after she had hung up, she had run out of the house.
The party had stopped immediately. The music was shut off, and everyone sat down and discussed what they were going to do next. Well, everyone except Sora, who was busy trying to get a reading from her crest.
Izzy had suggested that all of us split up into a standard search pattern and use our digivices to try and get a lock on Mimi's digivice, but we all knew that that wouldn't work. Our digivices hadn't reacted in years, so it was doubtful that they would react now.
Everyone except Sora had sat and thought, until the phone had rung. It seemd that they might get the missing piece to this puzzle, unless, it was a telemarketer. T.K. got up to run and answer the phone, but Celeste held up a hand to stop him.
" Let me get it," she said.
T.K. sat back down without saying a word, and none of the others made even the slightest move to oppose Celeste.
She got up and walked over to the nearest phone which just happened to be in the kitchen. She walked in, her shoes making a click-clack sound on the white marble tiles. She found the phone, picked it up, and cupped her hand around the mouthpiece.
" Hello," she said.
" Yes," said a male voice on the other end. " This is Detective Moyori from the Tokyo Police. Is this Mimi Tachikawa?"
" No," said Celeste. " She's not here right now. Can I take a message?"
" Yes," said the detective frantically. " You must tell her that I called. She knows who I am." He paused. " Are you ready to take down the message?" he asked.
" Yes," Celeste lied. In reality, she already knew what was going to be said, and she knew that she mustn't tell anyone. Not even Mimi, especially not Mimi.
" Hello," said the Detective, " are you still there?"
" Yes," said Celeste.
" Okay, here's the message. Are you ready?"
" Yes," she said again.
" All right," he said. " You must tell Mimi Tachikawa, that there's been a terrible mistake, and it turns out that…" Celeste knew what he was going to say, and she knew what an impact it would have if Mimi knew. She also knew that the others would tell Mimi, no matter what she told them to do. So…Celeste quickly hung up the phone, all the time aware that the Detective was still talking, and she quietly smiled to herself.
It had taken five years, but phase 2 was finally underway.
(All right, everything's now back to Mimi's P.O.V. You know, Mimi said=I said now.)
***
I and the man I had met, had been walking for what had seemed to be over and hour, but I knew that it had been about only ten minutes. During that ten minutes, we had talked a lot. One of the first questions he had asked was, ' What are you doing out here in the rain all by youself, and unprotected?'
" Well," I said in answer, " I was just out for a quick walk when it started raining, but I once it started raining, I just didn't feel like going back to my home. I just wanted to sit out here and mourn."
" Why?" he asked.
I took a couple of seconds before answering. " Because," I said, " the man I love…well.. I just…I just…I just found out that he died yesterday."
Tears welled up in my eyes, and my heart began to ache when I said that.
Then, I turned back to my friend's face, it was filled with compassion and sympathy. " Gee," he said, " I'm…I'm sorry."
" Oh, it's okay…I guess," I said sadly, " I just wish that this didn't have to happen." I bowed my head and stared at my feet as I walked. Suddenly, I felt an arm around my shoulder, and that arm pulled me to one side. I looked up to see that my new friend, had just saved me from walking straight into a lightpole, which I hadn't seen.
I looked up at him, " Thank you," I said.
" You're welcome…uhh. I just realized that I don't know your name," he said.
" My name is Mimi," I said. " Mimi Tachikawa."
" That's a beautiful name," he said thoughtfully. " My name is Michael. Michael Myon."
" That's a nice name," I said as we continued walking through the rain.
***
( All right, the P.O.V. has changed again, but Mimi's not there to see what's going on.)
***
Somewhere in the district of Obaida, a lone figure walked down a deserted street. I was raining, and the person liked and hated this kind of weather. It was relaxing, but at the same time, discomforting. The person was a man about 25 years old. He was walking down the street, thinking. He couldn't believe it. He had gotten up and walked out of his apartment, and as soon as he got out the door, his wallet had been stolen! He had been angry about that, but he had decided that what had passed had passed, so he wasn't angry anymore.
He was glad that he was out here alone. All he wanted to do was think. The rain pounded on the umbrella above his head, in a steady rhythm. It was calming. For a long while, that was the only sound he was aware of. He had been walking for quite awile, and he hadn't run into anyone else since he ran into that person who stole his wallet, but he was happy that he was alone. This is what he deserved after what he did to one of his closest friends. He was happy in misery.
All was silent except for the pitter-patter of the raindrops on his umbrella. Then, a stray sound caught his attention. From somewhere, he heard the sound of music, of some woman singing. He stopped to listen to it. This is what he heard…
Pitter-patter on the glass
My tears are falling like rain
Oh how I wish this storm would pass
My heart I cannot tame…
I wish that you were still here
But now that isn't so,
I wish that you you were still near,
Why did you have to go?
For every single raindrop that falls,
I cry a single tear,
I wish that I could forget it all,
But my heart still holds you dear.
This is too much for me to bear,
Why'd you do this to me?
I look outside and the rain I hear,
But there's something else I see…
Our two Rainy Day Hearts,
Have been driven far apart,
I really wish that we could go,
Back to the very start
With our two Rainy Day Hearts.
Raindrops
Heartache
Teardrops
Heartbreak
Our two hearts,
Have been driven far apart,
I really wish that we could go
Back to the very start
With our two Rainy Day Hearts.
Every time it rains,
I look outside and hope
That some day,
You'll come back to me
Our two hearts
Have been driven far apart,
But I hope,
That that won't be so anymore,
And I wish for that,
From the bottom of my Rainy Day Heart.
***
Then, the song stopped and the announcer came on. " And that," he said, " was Rainy Day Hearts written, composed and sung by the one and only Mimi Tachikawa. She once said in an interview, that that song was dedicated to the man she loved, whom she refused to name. She said that the reason she wrote that song, was because the one she loved, left her on a rainy day." The man stiffened when he heard that. "It's a beautiful song folks, and we can only hope that her wish will come true. Now, for the traffic report…"
The man was aware that the announcer was still talking, but he paid no heed to what he said. Instead, the man took off running down the street. There was a dream he had to fulfill.
***
It didn't take him long to get into the busier part of town. Now, he was no longer alone on the street, but rather, he was surrounded by more than a few people, each one running to get to where they were going as opposed to he, who was walking slowly, and unprotected in the rain.
The people he passed stared at him with the, you must be crazy, look on quite a few of their faces, but he didn't care. He was too busy to worry about getting wet. He was searching, searching for the one, he knew he loved. That was all he cared about now, finding her was the most important thing in the world to him.
It seemed to be next to impossible to find her though, that was, if she was even in this city. In reality, he had absolutely no idea where she was, but a part of him knew that she was in this city. At this point, he was relying fully on intuition. He was following his heart to find his true love; it was the only available option. So, he continued walking and searching.
***
He didn't know how long he had walked for, but it seemed to be long enough to him. He guessed that he had been walking for about only an hour, but it felt like he had been walking for three. His feet ached, and he felt like he was going to come down with a serious case of the chills. He felt even more miserable than he had an hour before. No matter how determined he had been before, right now, he was all but ready to give up hope completely.
The rain had died down to a light drizzle, so he decided that it was time for a rest. In an hour, he had covered most, but still not all, of the city, and there was still not even the slightest indication of the one he loved. Still, he knew, well, he thinks that she is here in Odaiba. He found an unnoccupied bench that sat on the curb of the street that he was walking down. He fell back onto it with a long sigh. This was what he needed right now. He leaned back and put his arms behind his head so that he could use them as a temporary pillow. He sat there for a couple of minutes, taking in the sounds around him.
Now that the rain had died down, there was only the occasional sound of a drop making contact with something. The more common sounds now, were those of people talking and those of car engines.
During the time that he sat there, a passenger bus stopped right in front of him. He knew that he wasn't sitting at a bus stop, so why did the bus stop right where he was. He loked up and saw that there was a traffic light at a nearby intesection. That's when he saw her walking on the other side of the street. It had been about five years since he last saw her, but he would have recognized her face anywhere.
She had long chestnut hair, most of which was restrained in a ponytail, except for two long strands which framed her face. She was wearing, what he knew was her favorite color, pink. She was about his age and height. She was walking along the street, and it looked like she was walking with someone, but he couldn't see who. The bus was blocking the rest of his view.
Then, the light changed, and the bus moved out of his way. He gasped with shock. He realized that it was definitely Mimi, but that wasn't what made him gasp. He was that she was walking with another man, and that man had his arm around her shoulders.
He couldn't believe it. There she was, the one he loved, but with another. He knew that he had brought this upon himself. He knew that he had brought this loss upon himself. He had lost her once, and he had lost her again. Both times, the loss was caused by him and his ignorance and stubborness. Still, he wasn't going to give up.
He got up immediately and started walking in the same direction the were going, but he stayed on the side he was on. He followed them for a couple of blocks, trying very hard to keep an eye on them, while at the same time, trying to blend in with the crowd.
The rain had stopped, and for that he was grateful. There went one more distraction. He kept following them. Then, they stopped walking, and the man whispered something to Mimi. They then proceeded to turn into an alley.
The man wanted to dash across the street,but he couldn't do so without getting run over, but if he waited, he would risk losing sight of them. Luckily, the decision was made for him. The light changed allowing him and several others to cross over to the opposite side of the street. Once there, he proceeded to walk down the same alley that they had turned into only moments before. Little did he know what that alley would lead to.
***
( Okay, this is just a note. No, the P.O.V.'s haven't changed. I just have to say that now, what's taking place, only Biyomon, Palmon, Celemon, and Patamon are able to see what's going on. This is until further notice.)
Biyomon flew high above the district of Odaiba. The rain had soaked her pink and blue feathers completely, and that was making it difficult to fly, but she couldn't give up. She was extrememly tired. Her pink wings were beginning to ache and her large blue eyes wanted so badly to close, but she knew that she couln't let herself fall asleep. The recon mission she was on was too important. She had to find Mimi. No one had any idea where she could be. Everyone of the DigiDestined, not including Celeste, had done what Izzy had suggested and had split up in a standard search pattern, and were, at this time, covering the city. Meanwhile, Biyomon, Patamon, Celelmon and Palmon, who was being carried by Celemon, were searching the city by air, in hopes of speeding up the search. So far, their efforts had been useless. They hadn't found a trace of Mimi, let alone Mimi herself. It seemed that she was hiding from them, trying to evade them, but that seemed to be impossible. Mimi probably didn't even know that they were looking for her. She probably thought that they didn't even know that she was missing, but that was only a possibility.
She took a quick look back at the others, and saw that they were in as bad a shape as she was. They were all completely soaked from head to toe, and they were all tired, but Biyomon felt especially sorry for Celemon. Poor Celemon, though she was the strongest of the three, between carrying Palmon and having flown for hours, even she looked tired. Wheras, Palmon wasn't tired at all. Rather, she was worried sick. She was constantly on alert. Many times, she thought that she might have spotted Mimi, but so far, it always turned out to be someone completely different. Next, Biyomon turned her attention to Patamon. Patamon too, was soaked, and he was probably the weakest of the three rookies. ( Celemon isn't a rookie. She's a Champion Digimon.) Albiet, he wasn't weak in his champion stage, but his rookie stage wasn't usually his first choice. Biyomon knew that Patamon wished that he could digivolve into Angemon, and search in that form, but she also knew that none of them, except Palmon, had any strength left to digivolve. Biyomon knew that if Palmon digivolved all the way up to Lillymon, that that would make things easier on Celemon, but they might need Lillymon for later. Palmon had wanted to digivolve, but she couldn't. The main reason was that she was too far away from Mimi to digivolve.
Then Biyomon realized that she wasn't concentrating on searching anymore. She broke the train of thought that she had been on, and turned her attention back to searching.
*I can't let my thoughts wander!* Biyomon screamed at herself. *I've got to concentrate in finding Mimi!*
They had to find her as soon as possible. Izzy mentioned, that because of her high status, she might become the target of evil intentions. That was just one of the many reasons that they had to find her, A..S.A.P.
After about two hours of searching, there was still no sign of her anywhere. Biyomon didn't know what to do, except to keep searching.
***
( All right, the P.O.V.'s finally back to Mimi's. About time too.^_^! Hey, have you figured out who , "The Man," is yet?)
***
Michael and I kept walking, even though there was no need for us to. We were both contented and the weather was almost perfect for a walk. The rain had all but died down, and we could have gone our separate ways. Neither of us had any idea where we were going, but we kept walking anyway. Then, when I finally became worried about where I was and how long it would take me to get back home, I found myself in a very uncomfortable spot.
I looked up, and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw where Iwas. I found that somehow, Michael and I had ended up at the intersection of Ryu Boulevard and Shinju Street. Once again, my heart clenched. The intersection had been all but blocked off by police cars, and a small section was surrounded by the unmistakable yellow police tape. Somehow, my curiosity got the best of me, and I managed to peer into the center of the area that was surrounded by the yellow tape. In the center, I saw the white, chalk outline of a body.
*No,* I thought, *please not here. Please, no.* I guess that what upsetted me the most, was the fact that here was the actual proof that Matt was dead. I couldn't believe it. I guess that some part of me still clung to the hope that there might have been some kind of terrible mistake, or that this was some kind of practical joke, but here was the proof.
If I hadn't stopped walking, undoubtedly, Michael would have kept walking. Instead, he stopped, and turned to face me.
" What's wrong?" he asked.
"Th..this is..it," I stammered.
" This is what?" he asked.
I gulped and tried to not start crying. "Th..this…is…wh…where…where it happened." I said, my voice shaking and body trembling with each word I spoke.
" What happened?" Michael asked, still puzzled.
I stood there for a second, and tried to regain some composure before I spoke. " This is where the accident happened. This…this is where…where Matt died!" With those last few words, I broke down and once again, began crying hysterically.
" Shh," he said soothingly to me. " It'll be alright. Don't worry."
" No!" I screamed. " It'll never be alright! Don't ever say that! Matt's dead and it's all my fault!"
He looked at me with this, I'm hurt, look on his face. That look melted through my anger, my guilt, and dampened my sadness slightly.
" I'm sorry," I said softly as I stared at my feet. Then, I felt a hand gently lift my chin. I found myself staring directly into Michael's unusual blue eyes.
" No," he said softly, " there's no need to apologize. I know that you're still upset over the death of your friend, but you must realize. It's not your fault. There is no one to blame in this tragic accident. So, don't go blaming yourself. Please."
" Okay," I said. " I won't. But, can we just get off this street. Please, I really don't want to be here."
" All right, we'll take another street. Follow me," he said as he indicated to a dark alley. " This is a shortcut that I know. It'll take us around this intersection."
" All right," I said somberly as I moved to follow him. " Let's go then," I said as we walked into the dark alleyway.
***
"It's dark in here," I said to Michael as we walked down the alley. " Are you sure you're going the right way?"
" Yes," he said, " I know that this is the right way. Just keep walking."
I don't know what it was, but something in his voice, activated this part of my brain, that told me to, be afraid, to be very afraid.
I looked up at the two tall buildings that were on either side of the alleyway. They completely lined the alley, and there was no door that could be seen. Then, it occurred to me, that there was only two ways out of this alley, if anything attacked. That, scared me.
" Maybe we should go back, Michael," I said, my voice belaying a hint of fright.
" No," he said sharply, " we're almost there. Only a couple more minutes and we'll be outta here."
I considered that statement for a moment then said, " All right. Let's keep going."
We kept walking, and sure enough, a couple more minutes of walking, brought us to the end of the alley, but, it wasn't the end that I was expecting. Instead of coming to the exit to another street, but rather, it brought us to a dead end. Then, from out of nowhere, three ghostly figures with beady black eyes, and large, scary teeth, emerged from the three walls that surrounded us. I would have known those creatures anywhere.
" Oh no!" I said. " Bakemon! Michael, we have to get out of here now!"
Michael turned to me. " What makes you think that you're going anywhere?" He asked coldly.
I stifled a gasp as the realization of what had been happening, came to me. " you're not human are you?" I asked Michael. " You're…you're…a digimon, aren't you?"
" So glad you finally figured it out!" he said. " I was sick of all your human weaknesses, and emotions!"
" That voice…" I began.
" Love, kindess, compassion…"
" An ememy…"
" …who needs them? Soon, I will have all I ever needed or will need, once I have your Crest of Sincerity. Prepare to face my wrath!"
Michael was surrounded by a cloud of tiny bats whose mouths were laced shut. The cloud grew to 1 and a half times Michael's size, then dissappeared to reveal a tall, blond vampire who was wearing a red mask over his face, and was clad in blue.
"…Myotismon!"
My heart and gut clenched, yet again, but this time from fear rather than from sadness, but still, my curiosity came to the fore.
" How…how can this be?" I asked him. " We destroyed you twice! How can it be you!?"
He laughed then answered. " It's because you never destroyed me!"
I gasped.
" Why so shocked, missy? You actually thought that you and your weakling digimon actually stood a chance against me? How wrong you were! You see, there is only one way to truly destroy me, and that's by using your crests! So, to prevent that from ever happening, I plan to steal your crests . Do you plan to give up your crest quietly, or will I have to use force?" he asked as he signaled the three Bakemon.
" I'll never give up my crest!" I shouted at him. " You should know that! I'd die first!"
" Well," he said, " since we can't do this the civilized way, I guess we'll have to do this my way!" He turned to the Bakemon. " She's all yours. You can do what ever you want with her. Just make sure you get me the crest."
" Sure thing boss," said Bakemon number one. " you can count on us."
" Let's hope so, for your sake," said Myotismon as he turned to walk away.
" Hold it right there, mister!" shouted a voice that stopped Myotismon in his tracks.
" Who says you're going anywhere?" said another.
" Yeah," said two more voices in unision.
" Who's there?" Myotismon asked.
I gasped with relief as Biyomon, Celemon, Patamon and Palmon emerged from the shadows of the alley.
" Oh," said Myotismon nonchalantly. " It's just the weaklings."
" Oh yeah," said Biyomon. " We'll show you just how weak we are! Spiral Twister!" She shouted as she shot a green spiral of fire at Myotismon. Myotismon simply dodged it and watched as it hit the Bakemon that had been floating to my left. The Bakemon dissolved into DigiDust.
" Is that the best you've got?" challeneged Myotismon.
" No!" said Celemon. " Pure Hearts Attack!" She yelled as she shot a heart-shaped ball of energy at Myotismon. Once again, he simply dodged it, and everyone, including myself, watched as it hit one of the two Bakemon to my right. He too dissolved into DigiDust.
" Now it's my turn!" said Patamon. " Boom Bubble!" he screamed as he shot a bubble at the last Bakemon. The bubble hit, and sent that Bakemon flying into a nearby wall. The Bakemon hit so hard that it caused a pile of crates to fall ontop of him. The last that was seen of the Bakemon, was a cloud of DigiDust being blown away in the wind.
" All right," said Palmon. " Now it's my turn. You're gonna pay for threatening Mimi!" She then shouted, " Palmon digivolve to…Togemon!" Palmon was replaced by a larger cactus creature. Togemon stood there for a few seconds, then shouted, Togemon…digivolve to….Lillymon!" Togemon was replaced by a smaller creature dressed in pink lily flowers.
" Ha, you think you stand even the slightest chance against me, flower girl?" he sneered. " You're an easy target!"
" Not anymore!" she yelled as she yelled, " Flower Cannon!" She shot a green ball of energy at Myotismon, and that ball exploded into thousands of tiny flower petals when it hit. Those thousands of tiny petals, created a cloud.
"Okay, that's done," said Lillymon as she landed gracefully on the ground. She had stood there no more that a couple seconds, when she suddenly flew backwards.
" Oh no," said Patamon as Myotismon stepped from inside the cloud.
Everyone except Lillymon stood gaping.
" Uh, you guys," she said, " why don't you, digivolve and HELP ME!?"
" We can't," said Biyomon, " we're all too tired, and besides, everyone of us, except for you, is separated from our friend."
" You're right," said Lillymon thoughtfully. "I guess that it's up to me then."
" You don't stand a chance!" declared Myotismon.
" I know I don't," said Lillymon, " but I'll do whatever I can to protect Mimi!"
" Ha!" said Myotismon, " a noble effort, but that will not save you!" He prepared to unleash his attack. " Grisly…"
From out of the corner of my eye, I saw the glow of a blue crest, and seemingly, from out of nowhere, WereGarurumon appeared and used his powerful, Garurukick, to send Myotismon flying back into a nearby brick wall. For a second, everyone including Lillymon, sat and stared, until WereGarurumon said, " Well, are you all just going to sit there, or are you going to fight?!"
"We're going to fight!" said Lillymon as she stood up. " Come on everyone, give us a hand!"
" Sure thing!" said Biyomon. " Spiral Twister!"
" Pure Hearts Attack!" yelled Celemon.
" Boom Bubble!" yelled Patamon.
" Wolf Claw!" yelled Were-Garurumon.
" Flower Cannon!" yelled Lillymon.
They all launched their attacks at the now still Myotismon, and all the attacks hit, but it wasn't enough. Albeit, it weakened him greatly, but it failed to destroy him.
(Author's note: If you're wondering why they're beating Myotismon so easily now, there's two reasons. 1: They're Digimon are a lot stronger now than they were when they first fought Myotismon. 2: When he was "destroyed" the first time, it sent him all the way back to his in-training stage. He has just recently digivolved back to his ultimate stage, Myotismon. That's why he's weak now.)
" It didn't work!" I yelled.
" We can see that," Lillymon said back to me. " What should we do, Mimi?"
" I don't know." I said. " I really don't know." I stood there and I had to think for a couple minutes before the answer came to me. When I figured out what to do, I yelled, " Hey! I've got it!"
" Got what?" asked Patamon.
" I've figured out how to destroy Myotismon!"
" How?" asked Lillymon.
" It's something that he had said earlier. He had said that probably the only way for us to destroy him once and for all was to use our crests. So, I'm going to try that."
" He could be lying Mimi," said Celemon.
" I know," I said, " but do any of you have a better idea?"
They all shook their heads.
" Then, fine then. Here goes!" I held my hands out in front of me, and my Crest of Sincerity began to glow green, a bright spot of illumination in the darkness of the alley. Then, the crest rose until it was positioned directly inbetween my two outreached hands. Then, I shouted, " Crest of Sincerity, destroy!"
My crest began to glow even brighter when I had said that. It glowed so brightly, that it illuminated the entire alley. Once it had reached its peak brightness, it shot a glowing green beam out at Myotismon, who awoke just in time to see the beam racing his way.
" Nooooo!" he screamed as he desperately tried to think of some way to get out of this mess, but he knew that this time, there was no escaping his fate. The beam hit, and with a tremendous explosion of light, destroyed Myotismon. Well, it destroyed him rather slowly. He stood in front of Mimi; he was disintergrating slowly, just like Devimon so many years ago.
" Ha," he said. " You may have destroyed me, but in the long run, I still won."
" Ha yourself," said Lillymon. " Anyway, you're the one being destroyed, so how can you even say you won?"
" I can say that," he said, " because I caused her a wound that will never heal! I took away the one that she loves…well, I should say loved, the most! I killed Yamato Ishida! The so called bearer of the Crest of Friendship! He didn't die in a car accident! I killed him with my own two hands! I put the spell of Eternal Sleep on him, and there is no way, absolutely no way, that you can ever hope to bring him back! The spell I cast on him, not even Celeste can break! I was always the better of the two DigiMasters! I should have reigned supreme, but no, little miss angel-face, had to steal my rule from me! Well, now, she's lost! I'm the only one who can break that spell! In destroying me, you've lost your only hope of reviving your friend! Haaaa!" When he finished saying that, he was gone, having disintergrated into a pile of DigiDust that was carried away in a slight wind.
Everyone stood in silence for a moment, taking in what Myotismon had just said. Then, it hit us all. I was probably the hardest hit by it. I fell limply to my knees, buried my face in my hands, and started crying hysterically once again.
" No!" I screamed, " no! It can't be! It can't!" All the hope that I had held before, no matter how large or small, all the hopes that Matt was still alive, were dashed into millions of pieces, as was my heart. The rain had stopped comepletely, but my many tears and the tears of my friends took the rain's place.
I don't know why, but for some reason, I could partially accept the fact that he had died in a car accident, but I couldn't handle the fact that Myotismon had killed him. I just couldn't understand it! How could Myotismon have been able to put that spell on him? Wouldn't Matt have fought back? Where was Gabumon during all this? Surely Gabumon wouldn't have let Myotismon hurt Matt.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. Were-Garurumon had come and had helped us during the battle . Also, I remebered that I had caught a glimpse of the glow of a blue crest. My spirits lifted. Could that mean that Matt was still alive?
I sat in the dark alley and pondered that question for a while. Then a thought crossed my mind. * Seeing Were-Garurumon, and seeing the glow of a blue crest, could mean that Matt's still alive, but then again it could also mean, that Celeste or one of her allies had taken that form to help us.* That thought depressed me. Then, to keep myself from crying again, I thought, *No! I've got to remain positive! It's a long shot, but it just might be, it just could be, that Matt was still alive!*
I sat there and smiled a small smile to myself. I decided not to tell anyone what I thought because they'd probably tell me that I was supporting a lost cause in believing that he was still alive. So, I dried my eyes, and regained some of my composure, before walking over to the others.
" Maybe we should get out of here," I said sadly.
" Yeah," said Lillymon who too had been crying.
" Sure," sobbed Biyomon.
" Okay," sniffed Patamon.
" Why not," cried Celemon.
For some reason, I thought that I should expect another voice, but I didn't know whose voice to expect. That's when yet another thought occurred to me. Where was Were-Garurumon? Had he dissappeared before the fight was over, or had he even been here to begin with? I decided to scratch the part about him not being here in the first place because all the others, and myself, had seen him. That gave me one more reason to hope that Matt was still alive.
" Come on," said Celemon as she choked back a sob, " I'll teleport everyone back to the mansion." We all nodded sadly and gathered around Celemon in a circle. " Here goes," she said, " Teleport!" We all blacked out.
***
The next thing I was aware of, was the soft and freshly mowed grass of my lawn. I would have recognized that scent anywhere. It was an odor that was completely unique to my lawn. It had this sweetish smell, but at the same time it was spicy, and smelled like woodchips.
" Oh," I said softly as I sat up. " I'm home."
" Yes," said Celemon solemnly. " Let's go inside. The others are waiting for us."
We each nodded sadly before we walked up the remainder of the long path that led up to my front door. Once there, we stepped onto the porch, I unlocked the door, and we walked inside slowly and solemnly.
Inside the living area, we found that the others had returned from there searches, and were now sitting down, and pondering what they were going to do, when we walked in.
Everyone sat and stared at us blankly for a moment. Sora was the first to actually react.
" Oh it's you Mimi!" she yelled with delight as she got up to give me a hug. " Oh you're safe! We were so worried!"
" Yeah," I said softly, " I'm fine."
Sora must have picked up something in my voice because she immediately said, " Well, you don't sound all right. Why don't you tell us what happened?"
" Okay," I said as I sat down on a nearby chair and began to tell them what had happened to me.
***
About Half an Hour Later…
In half an hour, even having broken down and cried through most of the story, I somehow managed to get the whole story out. Once I was finished with my somber story, everyone, even the usually happy no matter what the circumstances, T.K. was sitting there, staring at me with the, I can't believe that that just happened, look on his face.
Everyone who wasn't there at the battle was shocked. Sora had moved over to Tai,who was offering her a shoulder to lean in. Kari was trying in vain to get some kind of response out of T.K., whereas Joe and Izzy were just to shocked to even react.
Besides me, T.K. was probably the hardest hit by this news. I hated to have to tell him something like that, but he said that we had no right to keep any secrets from him, no matter what they were about. So, he was there when I told my story. No one was speaking, and no one was reacting. Everything was silent, deadly silent, except for a slight, pitter-patter sound, which I immediately recognized as rain. It was raining, yet again, and this was a cross between a light spring shower and a typhoon. It was raining hard at times, then died down to a light drizzle, only to spring up again.
I sat and watched the rain fall, until Sora finally broke the silence. " So, " she said. " All our suffering, all your suffering was brought on by Myotismon?" I nodded sadly.
" Oh!" she screamed angrily, " how I wish I could get my hands on that…that baka! Oh! I'd teach him a thing or two!"
" I'd do the same, Dear," said Tai, " but there's nothing we can do now. Myotismon's finally been defeated for good, but in the process, we lost Matt and Gabumon. That was too high a price to pay if you ask me."
"You're right, big brother," said Kari.
" Yes," said Tai in response as we all sunk back into silence.
***
I really don't know how long we sat there in silence, but it didn't seem to be a long time to me though, probably because I was wrapped up in my own thoughts. There wasn't a sound in the room except for the pitter-patter of rain, and the occasional outburst of soft sobs.
It was so quiet. I knew, that the minute that another sound came into play, we'd jump out of our skins, and that, was exactly what happened. Out of the blue, the intercom system activated with a loud chime that could be heard throughout the house.
Once we all recovered from our intial shock, Sora suggested that I go and answer it. I argued with her for a minute before giving in.
" Yes," I said tiredly as I held to talk button down.
" Uh, Ms. Tachikawa," said the guard at the gate. " Is that you?"
" Yes," I said again.
" Well, I have been asked to inform you that there's a man waiting out here to see you. He claims to know you, but his name's not listed in the authorized visitor's book."
" Well," I said, " tell me his name, and I'll see if I know him."
" That's sort of a problem, miss," said the guard.
" How so?" I asked.
" Well," said the guard, " he says that he wants his identity to be kept a secret until you get out here. He has no I.D. either. Do you want me to send him away?"
I thought carefully about that for a moment before answering, " No, don't send him away. Bring him up to the house. I'll come out and meet him."
" As you wish, ma'am," said the guard as he shut of the intercom.
" What was that all about?" asked Sora softly.
" There's someone who claims that he knows me, waiting outside. I asked the guard to escort him up to the house. I said that I'd meet him outside."
" Are you sure that's wise?" asked Kari.
" Truly," I said, " I'm too depressed to care. I feel like I could handle anything at this point."
I walked over to the nearby fireplace, and occupied myself with observing the many knickknacks that I had lined up there. There were several porcelain flowers of all shapes, colors and sizes. There was an antique clock, and quite a few photo frames, but one in particular caught my eye.
It was small, but it was beautiful even thought it was hidden away at the very back, I could tell what it was made of. The frame was made of a rose-quartz like stone, and it had little pink rhinestones scattered over the surface. Curious to see what picture I had in there, I lifted out the frame, and saw the reason for its being hidden at the back.
In the frame, was a picture of Matt and me, a couple of days before we split up. It was taken on a sunny day at the nearby park. We had taken Palmon and a camera along with us, just incase we felt like taking pictures, which we did. In the picture, I was sitting on a park bench, smiling , and Matt was leaning over the back of the bench. From what I could tell, it looked like he was trying to get me mad at him, by putting some leaves in my hair, but, Palmon had snapped the picture before he could, and he was caught with a handful of leaves that he had been ready to dump on me.
That one photo brought back some of the best meories that we had together, and we did have a lot, but that's all I had now, memories, and here I was, without a chance to make anymore. I stood there, and was ready to start crying again, when Celeste spoke to me.
" Hey, Mimi," she said, her voice belaying more than a hint of shock, " the man and the guard are here, and I think that you'll want to meet this, unidentified man."
" Really?" I asked sadly.
" Really," she said.
" All right," I said as I walked to the door. I was completely aware that it was still raining, but I didn't grab an umbrella. I wanted to be miserable. Once I got rid of that persistent pest that the guard had brought in, I planned to just go and barricade myself in my room.
I opened the door, and stepped onto my porch, all the while, keeping my eyes on my feet. I then proceeded to walk down the stairs and onto the red brick that made up the path up to my door. I stood there for a while, not speaking, not looking up. I felt the guard's presence to my right, and I felt the presence of the man standing in front of me. I felt like he was staring at me. It felt like his gaze was boring through my skull.
I opened my mouth to yell at him, and to tell him to leave me alone, that this was not the time to talk to me. If he did want to talk, to make an appointment with my agent. I lifted my head and opened my mouth to speak, but when I did, I couldn't believe who I found myself staring at.
It was almost as if I was staring at a figure from one of my dreams. That's how unreal this felt. My heart knew this person well, as did my head. When I saw him, I felt like my broken and bruised heart had been mended completely.
My heart thudded loudly in my ears, then my body tensed completely. I felt better than I had in years when I saw who it was.The person I found myself staring at, was about my age and height. He was dressed completely in black. In his hand, he held a boquet of pink roses. He had deep, caring blue eyes, and the hair…the hair he had, I would have recognized anywhere. Even with it's being soaking wet, it still looked, like it always had, like a bird's nest.
We stood there, in the downpour, staring at each other, him staring and smiling at me, whereas, I was gaping at him. By this time, both of us where soaking wet, but that didn't phase us.
When I finally recovered from my shock, I managed to whisper, " Matt."
" Mimi," he said as he handed me the boquet of roses he had been carrying.
I took the roses, and for a second, I stood there and just stared. Then, I cried with utter joy and happiness, " Matt!" I ran up to him, and gave him a long hug, that I wished would never end. In that instant, all the grief and sadness that had been building up inside me for the past five years, turned to pure joy and rapture.
I could tell that Matt was shocked at first, but he adjusted quickly, and said to me, " Shh, it's all right. It'll be okay," he said as he rubbed my head and back gently.
" Yes it is," I said, " now everything will be all right."
For a second, I wondered if this was actually real, or if this was another trick, but I soon determinded that this Matt was indeed real. Where Celeste was involved, anything was possible, anything at all. I didn't care how he got back here. All that mattered to me right now, was that he was here. We both stood like that for a couple of minutes, and during that time, I was aware that all the others were now standing on the porch watching us. We stood there, I crying in his arms, while he stood there, trying to comfort me.
" Oh, Matt," I said as I began to cry again. " I never thought I'd see you again. I thought you were dead."
He gently pushed me away, but just enough so that he could see my face. " Dead?" he asked. " Where did you hear that?"
" It's a long story," I said, " a really long story. Could we just skip that for now?"
" Sure," he said. He paused. " Listen, Mimi," he began, " I'm so, so, sorry for what I…"
" Shh," I said, " there's no reason to apologize. It was my fault too. Please, don't blame youself. That'll just make me feel bad."
" Sure," he said. " I just want to tell you one thing."
" What?" I asked.
" I want to tell you, that I'll love you forever, and this time I really mean it. I'll do everything in my power to prove it to you."
"Matt," I said, " you don't have to prove your love to me. Your word is good enough. I've
never stopped loving you. I never have stopped, and I never will. I'll love you from here till the end of time."
He tilted my head up so that once again I could see directly into his eyes and vice-versa. We didn't speak another word. This time, he moved to kiss me, and this time, I didn't stop him. We shared our first ever kiss, and I guessed, that that one kiss, would probably be one of the most memorable in my life.
There, in the rain, the same rain that had brought me sadness and heartbreak five years ago, and up till today, had brought me back to my love, and had helped me find happiness, of such a kind, I knew, that I would probably never find again.
There, on that day, in the middle of a downpour, two wandering hearts found each other again. There, on that day, a new chapter in my life, was begun.
The End