Every Rose Has Its Thorns

Every Rose Has Its Thorns

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Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Saban and Toei. The song lyrics are from Savage Garden's "Two Beds and a Coffee Machine" and they are property of Savage Garden and Columbia Records. Celeste belongs to me, and Natalie too. Well, I guess that's all.

Author's Note: Okay, well, just to let you all know…again. This is in no way related to Rainy Day. Also, for you Yamato fans two things. First, please bear with me, even though he seems not to play a big part in this part, but he plays a major part in part two. Secondly, please forgive me because I bash him a little in this part so gomen in advance.

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Episode One: Reality Revealed

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Everything was silent and pristine in the hospital room. The air was still and cold somehow giving the place the overall feeling of death. The room was occupied only by a woman whose chestnut hair was spread out on the fluffy hospital pillow. The room was all but silent, the only sounds being the soft, intermittent beeping of a nearby monitor, the constant dripping of an IV, the soft breathing of the woman, and the occasional moan that escaped her lips.

At first, her expression was peaceful, but as time passed, her expression gradually grew more and more pained as though she was experiencing a horrible nightmare that she could not escape from. Several times, she opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She kept trying though until her throat was choked with unuttered screams.

Even though she could not scream, another sound soon joined the small menagerie, the monitor next to her bed, her vital signs monitor began beeping wildly. Then all was silent again.

***

Down the hall at the nurse's station…

The young nurse sighed to herself as she continued to fill out a variety of paperwork consisting of various forms, reports and notifications for various doctors. This job was a bore for her. She had not gone to med. school for fun. She had gone so that she'd be able to help people, and interact with people. She didn't go so that she could sit at a desk and fill out paper work.

The hall was silent, and at this moment was deserted except for her. She tried not to let her imagination run away with her. She had watched too many horror movies lately, and she had seen one about a nurse, just like her, all alone, unsuspecting, who had been attacked by a murderer who was intent on killing someone in the ICU who had been the only witness to his heinous deed. In fact, it happened in a hallway very similar to this one. Long, deserted. Yep, it was very similar to this one.

And we've even got a patient, who would fit the description of the witness here, the nurse thought, somewhat terrified. She tried to concentrate on the paperwork in front of her. All right, she told herself, the patient's name goes here. She wrote something in the blank box. Patient's address goes here. She filled the address in the blank box, and she continued trying to complete the form in front of her, but her mind still wandered.

That poor woman, what was her name? Oh yeah, Mimi Tachikawa, the model. Poor thing. Looks like she won't be modeling anytime soon. The nurse propped her elbow up on the desktop and rested her head on her hand. I just can't believe anybody would beat her like that. Especially her fiancée. It's so awful. She felt herself getting angry at the thought. Oh, I hope they catch him soon. He deserves to be put in jail for a long time. He'd probably be charged with assault and attempted murder, seeing as what state she's in. Her life's on the edge, teetering on the brink of death. She's probably not going to make it without a miracle.

She lifted her head up and looked back down at the paperwork, trying, again, to get her mind off of the situation, but once again she was unsuccessful. A few minutes later, she found herself back on the same train of thought again.

But, he might come back to kill her; if he does, he would most likely get charged with manslaughter or murder. She snorted with disgust. Who am I kidding? She asked herself The phrase justice is blind, is more than true. It seems that murder is no longer a crime for some people. She thought back to the many cases where known murderers got away because of an insanity or self-defense plea. No! she thought. I'm pretty sure that the justice system will handle this right. I've gotta have faith in the system. She paused. But, she and I are the only live humans here right now. if he attacked right now. Murdered me, and Ms. Tachikawa, there might be hardly any evidence that he was here except for the security tape which he might destroy. She began to shake. Okay, now, she told herself, he can't be that good. Hardly anyone is that good. Forensics would probably be able to nail them. He's not stupid enough to try anything. Well, at least I don't think he is…

Unexpectedly breaking the prolonged silence, she heard a loud, clamorous noise from down an adjacent hallway. Chills raced up and down her spine. She froze, scared to breathe, scared to make a sound. Could that be him? She thought fearfully. She listened for what seemed to be an eternity for another sound. At one point, she heard what sounded to be footsteps, but when she listened after that, she heard nothing more. Okay, she thought, I'm letting my imagination get the best of me. There's no one here except for me. Calm down, calm down. Breathe. She kept repeating in her mind. She managed to calm down a little bit, but not much. She was trembling like a leaf. She sat and tried to go back to her paperwork again, telling herself that she was not going to get it done if she kept sitting and listening like that. She did return to filling out paperwork, but still kept an ear out for sounds and an eye on the red phone next to her that automatically alerted security if there was any trouble.

In a couple of minutes, she had the first set of forms done, and was now starting on the second. There we go she thought not so hard, now is it? Just three more stacks to go.

She began filling in various things on the second set. Patient's name, address, phone number, etc. She had almost completely forgotten the fears she had earlier, but they soon reasserted themselves in a horrifying way.

She was filling in the back of a form, when she suddenly felt a warm puff of breath against her neck. She jumped up from her seat and let out a short-lived scream.

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Natalie Willis, a teenage volunteer at the hospital, made her way silently through the halls of the hospital's ICU ward. She had to deliver the papers she had in her hand to the nurse at the nurse's station nearest to Ms. Tachikawa's room. The papers were essential. It was a notice to the nurse that Frank Wirani was indeed out of custody on bail. The papers also said that if she were to see him, if he did come to visit Mimi, not to let him see her, to do whatever it takes to keep him away from her, call security, call for help, fight him hand-to-hand if need be, anything. Because, if he did get to her, there was no way to know what he'd do.

Natalie knew the nurse on duty had a habit of letting her mind wander and letting her imagination get away with her. It would be no surprise to Natalie, if the nurse was daydreaming when she got there.

Natalie worried for Mimi; they had been friends for so long. Natalie knew what was going to happen, and she also knew that she had better get down to the ICU ward A.S.A.P. if she was going to save Mimi. She quickened her already fast pace to nearly an all out run.

***

The elevator journey down to the ICU ward was unbearably long, but Natalie somehow resisted the overwhelming urge to stop the elevator at the next floor and bolt down the stairs.

When she did get down to the ward, she found that it was unusually quiet. Thoughts raced through her mind at a hundred miles per second. Well, there's any number of things that could've happened. Only four possibilities made it through her wall of logic. One, the nurse was asleep, two, the nurse was daydreaming as usual, three, the nurse had gone to check on Mimi, or four, the worst of the choices, Frank had returned and the nurse was incapacitated or dead.

Natalie, fearing the worst, quickened her pace down the hallway towards the nurses' station.

She got almost all the way down the hall when she accidentally bumped into a cart on the side of the hallway sending a bowl and a few packaged instruments clattering to the tile floor. She was bending down to pick it up when she heard a slight noise down at the end of the hall, that sounded like a gasp. She hurriedly picked up the bowl and the packages, placed them on top of the cart and continued making her way silently down the hallway.

About a minute after she had knocked over the bowl, she heard papers shuffling, and she immediately dismissed the possibility that Frank had returned. The nurse had probably just let her imagination run away with her.

Natalie resumed her previous pace until she reached the end of the hallway, that's when she began tiptoeing around, so as hopefully, not to startle the nurse too much. She peeked around a corner and saw the nurse hunched over her desk doing paperwork, and immediately knew that everything was fine. Okay, she thought, now that I know she's okay, I've just got to give her the papers.

Natalie walked to the open door that led to the nurses' station. Unfortunately, there was a problem. The nurse's back faced the door, and, she still seemed unaware of Natalie's presence. Nevertheless, Natalie walked up behind the nurse, and drew in a breath to speak when the nurse abruptly bolted up from her seat and screamed.

The nurse's jump surprised Natalie, making her lose her balance and thereby causing her to fall backwards. The nurse, on the other hand, screamed for about a second before seeing Natalie sitting on the floor.

" Natalie!" the nurse yelled breathlessly. "It was you?!"

"Yes, it was," Natalie said calmly as she stood up. " I have to deliver these papers to you." She held out some folded white papers to the nurse, who was fuming.

" Give them to me," the nurse demanded angrily as she snatched the papers from Natalie's hand. She didn't even bother to read them; she just dropped them on top of the other paperwork on her desk. "Natalie! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on anyone!" the nurse reprimanded.

"I didn't sneak up on anyone, Natalie countered, " I just walked in the room, and you simply didn't acknowledge my presence. So, in reality, you're just as guilty as I am."

The nurse fumed some more at this, but eventually, Natalie's logic won out. " Yeah, I guess you're right, but just don't ever do that again. All right?"

" Agreed," said Natalie as the nurse frowned at her. Can't this girl ever relax? She asked herself. Don't hold your breath. She reminded herself.

"Also," said Natalie, " Doctor Foster wants a current report on Ms. Tachikawa's condition. Is there any overall change?"

"No," replied the nurse, " she's still in the coma and shows no sign of coming out of it any time soon."

" How long has she been in the coma?"

" About four months."

"How is the head wound?"

"Same as last. It's almost healed."

" Any change in stats?"

" None whatsoever."

"Any notable changes?"

The nurse considered the question. " Well, her vital signs haven't fluctuated. The haven't improved or gotten worse, but they're all in the green. The only things not normal, are her brain functions. Her synapses aren't firing normally. Other than that, she's completely healthy."

"Let's hope she will be," Natalie whispered under her breath. She looked back up at the nurse who was studying her questioningly as though she had heard what she had said, but the nurse then asked, " What's with the papers you brought me?" She asked as she picked up the neatly folded papers and unfolded them.

As she studied the papers, an occasional sound escaped her lips. " Hmm…"

"What?" Natalie asked cautiously.

" Well, for some reason I already knew this, but thank you for letting me know. Anything else?"

"Yes, Doctor Foster says she wants a written report as well."

" I'll get on it right away."

"Thanks…" Natalie said as her voice trailed off. She stared into the distance as though she could see something coming, even through the walls.

The nurse remained silent for a second, unsure of whether or not to speak, but then she queried, " Natalie, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Shh!" Natalie chided. "I think I hear something."

The nurse's eyes widened at that. " What do you hear Natalie? What is it?"

Natalie replied, her voice barely above a whisper, " I don't know. It sounds like footsteps." She narrowed her eyes as though that would help her identify the sound.

The nurse was now on edge. " Natalie! You're not just trying to scare me are you Natalie? Cause if you are…"

"No," Natalie responded almost immediately. " I really think I hear something coming. Now be quiet and let me concentrate!" The nurse immediately stopped talking and tried to concentrate on the sound herself. At first, she heard nothing, and she began to question Natalie's sanity, wanting say that she was hearing things. But then, her ears caught a hint of a sound. At first, it was so faint, that she doubted hearing it, but eventually, as she concentrated on it, it became louder and more pronounced. Natalie was right! Someone was coming! It was all the nurse could do to keep herself from thinking that it was Ms. Tachikawa's fiancée. She stood and listened to it for about a minute longer. She was so intent on listening to that sound, that she didn't realize that Natalie was speaking to her. She shook herself out of her mental daze just in time to hear Natalie say, "…don't come back, call security immediately. Got me?"

"No," said the nurse," what'd you say again?"

" I said, I'm going to go and see who it is. If I don't come back in a reasonable amount of time, call security immediately. Got me?"

"How much time do you think you need?"

Natalie considered this for a moment before responding, " About ten minutes cause I'll be sneaking around."

"All right," the nurse said. As Natalie turned to leave, the nurse added, " Natalie, be careful."

Natalie remained with her back to the nurse, but she answered with a barely audible voice, " I will." With that, she sneaked out of the tiny room, leaving the nurse alone and wondering.

***

Natalie cautiously peered around a corner to see if there was indeed an intruder even though she knew that in reality, there wasn't one at all. Rather, the footsteps the nurse had heard, was actually a product of her own imagination and Natalie had just played on that weakness. It was that simple.

Still, Natalie kept tiptoeing. She wished she didn't have to, but Natalie knew that if the nurse heard anything out of the ordinary, she would call security, so she knew that she must keep quiet.

All right, she thought enough of this. It's time to get this underway. With that, she rounded the corner and began to run silently through the long, deserted hallways. She had to hurry. In fact, she had to get to Mimi's room in under four minutes to be able to help her. She checked the cheap watch on her wrist. It read 3:26 A.M. She was right. She had four minutes to get to Mimi's room and to do so, she had to pass by the nurse's station which meant going back the way she came. She managed to keep running silently as she quickened her pace to a humanly impossible speed.

***

The nurse looked at the large clock on the wall. It read 3:26 A.M. Natalie's ten minutes were almost up. She tried to sit still, but was unable to keep from fidgeting. Somehow she resisted the urge to lunged for the phone. She tried to calm herself down by thinking what she would do when she got off work. I'm going to relax in a nice hot bath before I hit the sack. Then, when I wake up, I'm going to have a nice dinner. Since I'm off tonight, I might go out with my boyfriend. Maybe he'll propose to me tonight! That thought cheered her, but that cheer was soon dispelled by another thought that entered her mind. What if I never get off work? What if Ms. Tachikawa's fiancée is really here? What if he's going to kill us? What if? What if? She glanced at the clock again. It read 3:28 A.M. Come on Natalie! Hurry up!

***

Natalie paused at the door of the nurse's station and glanced at her watch. It read 3:28 A.M.

No! her mind screamed. I don't have enough time! I've gotta do it even though my superiors are going to hate me! She paused a second to regain her wits. All right, here goes! And she said with her mind: Guardian of Time, hear my plea, slow time's flow on the count of three…One…Two…Three!

Almost immediately after saying those words, Natalie noticed the difference in the time flow. She felt as though the world was standing still and as though she was the only one moving. Good. She thought. The change was implemented. Thank you my friends…

Without another word, she bolted down the hallway towards Ms. Tachikawa's room.

***

In what would've been another four minutes later, Natalie was standing in front of Mimi's room. She slowly opened the door tiptoed into the room, and softly shut the door behind her. She took a moment to survey the room. Here, the effects of the Time Stop were more prominent, for one could actually see it. A drop of fluid that was to go to her IV had stopped in mid-fall, and the constantly beeping heart monitor looked as though someone had painted a picture on it. Natalie shook herself free of the thoughts and checked her watch again. It read 3:29 A.M. I'm cutting it awfully close, she thought, but I must have the spell reversed now! She paused. Here goes! Guardian of Time here my plea, resume time's flow on the count of three…one…two…three!

Again, immediately, things returned to normal, the IV continued to drip and the monitor continued to beep as though nothing had changed. Without wasting another second, Natalie walked over to the bed where Mimi lay and silently placed her hands on the sleeping woman's head in a way known only to a few and she thought Mimi? Mimi where are you?

***

For a second, the nurse felt as though she were going to pass out, but she managed to catch her self before she did.

Wow, she thought, what happened? It felt like…like time stopped, or something like that…

She would've continued down that train of thought, but another thought nagged at her mind. She glanced up at the clock; it read 3:29 A.M. and the second hand had almost completed it's round. In about fifteen more seconds, it did indeed complete the round. The clock now read 3:30 A.M.

Natalie, the nurse thought, time's up. She reached over for the phone, her mind filled with exactly what she was going to tell security, but an instant before her hand reached the phone, another sound came into play.

The computer terminal at her desk began beeping with an intermittent beeping that was loud enough to wake the dead. The nurse hesitated at the phone for a second before sprinting over to the terminal which was on the other side of the tiny room. She swiveled the monitor to face her, but when she saw what all the commotion was about, the color drained from her face. She didn't even get a chance to respond as her instincts took over, the nursing instincts that she had had to bury for so long were finally coming to the fore. She quickly moved over to the other side of the terminal and pressed a large red button on an intercom. She opened her mouth to speak, and when she did speak, her voice came out panicked, but still as clear as ever.

" Attention! Attention! Code Blue in the ICU ward! Doctor Foster to the ICU stat! Mimi Tachikawa is under cardiac arrest! I repeat! Code Blue in the ICU ward!"

***

Mimi had no idea where she was. One minute she had been in an unusual park and now here she was, nowhere. She felt as though she was floating somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness, tucked away safely in a little part of her mind. Even though everything was dark, it didn't bother her. The darkness was warm and comforting, it wrapped her in a protective cocoon, cradling her mind like a mother would a baby. She didn't want this to end, she was happy here. Thoughts and memories floated around in her mind, past, present, future? She couldn't tell, they were all mixed together in a large jumble. She saw her time at the camp, so many years ago before she and her friends had been sucked into Digiworld, before they had met the digimon, before they had to leave them behind… Palmon's face floated around in her thoughts. Oh how she missed Palmon, the loyal Digimon who had become her friend and confidante, whom Mimi trusted with her life, but when they had been denied permission to stay in Digiworld, and after their request to return had been refused, she had lost all hope of ever seeing Palmon again. Her friends. She still had her friends, but she had lost contact with all of them over the years. She didn't know, and truthfully, right now, they didn't matter at all. She was safe and happy; that's what she cared about right now, being safe and happy.

So, understandably, she was upset when a bright light came washing over her, dissipating the darkness, sending the comfort rushing away from her. She managed to open her eyes, and what she saw somewhat startled her. Floating directly in front of her, was a huge replica of the symbol for Sincerity and out of that emanated the radiant light that had destroyed the darkness.

What? She thought. What's happening? A few moments later, she received an answer when a woman with large angel-wings who was wearing a simple, flowing white dress that was restrained at the waist by a golden belt, stepped from the Sincerity symbol. For a moment, Mimi just stared at the newcomer, trying to figure out who she was. The woman had long blond hair that was tied in a loose ponytail at the back of her neck, and she had ice blue eyes that seemed to be peering at Mimi intently.

Mimi opened her mouth to ask a question, but was interrupted when the woman spoke gently with a voice that sounded as soothing a rushing waters, as fresh a the morning breeze, as placid as the sky on a cloudless night when all the stars were out, as soft and as gentle as a caress, " Mimi? Mimi where are you?"

"Right here," Mimi answered. The woman smiled at that. " Who are you?" Mimi asked suspiciously.

" Don't you recognize me, my friend?" the woman asked.

"No," Mimi answered straightforwardly.

" Maybe this will help you remember," said the woman as she procured a small device from her belt. "Catch," the woman said simply as she lightly tossed the device to a very puzzled Mimi.

Mimi caught it and proceeded to examine it. It was very familiar indeed. It was a digivice! A very special digivice at that! Even in all the years she hadn't seen it, she would've recognized in anywhere. It was a magenta colored digivice with small soft feathers protruding from four corners of it. Mimi clutched the digivice in a shaking fist and managed to croak weakly, "Celeste?"

The woman smiled a dazzling smile again. "Yes, Mimi. It's me. I have changed over the years as have you. I presume that is why you didn't recognize me."

"You're right about that, Celeste!" Mimi exclaimed happily, " last time I saw you, you had purple hair, and you were wearing a purple skirt and a sleeveless shirt and you had pixie wings, not angel wings. You sure have changed!"

" As have you, my friend," Celeste reiterated. Mimi guessed that she was referring to the fact that she had grown in height significantly, and that she had grown her hair out as well. " Yeah, I've gotten older, but I definitely haven't gotten wiser."

"I know." Celeste replied simply.

Mimi paused for a second, seemingly at a loss for words, but then she broke the silence and said, " Well, Celeste, it's nice to see you, but may I ask you why you are here?"

"Ah, same old Mimi that I know," Celeste paused and said under her breath, " let's hope that she is still the same." She looked back up at Mimi and said, " You know. Well, at least I think you do."

Mimi grimaced and looked down into the endless chasm of darkness. "Yes, I have a vague idea. You're here to take me back. Aren't you?"

Ah, so she does remember what happened, good, now I have a base to build on Celeste thought. Good…

Her thoughts trailed off when she heard Mimi saying, " No! Celeste, I am not going back! I will never go back! I will die first! I will never go back there! I repeat I will die first!"

"My friend," Celeste began delicately for she knew that she was treading on thin ice here. " I'm afraid that…"

"No!" Mimi practically screamed. "Stop with that 'my friend' stuff! You're not my friend if you make me go back! There is no way that a friend would ask me to leave this safety to go back to that harsh world! I'm safe here," she gestured with open arms to the darkness around her, " I'm happy here! Why would I ever want to leave? It would be crazy to leave!"

"Mimi! Mimi!" Celeste yelled harshly, " listen to me! You said that no friend would make you leave safety to return to danger. Well, then how can the DigiDestined be your friends? Because according to you, a friend doesn't want a person to leave safety for danger, well, they did ask you to return to Digiworld after you returned to Earth the first time, did they not?"
Mimi was flustered, but blurted out, "No! I made that decision for myself! I decided to return on my own! No one asked me to! That doesn't count!"

"Well then, how could you be your own friend if you asked yourself to return!?" Celeste countered.

"Well, a person can't be their own friend!" Mimi countered. " Besides, I made that decision for myself! That doesn't count either!"

"How is this any different then?" Celeste asked calmly.

Mimi paused, not sure what Celeste was asking; she just waited for Celeste to continue, and continue she did.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything," Celeste stated somewhat calmly even though panic was edging in on her voice. She had only a short while more to convince Mimi to return until both their minds were lost forever in the darkness of the coma and the horrors of death. Come on Mimi Celeste thought. Just trust me.

"You're…you're not forcing me to return?" Mimi asked in disbelief.

"No!" Celeste stated again. " Mimi, now listen to me, you do not nave a lot of time to ponder this, you must make a decision now! You don't have much time, your body is on life support right now. Your mind has to reassert itself and take over body functions if you want to live. Mimi, if you don't make your decision now, you will die. And no, I'm not threatening you, I'm just telling you what is going to happen. That is all."

Mimi was silent with disbelief. " You mean, that if I don't make a decision now, I will," she gulped nervously, " die?"

"Yes," said Celeste stoically. "And I will not be able to revive you. So, as you see, you must make a decision. Will you die or will you live? What will it be?"

Mimi paused in indecision. Both thoughts were hideous to her. Dying meant die and never to return, but living meant torture, both physical and emotional. It was horrible compared to this, but then again, dying was too. As said before, both were equally horrible. She couldn't decide.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Celeste spoke, " Mimi, do you remember the last time I visited you in person?"

Mimi thought for a couple of seconds, her mind searching through years of memories. Finally, she said, "Yes, I remember, it was just before we actually took on the Dark Masters, during our first days back in Digiworld. I had felt somewhat unneeded in the group and I was trying to decide whether or not to leave and start off on my own. Maybe even find Gennai and maybe convince him to return me to the real world. I remember."

" Do you remember what I told you?"

"I remember exactly."

"What did I say?"

"You said, 'Trust me'."

"Yes, that's what I said. And now, Mimi, I'm asking you to trust me just one more time. Trust me in this. Go back. Return to consciousness. Despite the initial terror and circumstances, it will be worth it. Trust me. I know. Times will be trying, I'm not going to lie, it will be hard, but it will be worth it." Celeste's solemn face took on a sly smile. " Besides, if you die, someone will really miss you."

"You mean?"

"Yes."

Mimi considered all the things that Celeste had told her, and weighed the consequences of each decision. Finally, she spoke.

"Celeste."

"Yes."

"I've decided."

"What did you decide?"

"I've decided," she paused for an uncertain second. " I've decided, to return."

Celeste's face lit up. "That's just great! Now, we don't have much time! Quickly, I know that this might sound stupid, but it's worked before for me. You must envision yourself ascending in an elevator through the different levels of your mind until you reach the very top. Then you must envision yourself getting off and staying there. Then, before you know it, you'll be awake and you should have control of your body again. Okay?"

"Sure, I'll do it. But Celeste, tell me, I once heard that love is like a rose. Is it true?"

"Yes," said Celeste. She paused before saying, "Here, catch." Celeste threw a beautiful red rose to Mimi.

Mimi reached out to catch it, but when her fingers closed around the stem, she dropped the rose into the pit below her. She watched it fall, end over end, tumbling into the unending darkness. She looked back up at Celeste, waiting for her to speak, and sure enough she did.

Celeste fabricated another rose, and gently fingered the soft, silky petals. She held the rose in front of her face, but then looked over the rose so that she could see Mimi's face. Celeste studied the rose as she spoke, but occasionally looked back at Mimi.

" Yes, love is like a beautiful rose at full bloom, but remember this Mimi." She threw the rose over to Mimi this time, Mimi caught it and did not drop it. "Every rose, has its thorns."

Mimi paused for a moment before saying, "Thank you, Celeste."

"You're welcome. Now, you must be going. Time is of the essence."

"Yes, I will go now. Bye Celeste, and thank you again."

" Goodbye, my friend. I will see you soon."

Celeste vanished in a flash of light as Mimi "ascended" through the various levels of her mind.

***

The young nurse ran through the hallways to Ms. Tachikawa's room. She had wanted to do something other than fill out paperwork, but this was not what she had in mind. She just hoped that she would be able to get to the room in time to be able to help Ms. Tachikawa. She quickened her pace.

***

She got to the room a short while later and she burst in the door, ready to begin CPR, but when she looked in the room, she nearly fainted with surprise.

***

That light was a bit too bright for Mimi's taste, but she had to deal with it nonetheless, so she moved her hand to wipe her eyes, her muscles punishing her for every move she made. She kept trying though. She began to massage her eyes, but stopped when something hard made contact with her face.

What's this? Mimi thought. She opened her eyes, just enough so that she could look at the back of her hand. She had an IV in her hand, that's what the hard thing was.

She somehow managed to open her eyes all the way, and when she did, she found herself staring at the ceiling. No surprise she thought dryly.

She slowly turned her head to one side, her body, again, punishing her for moving. I must have been laying this way for a long time, she thought. She managed to get a good look at the room, correction, the hospital room. She turned her head back to the position it had been in before, and the muscles felt a bit better because of it. All right, she thought, I'm going to sit up whether my body wants me to or not; I'm going to do it.

She took a moment to gather her will and her courage, before slowly and carefully propping herself halfway up on her right elbow. The muscles in her back ached and she winced in response. Slowly, she moved so that she could prop herself up on her left elbow. She did so, her muscles protesting even louder than before, but she managed to get herself propped all the way up.

Ow, she thought, man, this is really hard on my elbows. I think I'm going to have to sit all the way up.

Resolute, she used her elbows to push her into a sitting position, not noticing that in the process, she had disconnected something, a wire, from her chest. She looked around the room. There was a menagerie of monitors surrounding her bed, one of which displayed only a red line. Not knowing exactly what that meant, she just sat on the bed, wondering if perhaps, she should call a nurse, when unexpectedly, the door burst open and a frantic nurse practically ran into the room, huffing and puffing as though she'd just run a mile.

"Ms. Tachikawa!" she rasped breathlessly. "You're…you're…awake! And, you're alive!"

"Yes, I am," Mimi replied weakly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

The nurse was about to launch into the whole story about how she had been in a coma for the past four months and also how her heart monitor had read that her heart had stopped and that she should be dead by now….speaking of which, how was she alive? The instruments said that her heart had stopped, but her she was, alive and awake. How could that be? The nurse said to Mimi, " Um, Ms. Tachikawa, I have to check and make sure that you're really okay, all right?"

"Sure, and please, call me Mimi," she answered groggily.

"All right Mimi. So, how do you feel?" the nurse asked as she walked around the bed checking the various wires and things attached to Mimi's body.

" Well," answered Mimi, " besides a killer headache and many sore muscles, I feel very well."

The nurse kept checking the wires and, and her fingers found a loose one. " Good," she replied, "Is there anything else that I need to know? Any dizziness or things like that?"

"No. Now, let me ask you a question. What happened to me? Why am I here in this hospital?"

The nurse smirked as she traced the wire to its origin. " That's two, but I'll answer them. Well, no matter how much you might not want to believe what I'm going to tell you, you must because I assure you that it is the truth. I'm just going to give you the truth plain and simple, no sugar coating. All right?"

Mimi nodded.

" Well, about four months ago, you were severely beaten by a man named Frank Wirani, your fiancée. You received a serious head injury and you fell into a coma which you've been in for the past four months. We were just about to declare you dead when your heart started beating again and you started breathing, but you were still in the coma. If you had remained that way any longer, you would have been a lost cause. But, as it turns out, you are awake, alive, and presumably healthy. And we are glad for that." There was a moment of silence, and Mimi opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the nurse who exclaimed, "Gotcha!" With an air of triumph, having completed this miniscule task, she held a loosened wire in her hand. " Here's the cause of the trouble. That's why the monitor said that her heart had stopped!" As the nurse babbled to herself and presumably to Mimi also, Mimi thought, I just can't believe it. I knew it, I just didn't believe it. Now that an outsider has confirmed it, I now believe that it's true. But I still can't believe it! I won't believe it! She was so confused! She had no idea what to believe, but she certainly wouldn't believe what the nurse had said, even though her story fit perfectly.

A single tear slipped down her cheek and splattered on the white, cotton bed sheet. She was shocked with disbelief and was about to just tell the nurse that she was wrong even though in her head, Mimi knew that she was indeed right. She opened her mouth to speak, but was again interrupted, this time by a horde of doctors and nurses rushing in the room. She just smiled at them as their jaws hit the ground.

A woman who with brown hair and glasses, whom Mimi presumed was a doctor, stepped forward towards the nurse and Mimi.

"What's going on here?" she asked as she glanced at the loosened wire in the nurse's hand.

"Well, Doctor Foster," began the nurse, "when I was alerted that Mim…uh, Ms. Tachikawa was under cardiac arrest, I immediately called for help, then I ran to her room and when I burst in, she was sitting up in bed, completely awake and alive."

Doctor Foster glared at the nurse curiously, " If she was alive, why did you call a Code Blue? Hmm? Were you trying to play a trick on us? Cause if you were…"

"No!" the nurse exclaimed defensively, "no, I wasn't! I would never do something like that! The terminal at my station had reported that Ms. Tachikawa's heart had stopped, so I called a code blue, but when I got in here, I found that a wire had disconnected. I didn't want to take any chances that she might have really been under cardiac arrest, so I called an alert."

The Doctor thought that over for a second. " Well, you *did* do the right thing, so you will not get sacked, but we've got another problem, did Natalie deliver the papers to you?"

" Yes," replied the nurse, " but she disappeared after that. I haven't seen her since."

Doctor Foster wasn't surprised at that, so she continued. "Well, then I presume you know that Fra…"

She was interrupted by the nurse who shushed her before saying. " Don't mention that to her. I do know what the papers said. So, let's just continue from there. All right."

The Doctor nodded, understanding what the nurse was saying. "Well," she continued, " that's not the biggest problem. The entire hospital is in an uproar! People are panicking, trying to find out what happened to her. We've got to tell them something, and we just can't say that it was a loose wire, or a mistake. What would our superiors think of that?"

" They'll think that we were insane," the nurse replied plainly.

"Exactly," answered Foster. " We can't tell them that, so what can we tell them?" They mulled over it until Mimi, who thus far had gone unnoticed, spoke up.

" Well," she croaked weakly, " you can tell them that I died. That would benefit us both."

The Doctor turned to face her. "Explain how that is beneficial, Ms. Tachikawa," said the doctor with a glint in her eyes.

Hmm, Mimi thought, that expression looks familiar. I wonder where I've seen it before…

Her thoughts were broken, when the Doctor pried, " Ms. Tachikawa!" she exclaimed, sharply jolting Mimi back to reality.

"Uh…yes," she stuttered. " Um, it would help us both, if you say that I died, because, I do know what happened to me, I mean, my mind knows the facts, but my heart chooses not to believe them completely. But, anyway, I know that if Frank knows that I am indeed alive, according to what you're saying, he might come after me, to do what, I don't know, maybe to kill me, maybe to apologize, I don't know. I'm guessing I shouldn't take any chances. If you say that, it will give me time to escape, and, even if he did find out that I was alive, I would be long gone." She finished, breathless. Wow, she thought, I'm beginning to act and sound like Izzy! Next thing I know, I'll be saying "Prodigious!" She allowed herself a quick laugh, but the doctor again broke her thoughts.

" Do you have any idea what we'll say about your 'death'? I mean, we do have to write a report. What will we say?"

The nurse spoke up, " Well, I think I know what she's thinking. We can use the code blue to our advantage. We can say that she went into cardiac arrest, we gave her CPR and that was useless. We can say that she died at 3:40 AM. I guess that our superiors will go along with that as long as we explain to them what we are doing. You know they'd probably help her out. After all, she did keep this hospital from closing down by donating the money we needed to keep it open when no one else would." She eyed the group. "They'd probably be glad to help. I vote that we go through with Mimi's plan. All in favor, say 'Aye'. I say aye."

There was a moment of silence, before another Doctor spoke up. He said, " I think we should go along with it. I say Aye."

The others in the group cast glances among themselves, unsure of what to say.

"Well," Mimi began, " I really think that's the best way to go, so aye."

The other four people stood in silence, trying to make a decision. Weighing the consequences, looking at the short term effects and such took up a long time.

If they declared Mimi Tachikawa dead, yes it might help them all, and their superiors would probably go along with it, but then, some meddling reported or someone like that who would still think that Mimi is alive might stumble on to the plan and figure it out. Also, since she was famous, the country might be in an uproar, and if they ever found out that the hospital staff was lying, then…well… they tried not to think about that. If the public ever found out that she was still alive, that might put her in even greater danger than ever. Frank might pursue her to the ends of the earth then, maybe even attack the hospital staff to find out if they knew where she went. If he thought that she was dead, she might at least have some refuge. Also, if the public found out that the hospital staff lied, then the hospital's reputation might be permanently damaged, and they could all be thrown out of the medical profession. They couldn't decide if it was logical to put the entire hospital staff at risk, just to save one person. Truthfully, it wasn't logical, not at all.

Everyone in the room stood in silence, not sure if it was worth it, but unexpectedly breaking the silence, there was a chorus of three ayes coming from the three other people in the room. Doctor Foster was the only one who hadn't made a decision yet.

"Well, Doctor," the nurse pried, "whaddya say? Are we going to help her or not. If we are going to do this, we will need your support as well. Either that, or you will be sworn to secrecy. What will it be?"

She faced them, deep in thought. She couldn't decide, when suddenly, a voice whispered to her. Say aye…

She was puzzled as to where the voice came from, but she dismissed it as a hallucination brought on by exhaustion, but she didn't dismiss the message.

Finally, she spoke. "Well," she said, " after a long and intense deliberation, I have decided to say, 'Aye'."

There was a short chorus of cheers from everyone in the room, but Doctor Foster brought them back to their senses.

" If we're going to go through with this crazy stunt, let's get started before I can come to my senses. The plan will be named, Code Blue, all right? We'll start by notifying the public Mimi Tachikawa has indeed died of cardiac arrest. Then, we'll write the report. After that, since they will least suspect me, she will leave as a long-time friend of mine who came in to get an x-ray. We'll bandage her right leg and take her out in a wheel chair. Then, since I, my friend, and Ms. Tachikawa just so happen to live in the same building, she can pack quickly while I book an online ticket to let's say…Florida?" She looked to Mimi who nodded that that was okay. Doctor Foster continued. " We'll send her on her way, and I'll tell her to move in with my half-cousin who lives in Orlando. All right? Then, if anything goes wrong, she can always book a ticket to somewhere else and move there. I'm sure you have relatives or close friends somewhere, right Ms. Tachikawa?"

"Yes," Mimi replied, "I do, I have family and friends in Japan. Also, please, call me Mimi."

"All right, Mimi. Now, let Operation Code Blue begin!" she finished enthusiastically. Come on let's go! And remember, Mimi, has died, we're supposed to be depressed. If you can't keep a straight face when you're lying, disconnect Mimi from the equipment, and hide her somewhere. Then when you're done, write up the report. All right?"

"Yeah," said the nurse, " I'll do just that. Someone has to do it after all. Right?"

Foster nodded at her, just before she and the other people who had been with her, ran out the door. Now the nurse and Mimi were left alone again, and all was quiet. So she spoke again.

" Hey Mimi? Mind if I ask you a question?"

"No," Mimi replied, " go ahead."

"Well, why did you agree to go along with this plan, let alone create it?"

Mimi was silent. The only reason she had come up with this plan was because they had once considered using it during their adventures in Digiworld, to hide from the Dark Masters. She didn't know if she should tell the nurse that, so she pulled another reason from her past.

" Well, it's something that happened a long time ago, when I was about 13 or so. Someone once said that they would care less if I died. I don't know if he meant it, or if he was just joking. With him, you never could tell. So, I decided to make his wish come true. I'm going to die."

" That was a horrible thing to say. How could someone say that to you? Who said it? Why if I ever get my hands on him…" she said angrily.

Mimi gave her a small smile, it was nice to finally tell someone who sympathized, I mean, sincerely sympathized. Not just "Oh, he shouldn't have said that," or "Oh, I'm sorry." It seemed like she really understood what was going on inside her.

"Well, Mimi answered, "the reason he said it is simple enough, I loved him, and he didn't love me, so he started acting like a complete jerk towards me, to make me hate him, I guess, but still like I said before, I don't know if he was joking, just trying to make me mad at him, or if he really meant it, I don't know. Anyway, you wouldn't know him, he was a childhood friend of mine who lives in Japan. Well, I still think he does." She trailed off, lost in thought.

The nurse interpreted her silence as painful memories coming to the fore, and she interpreted right, so she let her be. As the nurse continued disconnecting the equipment, she wished she could be out front with Doctor Foster to see what was going on.

***

The minute Doctor Foster stepped out into the main lobby, she wished she could run back the way she came, but she couldn't. She had to go through with Code Blue, for Mimi's sake.

There were at least fifty reporters sitting on the sofa-like chairs of the lobby, and at first, no one seemed to notice her and the people with her, but that was too good to be true.

About half a minute after she entered the room, a woman in her early twenties with short brown hair and a man with a video camera, came running over to meet her.

The reporter woman pushed a microphone in her face and said, " Hi, my name is Sarah Rhodes, are you by any chance Doctor Foster, Ms. Tachikawa's doctor?"

The man with the video camera moved over to the side and kept hovering around the small gathering. More and more of the reporters and their cameramen walked over to where she was and eagerly tried to get her to speak to them.

"Um, yes," she answered nervously. " Yes I am."

"Great!" exclaimed Ms. Rhodes excitedly. " Now, would you mind answering a few questions for us?" She asked gesturing to the enormous crowd surrounding them.

" Of course," Foster replied simply, " What would you like to know?"

"Well," began Ms. Rhodes, " we received a report, that at 3:30 AM, Mimi Tachikawa went into cardiac arrest. Is that true?"

"Yes," Foster lied.

" Would you mind telling us her current status?" Rhodes pried. She tried to swallow the developing lump in her throat as she asked the question. She wasn't sure if she wanted to ask it, but she had to. She braced herself for the worst.

Rhodes paled when Foster's expression turned grim, and she shook her head.

She lowered her head and continued shaking it as she replied. " I'm sorry," she said softly, her voice belaying that she was on the edge of tears. She raised her head and stared at the reporters. " Ms. Tachikawa passed away at 3:40 A.M. the cause of death, heart failure. I'm sorry, but no more questions."

She and her group turned away and headed back towards the ICU ward, not even stopping to look back at the group of reporters who were shocked stiff. Doctor Foster and her assistants pretended to choke back tears, until they were out of sight, after having gotten into the elevator.

"Excellent performance," on of the other doctors whispered.

" Yes," Foster answered equally softly. " I just wish that I didn't have to do it."

***

The nurse had disconnected Mimi from the machines, but hadn't hidden her, she simply took her back to the station to write up the fake death report. Mimi stood and looked over the nurse's shoulder as she did the paperwork. Suddenly, her gaze lighted on some folded papers on a desk next to her. Curious, she picked them up, unfolded them and read them. "What's this?" she muttered as she opened them.

"What's what?" the nurse replied, turning away from her paperwork. She paled ten shades when she saw what Mimi was talking about. In Mimi's hands was the notice that her fiancée was out on bail.

Mimi also paled, but she paled twenty shades instead. As she clutched the notice in her shaking hands, she asked, on the verge of hysterics, " Is this true? Tell me, it's not true? He didn't hurt me did he? This is some kind of trick right? Just like Code Blue? Right, you just want to make me think he hurt me right? Tell me this is a lie!"

"Mimi, you said it yourself," replied the nurse, " you said that you know he hurt you. You said it yourself, but yes, that message is true. Please be careful of him. From what he did to you, I see that he's a very dangerous man. Please be careful."

" But he didn't do anything," Mimi protested quietly. " He'd never hurt me. He loves me. I know he does. Really he does."

The nurse sighed to herself. There was no use arguing with her. Oh well, she'd figure out the truth on her own time.

***

Approximately one week after Code Blue started. Mimi is preparing to leave the hospital…

"Tell me what your name is," Doctor Foster asked Mimi.

"My name is Lin Hishika."

"Where did you live previously?"

"Japan."

" Where does your cousin live?"

"Orlando, Florida."

" What was your previous occupation?"

"A waitress."

" Good. You seem to know it well. I think you'll pass as anyone but Mimi Tachikawa. How's your hair look? Do you like it?"

Mimi walked over to a mirror on the wall opposite her and stared at her reflection. Her face was still the same, but she had cut her hair off from her shoulders down. Also, she had dark brown streaks dyed into it. When she first saw her new persona, she almost didn't recognize herself, but right now, she had it up in a more familiar style from her childhood. She had most of it tied up in a short ponytail, except for two long strands which framed her face.

She scrutinized herself for a minute before saying, " It'll do."

"Well," said Foster, " I know that the clothes aren't exactly what you're used to, but they should be okay, right?"

Mimi scrutinized the baby blue shirt and pleated black skirt that she was wearing. " Yeah, they'll do."

" All right, are you ready to go?"

"Yes."

" Well come on then," she said gesturing to a wheel chair in front of her, " you sprained your knee, remember?"

" Yeah," said Mimi as she placed a large hat on top of her head and tilted it so that it covered her face.

With the doctor's help, she got over to the chair, but she had to hobble because of the knee brace that Foster had her wear.

"Come on now, let's go." Foster said cheerfully as she wheeled Mimi out of the room.

***

Outside…

The sun was brighter than she ever remembered it being before, it was high in the sky, shining down its warmth and light upon the world. Nonetheless, Mimi shivered. She couldn't help thinking what would happen now. She was out of the safety of the hospital, away from the friends she had made over the past week. She would miss them all.

"Up you go," Foster said as she rolled Mimi's chair up the ramp to get into the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" Mimi asked.

"I'm taking you in my car, because it's more familiar around the neighborhood, people won't question it. And we'll ditch the wheelchair in the garage, near my car. Okay?"

" Sure," Mimi replied as she drifted off into a daydream.

***

Approximately 20 minutes later, at the apartment building…

Doctor Foster sighed as she stepped out of her car, a blue Escort that had seen more than its share of accidents. The back bumper was dented, and wasn't attached to the frame of the car in places. The car almost stalled 4 times on the journey here, and whenever you had to stop at a traffic light, when you hit the brakes, the car shuddered violently as it all but skidded to a stop. It was a horrible ride from Mimi's point of view; she had no idea how Doctor Foster could stay so perky after all that.

" Well," Foster said, " here we are, the humble Fourth Street Apartments. Your previous abode. You stayed here up till the time you got attacked. This was where you were hiding from Frank Well, since you were just declared dead, all your stuff should still be in there." She gestured to a five story building whose brown, brick form towered over her. In one of the windows on the ground floor, a pair of yellow curtains fluttered in a open window. There was a woman at the kitchen sink, doing the dishes it looked like.

"Hi, Marie!" Doctor Foster greeted her loudly as they walked over to the window to talk to the woman.

"Hi, Teresa," Marie replied. " I see you brought a friend. What's her name?"

" Lin Hishika," Mimi answered happily. " Nice to meet you Marie."

"Same to you, Lin. Here in the Fourth Street Apartment buildings, we're all friends, and we're always glad to make new ones. I'm the landlord here, so remember, if you ever need a favor, just give me a ring and let me know."

Mimi smiled at her. " Thank you, Marie. I'll remember it. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. Now you better get inside." Marie looked up at the darkening sky. " It's getting late, and when it gets late, bad things happen. All right?"

"Sure," Teresa (Dr. Foster) replied, " we were just heading in right now. Let's get going, Lin."

"All right," Mimi said as she followed Teresa into the building.

***

"Your apartment is on the third floor. When you get to the third floor, you turn left. Your apartment is the one at the end of that corridor. Mine is at the opposite end. All right, got it?"

Mimi stared at the ancient wooden stairs and replied, " Yeah. I get it."

"Now," Teresa said, " you're not going to have much time. I've heard that a man matching Frank's description is on his way here, so grab whatever you can and run. It will take me five minutes to book the ticket. When I'm done, I'll knock once all right? Once I get there, you'll take whatever you have and you'll get outta here. I'll stay here." She handed Mimi two sets of keys. " The one with no key ring and only one key on it, is your apartment key and the one with two keys with the Statue of Liberty key chain, are the spare keys to my car. You'll take that, understood?"

Mimi looked perplexed. " But what are you going to use?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I was planning to buy a new one anyway. All right?"

Mimi nodded.

"Now, let's get going. We don't have much time."

Teresa hauled Mimi up the creaky stairs to the third floor before they parted ways, Teresa running to the right corridor and Mimi running to the left.

***

In Mimi's apartment…

Stepping into the apartment from the corridor, was like stepping into another world. The corridors were painted with dark, peeling brown paint, and smelled absolutely horrible, whereas, Mimi's apartment was painted blue, had plush white carpet, and smelled okay. But she neglected to notice the large blood stain on the wall.

Forgetting Teresa's warning of time running out, Mimi walked over to the window and looked out. Her window overlooked a narrow alleyway; she could see Teresa's car from here. She leaned on the window frame, letting the dimming sunlight wash over her body. She missed seeing the sunset, but now was not the time.

She walked over to her bed, knelt by it, and pulled a large black duffel bag out from under it. She opened to zip and tossed the bag onto her bed before jumping over to her closet, grabbing armfuls of clothes and stuffing them into her bag. Since she had only a minimal amount of clothes in her closet ( since when she had run before, she only managed to grab a few clothes), it took her less than a minute to get them all into the bag. Next, she ran into the small bathroom, opened a cupboard under the sink and pulled out two smaller bags which contained various things such as toothpaste, a toothbrush, make up and such. She dumped those into the duffel bag too. Next, she turned to her vanity in the bed room. She towed the duffel bag over, and with one sweep of her hand, she sent everything on the counter falling into the bag. Next, she opened a drawer and grabbed everything out of that and stuffed that into the bag. After that, she ran into the tiny kitchen area, pulled her purse out of the kitchen cabinet. She opened the silverware drawer and lifted the cheap plastic tray that had been left in there buy the previous occupants. Under it, was a plain white envelope.

Good ,she thought no one had found her secret stash of money. She tucked that into her purse before returning to the bedroom. Last but not least, she opened the drawer on the nightstand next to her bed and pulled out a small wooden box. She took a moment to open it and gaze at the contents inside.

This was her other secret stash. In this box was her jewelry. She could always pawn it if she needed money, but there were some items she couldn't bear to part with for all the money in the world. From under all the other items crammed into the small box, she pulled out her crest and Digivice. She would not part with those for all the money in the world. Se stared at them for a moment, memories returning to her, when a single knock at the door startled her.

Remembering what Teresa had told her, she called, " Hold on a sec!" She dropped the crest and digivice back into the box, dropped the box into the bag and pulled the zip shut. Knowing she'd probably have to run out the door. She grabbed the car keys from the counter, but left the apartment key there, hoisted the duffel bag and purse onto one shoulder, and answered the door.

Sure enough, Teresa was standing there holding out a folded piece of paper for her.

" Here," Teresa said, " I booked you under your alias for a 10:00 PM flight to Tampa on an airline named Sunshine Air.

Mimi took the unusually heavy paper from her, and was about to say something, when she was interrupted by the screeching of tires. Teresa ran over to the window, instructing Mimi to stay by the door.

" Oh no!" Teresa practically screamed, " you've gotta get out of here right now! Frank's here!"

***

Mimi stood at the door, unable to move. This is crazy she thought, I shouldn't be running from him. He loves me. He really does. I know it. I can just explain to him what happened, and we can work out this misunderstanding. She wanted to believe that, but some part of her nagged her to get help.

" Teresa," said Mimi, " call Marie and ask her to stall him as long as possible. Tell her to do that, but not to put herself in danger. Tell her to stall him as long as it's safe to do so. I really don't know what to believe, but I'll trust that you're telling the truth. Call for help, and I'll run."

" All right," said Teresa, " I'll do that." She ran over to the phone and pressed the star. Marie said that a man was approaching the building, and Teresa gave her Mimi's message. Marie agreed and said that she would be careful.

After Teresa hung up the phone, she turned back to Mimi.

"Now, Lin," she said addressing Mimi, " here's what you're going to do. I left my apartment door open. You've gotta climb out of the window and down the fire escape to my car. Then you're going to head out to the interstate, back towards the hospital, but you'll go through the exit after that. That'll take you to the airport. Now hurry! You don't have much time! Go!"

Mimi, bags, keys, and ticket in hand, turned to run down the hall, but then a thought struck her. " What about you?" she asked.

"Don't worry about me. I'm going to stay behind and distract him. Now go!"

" But how?" she began, but she was interrupted by Teresa who simply said.

"Trust me." She gave Mimi a small smile, then showed her a small magenta object which caused Mimi to smile.

" I trust you…Celeste. Thank you for everything." She smiled again, then turned and ran down the hall, disappearing into shadows of the hallway.

Teresa watched Mimi disappear into her apartment before taking the device she held in her hand, waving it over her head and being enveloped in a pocket of white light. When the light faded, it revealed a woman with long blond hair, blue eyes and angel wings.

***

When Marie had received Teresa's call, she had been pretty sure what she was going to say, so she was ready. When she saw the man enter the building she said, " Sir, can I help you?"

He turned to face her, his face red, " Yeah you can help me!" he yelled. " You can tell me where the hell my fiancée is!"

" And who is your fiancée?" Marie asked, her voice full of fake calmness.

The man moved forward and grabbed Marie's collar. " Don't play dumb with me!" he hissed in her face. " Where is Mimi Tachikawa?!"

"I'm sorry," Marie stuttered, " there is no one by that name in this building. Besides, it was already announced that she died of a heart attack about a week ago."

" Liar!" he screamed as he flung her across the room. She landed against her desk, hitting her head on the surface. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.

***

Mimi opened the window with a panicked push and dispatched the screening in the same way. It was dark, and she couldn't see where the landing was, so she didn't want to throw and lose anything. She couldn't afford to, but she couldn't afford to lose time either.

Come on! She thought. Think Think! What can I use? Is there a flashlight anywhere?

She reached over to the nearby desk to turn on a lamp, but through the locked, bolted and chained apartment door, she heard footsteps stomping up the stairs, angry ones. She knew who it was, so she didn't turn on the light.

Think! Think! She urged herself. That's when she remembered. The papers! They seemed unusually heavy at the time.

She grabbed the papers off the nearby desk and unfolded them. Sure enough, inside was a flash card. Thank you Celeste, she thought as she stuffed the papers into her purse.

In the center of the card, she could make out a large red area that said press. She clamped the card between her teeth, pressing down extremely hard on that one spot. Sure enough, a small bulb at the end of the plastic covered card, lit up, dimly illuminating the landing. Great! She thought as she gently, but quickly placed her duffel bag on the landing, then she placed her purse on top of the bag before jumping silently onto the landing.

***

Celeste stood and waited patiently in the apartment. She knew that he was coming here, but she wasn't worried. She knew exactly what to do. This was the only thing she could do to help Mimi right now. She had to hope that Mimi would get out safely on her own. She grew tired of standing, so she sat on the bed and examined the room. Yes, she could feel everything that went on in the room. She could feel the short-lived feeling of safety that Mimi had felt when she first moved in, she felt the surprise and fear that Mimi had felt when Frank had appeared unexpectedly. She could feel the mental and emotional anguish she had felt as he had berated her. She could feel the physical pain that had come with each blow, and the despair that Mimi had felt. Lastly, she felt the comforting, but frightening darkness of the coma.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the apartment door burst open so hard, that when it slammed into the wall, it broke through the wood.

She took it in stride as she stood and glared defiantly at the man who was responsible for everything, Frank Wirani.

He stalked up angrily to Celeste and with one hand, grabbed her by the collar of her dress. "Where is she?!" he snarled angrily. " I know she's here! Where did she go?!" he demanded angrily.

"Where is who?" Celeste asked coolly as she looked down at the massive hand at her neck.

"Ah! Idiot!" he screamed as he tried to backhand her with his free hand, but to no avail. She simply grabbed his free hand with hers to stop the blow, which she did. Then, she grabbed the hand around her collar, and with amazing strength pulled it off, ripping the fabric of her dress in the process, but that didn't matter. When she had done that, she grabbed his arm, and once again, with inhuman strength, flung him into the wall.

He hit it so hard that it again cracked the wood. He sat there for a couple minutes, dazed. He was amazed at what strength this little sprite had. He tried to move, but in the process, discovered that one of his shoulders had probably been popped out of its socket.

Nonetheless, he tried to get up again, but Celeste replied, " I don't think so." With that, she threw a disk Frisbee-style at him. It glowed, then latched around his waist and expanded, wrapping him in a golden cocoon before turning into a metal chain that restrained every part of his body.

"Well," she said, " Now that that's taken care of, all I have to do is wait." She sat down on the bed, aware that Frank was chained and sitting against the wall, but she sat and stared at the silvery moonlight now mixed with the dim, yellow glow of a dying streetlight, the mixture washing over her body, casting it with a pale golden glow.

***

Having made her way safely down the landing, Mimi now ran through the alleyway to Teresa's car, a cool breeze nipping at her skin. Oh how she wished she could stop and enjoy the cool, fresh breeze, but she didn't know if Frank was still on her trail, so there was no time to stop now. She continued running.

***

Once she had safely made her way through the alley and was now in the parking lot where Teresa's car was parked, she took the keys and unlocked the doors. She threw her duffel bag onto the passenger seat, her purse as well, before climbing in, locking the door, and inserting the key into the ignition. She turned it, but the only reaction from the engine was a splutter telling her that it wasn't going to start.

No! she thought, come on! You've gotta start! Please start! I 've gotta get out of here! Come on! Come on! She tried it again, but the reaction was the same. She tried it three more times, but to no avail. Any moment, she expected to see Frank burst out of the lobby and stalk up to her car, angrily demanding that she get out. God help me if he does, she thought as she continued trying to start the car.

***

When Celeste heard the car engine splutter, she knew that it was time to go, but she knew that if she left, the chains that bound Frank, would dissolve, leaving him free to pursue Mimi. She didn't want to go, but she knew that she had to, or else Mimi would never get out of here. She cast a glance back at Frank who was still struggling against the chains.

"I'll get you for this!" he screamed at her.

Her only response before vanishing was, " You have no heart." With that, she dissolved into light and soared out the apartment window. At the same moment, the chains binding Frank dissolved and he pulled himself to his feet, before dashing down the stairs as fast as he could.

***

From the car, Mimi could hear him scream " I'll get you for this!" Her heart clenched with fear as she frantically tried to get the car started. He's coming! She turned the key again, but the result was the same. She was just about the give up, when she saw a bright light soar out of her apartment window and disappear into the sky. That's when she saw it. A single white feather had fallen from the light and was now drifting on the air currents down towards the ground. It was going to land on top of the car's hood. She watched as it drifted towards the hood and finally, landing on it. With that, the car roared to life. Mimi wasted no time in putting the car into reverse, and speeding out of the parking lot. Once she was on the road, she sped in the direction of the hospital.

***

Approximately 25 minutes later…

Mimi was now on the highway heading towards the airport. She was alone on the road, and that sort of unnerved her, but at the same time, as she could see, Frank was not following her. She was glad, but still unsettled. She decided to put on the radio. She turned the dial to her favorite station. She caught the end of the announcements and they began to play a song. When she heard the words, she was stunned at how closely, they applied to her, but still how different the situation was. Here's what she heard.

And she takes another step

Slowly she opens the door

Check that he is sleeping

Pick up all the broken glass and furniture on the floor

Been up half the night screaming, now it's time to get away

Pack up the kids in the car

Another bruise to try and hide

Another alibi to write

Another ditch in the road

You keep moving

Another stop sign

You keep moving on

And the years go by so fast

Wonder how I ever made it through.

And there's children to think of

Baby's asleep in the backseat

Wonder how they'll ever make it through this living nightmare

But the mind is an amazing thing

Full of candy dreams and new toys and another cheap hotel

Two beds and a coffee machine

But there are groceries to buy and she knows she'll have to go home

Another ditch in the road

You keep moving

Another stop sign

You keep moving on

And the years go by so fast

Wonder how I made it through

Another bruise to try and hide

Another alibi to write

Another lonely highway in the black of night

But there's hope in the darkness

You know you're going to make it

Another ditch in the road

Keep moving

Another stop sign

You keep moving on

And the years go by so fast

A silent fortress built to last

Wonder how I ever made it .

By the time the song was over, Mimi realized that she had tears in her eyes, but she wiped them away with the back of her hand. She wished she didn't know how horrible that kind of experience is, but here she was, experiencing something close to it. Well she thought wryly, If he wants groceries, he's gonna have to buy them himself cause I ain't going back.

Resolute, she continued driving.

***

45 minutes later at the airport…

Mimi sat back in one of the chairs at the airport terminal where she was supposed to catch her flight. She looked out at the stars and the airplane that would be her ticket to freedom. She had already collected her ticket and such. She was ready to leave. She sipped a warm cup of tea that she had bought from a nearby café, as she looked outside.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't notice that someone was speaking to her.

" Excuse me, Miss, but is this seat taken?" a young man asked as he gestured to the seat next to her.

She took a quick look around at the terminal. There were plenty of other empty seats around. Why didn't he just take one of them?

"No," she answered with a smile. " Go ahead, have a seat."

"Thank you," he answered returning the smile. For a while, they sat in silence, Mimi staring outside, occasionally sipping her tea, and the young man busy reading a business magazine. Mimi felt a bit awkward, but she asked, " Um, would you mind if I asked why you didn't take one of the other empty seats?" she asked gesturing to the rows of empty seats.

He put down his magazine. " No, not at all. Well, you see, you looked like you needed a friend, and I was never one to let a person in need of a friend go without one."

Those words caused Mimi to go into a mental daze. When she was younger, someone had said those exact same words to her. Under her breath, she whispered, "Reliability?"

The young man looked shocked at that. "How do you know that?" he whispered back.

"Joe!" Mimi whispered excitedly, " no wonder I thought I recognized that saying. And it's no wonder you don't recognize me! It's me, Mimi, but I'm under the assumed name Lin. It's so nice to see you again Joe!"

Joe paled. " Mimi!" he whispered back. " It's you! I can't believe it! It's really you! I heard that you died a week ago! I can't believe it!" She gave him a quick hug to calm him down.

" That was part of a plan called Code Blue that was designed to help me get out of state safely."

"What're you running from?" he asked.

" Not what, who. My fiancée tried to kill me, well at least that's what everyone says. I don't know whether or not to believe it. I'm sure you heard about it, it happened over four months ago."

Joe shook his head. " No, I'm afraid I didn't, I wasn't in the country at that time. I just flew in from Japan a week ago for a business trip. That's when I'd heard about the death. I remember when I stepped out of the terminal, it was everywhere, people were talking about it, it was on the front page of every newspaper, it was literally everywhere. People really care about you Mimi, so don't you ever go and die now. You hear me?"

"Yeah," she giggled.

"Good. Oh, I forgot to ask. Who is your fiancée? It's not….?"

"No, it's someone that was at the party though, one of the band members."

"Oh." Joe looked up. " Well," he said. " It looks like we're boarding early."

Mimi set her Styrofoam cup on a nearby table, grabbed her purse and her ticket before standing up. " Would you mind accompanying me?" she asked.

"Not at all." He answered. "Where are you sitting?"

She looked at her ticket. " Seat 36 A. You?"

Joe stared at his ticket, a look of incredulity on his face.

"What is it?" she asked.

" I'm sitting in seat 36 B."

The stared at each other, overcome by shock, before bursting into peals of laughter.

"What are the odds of that happening?" she asked, but when he started spouting out numbers like Izzy, she stopped him.

"Well, anyway, we'll discuss that on the plane. Let's get going, and remember, I'm now Lin Hishika, not Mimi."

"All right, Lin." He said as they walked up to the gate. There were three people in front of them, and one was apparently having trouble finding his ticket. He kept digging through his coat pocket searching for it.

Mimi looked around nervously, she couldn't help but have the feeling that he was in the terminal, staring directly at her. Even with Joe to protect her, she still didn't feel safe. Everyone else had their tickets in hand, ready to board, but the man in front still hadn't found his tickets. Murmurs rippled through the line.

Mimi kept looking around, and Joe noticed this, but was too preoccupied with impatience. They stood in line for five minutes, waiting for the guy to find his ticket. The people in the line grew more impatient, and Mimi grew more nervous. She still couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She looked around again, and suddenly, her worst fears were confirmed. She spotted him standing across the hall from the gate. He was searching the crowd, it seemed that he hadn't spotted her yet, but that was too good to be true. It seemed that even having changed her looks, he still recognized her. Once he spotted her, his eyes locked onto her and he began to stalk across the terminal towards her.

She noticed this, and tapped Joe on the shoulder and hissed, "He's here and he's spotted me!"

"Who?" Joe asked.

Mimi resisted the urge to slap him and hissed, " My fiancée!"

They cast nervous glances before Joe grabbed her ticket And her arm and pulled her to the front of the line.

"Come on," Joe said to the attendant. " Please take these now and let us on board. It's an emergency!"

The attendant hesitated for a second before taking the tickets ripping off the boarding passes and handing the rest back to Joe. " Thanks a million," Joe said and he pulled Mimi into the gate.

Mimi had just passed through the gate when the man at the front of the line grabbed her around the waist and yanked her from Joe's grasp. Mimi let out a piercing scream and struggled to free herself from the stranger's grasp, but to no avail. She kept struggling. The people noticed, but some were too scared to react. Luckily, the second man in line wasn't one of them. He took a heavy book that he had been holding and struck the stranger who held Mimi on the back of the neck. Mimi felt his grasp grow limp and she squirmed free. She still had her purse, and she was grateful. The man who had undoubtedly saved her, threw the boarding pass in front of the shocked attendant who acknowledged it with a nod. The hero then grabbed hold of her arm and joined Joe at the terminal. They then headed towards the plane.

"Who are…?" Mimi asked.

"Don't you recognize me, Mimi?" the man asked.

Mimi shook her head. " Is it that obvious who I am?"

" Yeah, but it's not the same in my case. Knowledge."

"Izzy?"

The man shook his head in response. " It is me. Now, where are you sitting?"

"36 A."

I'm sitting in 36 B," Joe said.

"That's curious, I'm sitting in 36 C." Izzy said.

They all shrugged it off as coincidence, and entered the plane.

***

A couple minutes later, Mimi was seated in her window seat with Izzy and Joe beside her. She was grateful that she had met up with her friends, they saved her life probably. She gazed out the window, not sorry that she would probably be seeing the last of this place for a long time to come. She smiled to herself as she thought of the sweet taste of freedom. She felt the plane begin to move, readying itself for take off. She tried to forget about what happened in the terminal, but the passengers were abuzz about it. Luckily, no one noticed her, or asked any questions. As the plane backed away from the terminal, she got one last look at it. With that last look, her contentedness vanished. The last thing she saw, was Frank pressed up against the glass, trying to scream at her. When he got frustrated, he punched the glass, cracking it slightly. She turned her head away and didn't look back again until the plane was flying high above the clouds. She looked back and saw the multicolored lights of the city. She turned back and looked at her friends who were already asleep. She pulled out a pillow from behind her back, put it behind her head and laid her head on it. She pulled a standard airline blanket up to her shoulders, turned out the light, closed the window shade and fell into a fitful sleep.