Every Rose Has It's Thorns

Every Rose Has It's Thorns

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Disclaimer: As usual, Digimon does not belong to me, it belongs to the people at Toei and Bandai and all of them. You know what I mean. Also, the first set of lyrics are from Savage Garden's "The Lover After Me" they belong to Columbia records, not to me. The second set of lyrics belongs to, well is copyrighted by Nintendo. It is from the Pokemon Movie Album. *Dodges flying things* Aah! Hey, well, it fit perfectly, I just felt that either I use that, or I write my own song, and this option seemed the easiest. K? Oh, also, for that PKMN song, I had to improvise a little on the lyrics ( Gomen *_*;;;), cause I couldn't really get them. I tried, I searched the Internet, but I couldn't find them, so I had to get them from off the CD cause the little booklet thing didn't have the lyrics. K? Also, the third set of lyrics are from the Celine Dion CD, Let's Talk About Love. It's the song, "Love Is on the Way." That's not mine either.Well, any mention of Celeste and Natalie, belongs to me. The plot idea also belongs to me. Well, that's all for the disclaimer. Onto the Author's Note!

Author's Note: Well, as promised, Matt will play a major part in this part! ( But I have to bash him a little.) It's almost completely from his P.O.V. except for like a few tiny parts that have to do with Mimi all right? Also, in this part, Matt's in Florida. K? Oh, BTW, this story begins about a day or so after Mimi left the hospital. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest you read part one. Also, the Soldier of Sincerity and the Knight of Fiendship are partly from Sailor Moon, but I still created the idea . K? The time frame is sorta messed up I think, but bear with it. Please. Be forewarned, this gets a bit scary in parts!Well onto the story!

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Part Two: Reunion

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Flashback…

( 3RD person POV)

" Ice Wolf Claw!" yelled Metal Garurumon as he dispatched another Gizamon.

" Wing Blade!" screeched Garudamon as she used her attack to destroy a group of Bakemon that were going to attack Sora.

" Come on you guys!" Tai yelled. " We've gotta work together! Don't worry about the little ones! Go after Metal Seadramon!"

" Right!" yelled Kari. " Angewomon! You heard him!"

The female angel nodded in return and prepared to unleash her attack.

"Celestial Arrow!" she commanded as she shot an energy arrow towards Metal Seadramon.

The large metallic serpent dispatched the attack with a swipe of his tail, and said mockingly, " Is that the best you can do DigiDestined? Your puny attacks are nothing to me! River of Power!" He released a large blast of energy from his nose and it raced towards Angewomon. She found herself unable to move as the attack closed in on her.

"Angewomon! Look out!" yelled Angemon as he attempted to push her clear of the attack, but to no avail. Both angels got hit by the blast which caused Angewomon to devolve to Gatomon and Angemon to devolve to Patamon.

" Gatomon!" screamed Kari and she ran over to her fallen companion.

"Patamon!" screamed T.K. as he did the same.

" I'm sorry Kari," said Gatomon weakly.

Kari gave her friend a small smile. " It's okay. We'll get them next time."

"Yeah," T.K. affirmed. " We'll all get them for hurting our friends!"

***

Tai watched as T.K. and Kari ran over to their fallen friends and try to reassure them. Kari seemed to be all right though, but now Tai was mad. He glanced over at Matt who understood what Tai's expression said because his own face said the same.

I'll get him for hurting my brother's friend! Thought Matt.

And I'll get him for hurting Kari like that! He hurts one of us, he hurts us all! Thought Tai.

"WarGreymon!" he yelled.

"Metal Garurumon!" Matt yelled.

"Right," said the two digimon simultaneously.

"Terra Force!" commanded Wargreymon.

" Ice Wolf Claw!" shouted Metal Garurumon.

Both digimon launched their attacks with the hopes that it would be enough to destroy Metal Seadrdamon, but to no avail. He attacked again, madder then ever.

"River of Power!" he roared.

MegaKabuterimon and Zudomon combined their attacks in the hopes that it would break his attack, but they to were hit and devolved.

Now, the only the two Megas and Garudamon and Lillymon were left.

"You don't stand a chance!" snarled Metal Seadramon. " Gizamon! Take care of these weaklings!"

A large horde of Gizamon appeared from behind Metal Seadramon and prepared to attack the children.

" I don't think so!" shouted Lillymon. " Flower Cannon!" her hands formed a giant orange blossom which opened to reveal a cannon. She shot a sphere of green energy at the Gizamon and annihalated a large quantity of them, but there were still a lot left.

"I'll help!" said Garudamon. " Wing Blade!" she launched her attack again and destroyed the rest.

"All right!" shouted Mimi and Sora simultaneously before becoming serious again.

Sora and Mimi turned to Matt and Tai.

"You two go after him!" said Sora.

"We'll take care of his little friends!" said Mimi.

" You sure?" asked Tai.

"Yes," said Sora, " Now hurry up!"

"Right!" said Tai.

" Am I too late to play?" asked a familiar menacing voice.

Puppetmon jumped down from the concealment of a nearby tree and turned to face the DigiDestined. The small wooden digimon held his hammer in the air, ready to launch his own attack.

The Digidestined gasped. Now there were two Mega digimon to fight against two stronger Mega digimon. They didn't stand a ghost of a chance.

In his heart, Matt knew the grim truth. They didn't stand a chance unless a miracle occurred. Still though, Gennai's words from before the battle rang in his ears. Six will fall and two will be left to stand against some of the strongest of evil. One of the remaining two will also fall inspiring the remaining one to gather their strength and resist 'til the end. But, they must have The Strength of the Fallen!

Matt knew that this was the battle in which that prophecy would be fulfilled. He had this gut feeling, but the thing that bothered him was, what was The Strength of the Fallen, and just who would be the one that would have to use it?

It'll probably be Tai. He's usually the one who comes through when the angels or the rest can't. He probably knows what The Strength of the Fallen is for all I know. And the other person must be Sora. She'd inspire him to use whatever powers he had. That means…

" Matt! Watch out!" he heard Mimi yell.

He snapped out of his thoughts in time to dodge a blast from Metal Seadramon that would have killed him instantaneously. He hit the ground just as the energy raced overhead annihalting a tree behind him.

That was close. Too close. I'd better pay better attention.

He pushed himself to his feet and looked up just in time to see Tai and Sora get strung up by Puppetmon. He looked back to where T.K. and the others and their digimon were and saw that they were in the same predicament that Tai and Sora were in. Everyone, including Augumon, Biyomon, Palmon and Gabumon. Puppetmon had captured everyone except him. Then a thought hit him. Mimi hadn't been captured either. Gennai's words echoed in his mind. Six will fall…

He gasped from surprise. Did that mean that…? Yes, it had to. That's all it could mean! This was not good. He had no powers that he knew of, and even if Mimi had powers, she probably wouldn't know how to use them! This was really not good.

"Palmon! No!" Mimi cried. She turned to Puppetmon. "Let them go now! Or else!" she commanded with an unnatural glow in her eyes.

" Or what weakling?" Puppetmon taunted. " What can you do?"

She didn't respond, but she clutched her crest which had begun to glow fiercely.

Picking up on her lead, he replied. "Puppetmon, let our friends go now. I'm warning you."

His crest too began to glow fiercely.

" You do not stand a chance weaklings," said Metal Seadramon as he moved up from the background. " It's just the two of you, no digimon and you do not have your friends. You cannot win! You will never win!"

Mimi turned to him and said with her eyes. I hope you know what to do. He nodded in return.

Mimi was now completely calm now that she knew what to do. She spoke with an unnatural voice. She taunted, " Didn't anyone teach you, never say never? Sincerity Power!"

Matt followed her lead. " Friendship Transformation!"

Their crests began to glow even brighter and Metal Seadramon and Puppetmon had to look away because of the purity of the light, but the DigiDestined and their Digimon couldn't take their eyes off of the spectacle.

When the light disappated, it left two completely different people standing there. Mimi had been replaced by an older woman with short green hair and emerald green eyes. She was wearing an short, dark green dress that ended mid-thigh and Mimi's crest. On her forehead, she bore the symbol for sincerity.

Matt on the other hand, hadn't changed that much. He was still a blonde, but he was now taller. He wore some type of silver armor and the crest of friendship. He had a long dark blue cape. In his right hand, he carried a large sword and on his forehead, he bore the symbol of friendship. Deep sapphire eyes scanned the battlefield intensely.

You know what you have to do… said a mysterious voice.

Yes, the new Matt replied. I must protect the Princess…

Good, said the voice as it faded away.

He turned to look at the DigiDestined who were gaping in awe at them. He gave them a small smile to let them know that he was on their side. T.K. smiled back and relaxed.

He turned back to Puppetmon and Metal Seadramon. " I am the Knight of Friendship!" he said. " Prepare to meet your destruction!"

" And I am the Soldier of Sincerity!" the new Mimi declared. " I will destroy you!"

" So you say!" yelled an irate Puppetmon. " Puppet Pummel!" He shot multiple blasts out of his hammer. They were aimed at Mimi.

She didn't even bother to try to dodge it. She only whispered, " Sincerity." The blasts hit her dead on creating a cloud of dust, effectively blinding everyone for a few seconds.

" No!" shouted Palmon who struggled against her bonds, but to now avail. " Mimi!"

Puppetmon said, " Well, now that was fun, but it wasn't what I'd call a challenge." He turned and set his sights on a very angry Knight. " Maybe he'd be more of a challenge. Puppet…"

Before he could lauch his attack,a ball of green energy came from out of nowhere and crashed into the side of his head, sending the wooden digimon flying into a tree.

" What was that?!" exclaimed Metal Seadramon.

" So, I wasn't much of a challenge huh Puppetmon?" asked a familiar voice.

The dust had cleared, and there, right where she stood before, stood the Soldier.

No one had a chance to respond because Metal Seadramon's tail whipped up from the ground and struck the Soldier sending her flying backwards into a tree.

" Maybe for Puppetmon, but not for me!" shouted Metal Seadramon. " River of Power!" The blast raced towards the unconcious Soldier.

A single phrase repeated in the Knight's mind. One will fall. One will fall. One will fall…

Well, he thought, it's not going to be her! I must protect the Princess!

Before he could stop himself, he found himself standing directly in the path of the blast, using his sowrd to try and deflect most of the blow. His sword was surrounded by a blue aura which crackled with power. " Deflect!" he yelled as the aura expanded and formed a shield. The blast hit the shield and for a good amount of time, the shield held, but it could not hold forever. The shield broke and the blast hit the Knight sending him flying backwards. He hit the ground about 10 feet from where he last stood. For a moment, his persona flickered back to his normal then back to the Knight, then back again, and it continued flickering back and forth, eventually stopping on his normal persona.

The Soldier, who had woken up a short time ago, cried, " No! Matt!"

She pulled herself to her feet and whipped around to face Metal Seadramon causing the tears to fly from her eyes. She stood there and glared defiantly, not exactly sure what to do. She knew that she had to use something that Gennai had called the Strength of the Fallen, but she wasn't sure what that was.

Think! She screamed. What could it be? What?!

You know, Mimi, whispered a voice in her mind.

Is that you, Sora? Queried Mimi.

Yes, said the voice. Mimi you will know.

In fact, whispered another voice that sounded like Tai's, You are using it right now.

I am?

Correct, said Izzy's mind.

Go get 'em Mimi! Said Kari

I believe in you, said T.K.

You can do it, said Joe.

We believe in you. You have the power within! Use it and ours! Take our powers! Said Matt.

Yes, said everyone unanimously.

" All right," she whispered aloud, "here goes!" She held her crest up in the air and beams of light shot out from the various crests and transferred their energy into hers. Again, she was surrounded by a blinding glow, and when this one vanished, the Soldier was no longer standing there, but a woman, the same height as the soldier, with longer green hair and a long, pale green dress. The symbol was gone from her forehead and was now in the center of a silver grown and a pair of angel wings unfolded behind her. They quivered slightly in a breeze.

" Who are you?" asked a stunned Metal Seadramon.

" I am Princess Sincerity!" the new figure announced. Metal Seadramon didn't get any time to react because the Princess turned once and held her hands out in front of her. She then held them up above her head and shouted. " Digital Teleport!" She was enveloped in a radiant green glow. Then, she vanished leaving behind only a few green sparkles which vanished after a second.

Metal Seadramon was dumbstruck, but he recovered and mumbled, "Well, she's gone, but we still have you." He turned to where the DigiDestined were held and was shocked to find that everyone of them had vanished with the Princess.

" No!!!!" he screamed. " Not again! Piedmon is not going to like this!"

***

A short while later…

"Mimi, Mimi, wake up," a soft voice prodded.

" No," Mimi groaned. " Just let me sleep."

" Mimi, wake up," the voice reiterated.

Reluctantly, Mimi opened her eyes and found herself staring into the face of Palmon whose large green eyes were filled with concern.

She bolted upright and looked around. The were no longer at their previous battlefield which had been at a place where the digital forest faded into a lovely beach. She found that they were now near a large deserted city, that she presumed was far from the beach they had just been at. She looked herself over and found that she was now Mimi again.

"What happened?" she asked no one in particular.

" You fulfilled the prophecy," said Izzy who was busy typing away at his laptop.

" I did?" she asked.

" Yes," Joe affirmed.

" That was so cool!" exclaimed T.K. " can you do it again?"

" I really don't know," she began.

" I'm afraid she can't, T.K.," said Matt as he walked over. " Don't you remember what Gennai said?"

" Oh, right, sorry," T.K. said apolegegtically.

Now Mimi was getting worried. " What did Gennai say?" she asked.

" Well," Sora began cautiously, " after you teleported us here, Gennai contacted us and said that the prophecy had been fulfilled by you. Well, he also said that it was a one-time use prophecy, so to speak."

" Huh?" Mimi asked now thoroughly confused.

" You can't do that again," Matt said quickly. " I can't either. That one transformation and the one time using those powers, drained too much Crest Energy, the energy that allowed us to transform. Crest energy is a one time use, and since none of the others have high enough levels of Crest energy, no one can transform. Ever again."

" Oh," she replied.

" I wish Gennai would tell us these types of things sooner!" Tai stated angrily. " I mean, I wish that he'd explain everything plain and simple instead of giving us these stupid riddles! If you ask me, I think he's behind this whole evil digimon thing!"

Everyone stared at him, not believing what he just said.

"Did he just say what I thought he said?" Mimi whispered to Sora.

" I don't know," Sora replied monotonely.

No one spoke after that and a thick suffocating silence hung in the air, but Kari broke it.

" Tai!" Kari exclaimed, " don't say that!"

" Why?" he asked his sister.

" We all know that it's not true!" Kari stated. " He's doing the best he can! Maybe he doesn't even know what the prophecies mean. He could be just as lost and confused as we are! You don't know that he's evil!"

" We don't know that he's not either. And besides, why are you bothering to defend him? You didn't have to do all the things we had to do for him! Are you evil or something?! Who knows? You could be!" Tai retorted crossing his arms defiantly. Kari looked away, not wanting anyone to see the tears in her eyes. How could anyone, especially her own brother, think that? It was true that she'd only been in the digiworld a short time, but she knew she was not evil. Her digimon used to be on the wrong side, but now Gatomon was her digimon and Kari knew that they both had hearts of gold. Why would anyone think that she was evil?

She turned and ran over to Gatomon who was watching the whole scenario. Gatomon tried her best to comfort her human friend while all the while sending death glares at Tai.

" Enough!" Sora exclaimed now thoroughly angry. " Tai! Look what you've done!" She walked over to Kari and Gatomon. "Kari has a good point and you do too, but maybe we shouldn't concentrate on petty things like that. We should concentrate on things like defeating the Dark Masters and saving the digiworld. Maybe then we could deal with this problem!"

" Besides," Mimi began, " we might not know whether he is truly good or evil, but in the past, he has always given us good advice. When things went wrong was when we didn't pay attention to it."

Everyone turned to Mimi, surprised that she was being so…so non-ditzy today.

" You know," Izzy stated, " I think that energy did something to her. She doesn't seem like herself."

" Whaddya mean I don't seem like myself you little computer geek pipsqueak?!" she yelled angrily.

" Just what I said," he reiterated.

Mimi fumed, ready to lash out, but Palmon, thankully said, " Mimi, maybe you should get some sleep. I'd think you'd be tired after using all that energy."

She tried to stifle a yawn and said, " Yeah, I'm tired, but not tired enough to sleep. I think I'll go pick some berries or something. Come on Palmon." She and the small plant digimon left the group behind.

Biyomon sighed. Another fight avoided, but they still had the first one to deal with. Tai and Sora were still sending each other death glares. Now, Biyomon was ticked, was this ever going to stop? Well, she thought, it's definitely going to end now!.

" BREAK IT UP!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Everyone turned to her and stared, uncertain exactly what to do, but they eventually broke up and moved to different ends of the small clearing doing various things, working in comfortable silence.

***

A short while later…

" Wow!" exclaimed Mimi, " that was the best meal I've had in a long time! Wow!"

Tai stared at her, a look of incredulity upon his face before turning back to his bowl of thin vegetable soup. He scooped some up in a makeshift spoon before dumping it back into the makeshift wooden bowl. It splattered, making ripples in the thin, watered down liquid. He stared at his miscolored reflection in the pale orange soup as the ripples hit it causing it to waver.

He was so mad at himself. How could he have ever have said what he did?! What came over him? Truthfully, he didn't know, but he had an idea. Jealousy.

When Gennai had given them that prophecy, for some bizarre reason, he thought that he would be the one to save the group. He had always wanted to do something like that. He had been one of the ones who fulfilled the Mega prophecy, so, he thought that he might be the one to fulfill this one. For some reason, he thought that the others weren't worthy of it. He was the leader, he should have the greatest power, but now he knew. He knew that that superiority complex was the exact reason he hadn't been chosen. The purest heart had been picked, but the person also had to be physically stong enough to endure the transformation.

Everyone's crests had a certain amount of energy, but it seemed that certain crests generated more energy than others. His crest had power to make Augumon digivolve to the ultimate level, but he knew, in his heart, he knew that it's powers didn't run any deeper. Of course, there was one other who's crest might have hidden powers…

Kari. Her name rang in his mind as did the awful fact of what he had said today. Kari was a forgiving child. Normally, she didn't think of herself; normally, all she cared about was everyone else. His mind wandered as he remembered something she had said a long time ago. She had almost died once because of him, but that didn't matter to her. All she had cared about was that he was disappointed in her. As for what had happened today, he didn't know if she would forgive him. He knew that she really didn't have to. No one deserved to be treated like that, especially not his own sister.

Thoughts raged around in Tai's head, making it feel as though his head was going to explode. He couldn't stand it anymore. He set his soup bowl down in the dirt, got up and walked away into the forest without saying a word.

***

Everyone saw him get up and they all sat a moment unable to respond, then, Sora and Kari decided to go after him. They and their digimon got up and walked off in the direction in which Tai was headed.

Mimi, Izzy, Joe, Matt, T.K., their digimon and Augumon decided to wait at the campsite, but, eventually, after no one coming back after half an hour, Augumon, Izzy, Joe, Tentomon and Gomamon decided to set out and find the others.

Matt had said that T.K. was not allowed to go with the others, so T.K. sat and talked with Patamon who still sported some bruises from the battle.

Mimi slept against a nearby rock, presumably worn out from the battle considering the incredible amount of energy she had expended.

Meanwhile, Gabumon and Matt sat in silence, staring out into space, not exactly sure if there was anything to be said. Eventually, Gabumon broke the silence by saying, " That was really brave what you did today."

Matt turned his head so that he could see the digimon. "What'd I do?" he asked.

" Well," Gabumon began, " you almost lost your life…"

"Oh that," he said interrupting the digimon. " I was told that I had to do that. There was this…voice in my head that said, 'you have to protect the Princess…' and it left it at that. At first, I wasn't exactly sure what it meant, I thought that maybe, just maybe somewhere along the line, I'd watched too much Star Wars and that was just a recollection or something like that, but when…it happened, I realized what I had to do. Nothing more."

" Oh, okay," said Gabumon before slipping into silence again. They sat mutely for a couple more minutes until they were disturbed by a slight noise. Both looked around for the source, but neither found one. Gabumon surmised that maye the others had returned, but when they looked around, neither saw them, so they settled back into silence. By this time, having waited quite a while for the others, T.K. and Patamon had fallen asleep in front of the fire. Matt, concerned about his little brother kept a watchful eye over him, while trying to catch some shut eye himself, but was unable to because of the unnerving feeling he had that he was being watched.

He scanned the surrounding area for some sign of intelligent life, but his gaze was only met by dirt and trees. Com'n he thought, you're letting your imagination get away with you. You have to keep a clear head! You can't go getting worried with every little bump in the night now. Don't go and cry wolf. You've gotta relax!

Shaking his head as though that might dislodge all unsettling thoughts, he tilted his head back and stared up at the starless sky above him. A night wind swept through the trees above causing them to rustle and making the flames of the fire jump up and lick hungrily at the sky. The wind soared through the treetops causing a shower of leaves to cascade down upon him like snow. Was it just him, or did the leaves seem to be falling in slow motion, as though he were watching a video? No! he thought. You're definitely going senile now! SNAP OUT OF IT!!!!!

Now he was worried. Never before had he been so jumpy or so…so flustered. He brought his hand up to his face and stared at his shaking limb as memories of the battle floated around in his mind, before tilting his head back towards the sky again.

Why? He thought, why did *I* have to be given these powers? Why did I have to be the one who fell? Why?

" It's called destiny," a voice answered.

Flustered that he had voiced his thoughts out loud, he looked around for the source of the speech. In the semi-darkness, he saw a pair of chocolate eyes peering intently at him.

" Mimi?!" he spluttered, " I.. I said that out loud?!"

She nodded at him as she moved nearer to the fire.

" Oh, I didn't mean to imply that…"

" I know," she said as though all his statements had already been spoken. She spoke with some kind of inner knowledge as she stared into the fire, the flames dancing in her eyes.

"What you did today was brave… for you…I mean….that's not what I mean…" he said, not exactly sure what to say.

She gave him a tired smile. " It's okay, I know what you mean."

Now he was worried. This was definitely not the same ditzy airhead Mimi that everyone knew. This seemed to be another side of her personailty, the sincere side that allowed Palmon to digivolve to Lillymon.

For a long time they sat in silence, not talking, not making a sound, and both were just fine with that. Neither wanted to speak, so neither did.

The flames danced and the wind blew gently through the treetops with a slight whistling sound. For a long time, the wind was the only sound in the desolate landscape, but eventually, Mimi spoke.

" So," she began uneasily, " where are all the others."

" Tai walked off and they went after him. I told T.K. to stay here so I stayed with him, and you were just asleep."

" Oh," she said slowly as though making some kind of important inner decision. " Listen," she began again, " there's something that I've been waiting to say and now seems like the best time to say it, especially after what happened today…"

His curiousity was peaked. " What?" he asked.

" Well," she began softly, her voice barely above a whisper, " after what happened today, with the possibility of you dying and all, well," she paused.

" Well what?" he asked.

" Well," she said as she stared more intensely into the fire, " I…I just wanted to say…" she held her breath for a second as though to calm herself before proceeding. She felt more than nervous. This was it though, it was now or never. She had to say it! She had to tell him; there might never be a better time. " I just wanted to tell you…I…I love you," she blurted out unable to contain those three words any longer.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she had actually said that and when she came to terms with reality, she clamped her hands over her mouth and blushed fiercely.

It seemed that he was just as shocked as she was, for he sat there, his mouth open. He seemed unable to speak, unable to react.

For the longest minute in both their lives, they sat in silence, taking that minute to regain their wits and attempt to speak.

Internally, she was screaming at herself for saying that. She couldn't believe it! Oh how she wished she could take back those words, but it was too late. Well, at least T.K. and the digimon hadn't heard, and for that she was grateful. She was confused as to how she was supposed to react, but all her questions were answered when he burst out into profuse laughter.

She was unable to conceal her total surprise and amazement at that. " What's so funny?" she asked angrily.

He kept laughing for a few minutes without answering her question. She opened her mouth to ask again, when he responded.

" What's so funny, is that I suppose that you expect me to say, 'I love you too'. Ha! That's what's so funny! NO! It's not just funnny, it's hilarious!" He burst out into laughter again.

She was now confused and upset and tears were beginning to well in her eyes, but she blinked them away, refusing to let them fall. " But…but what about what you did today? You risked your life to save mine. Didn't you?"

He stopped laughing and turned to face her, his face now serious. " Yes I did, but the only reason I did that, was because I was told to. Immediately after the transformation, I heard a voice tell me that I must protect the princess. Since you were the other person who transformed, I assumed that it was you and I did what the voice said to. After all, who am I to argue with disembodied voices?" he asked nonchalantly. " Anyway, truthfully, I would care less if you died today. I wouldn't have protected you if I wasn't told to. It's as plain as black and white."

The tears welled in her eyes again, but this time, she didn't bother to blink them back this time. She was too shocked to even react. Besides, she truly didn't care what he thought anymore. She had let him into one of the deepest parts of her soul, and he had killed her.

She didn't care anymore. What he thought didn't matter anymore. She let the hot, salty tears flow freely from her eyes. She hoped that he was getting his sick satisfaction from this. She couldn't understand why he didn't just let her down easily, why he had to go and crush her heart like that.

For a long while, she just sat and cried, her tears splattering to the dirt, but eventually, she moved back to her original position and leaned against the rock, slipping into sleep. But, before she fell asleep, she cast him one more hurt glance before closing her eyes and falling into the comfort of sleep.

What she didn't notice, was that after she fell asleep, tears of his own began to fall. He didn't want to do that. He didn't want to hurt her like that, but he saw no other choice. It was either that, or hurt her later. In his heart, he thought that he was doing the right thing. He knew he was no good for her. He didn't want her to find that out the hard way. He felt horrible at breaking her heart like that, but that was the only way he could say it. He could never let her know his true feelings.

He sat, lost in thought, before he heard another rustling in the bushes. This time though, there was a cause other than the wind and his imagination. It turned out that after a few hours, the others had returned, babbling and chattering happily, especially Tai and Kari who seemed to have worked out their problem. No one seemed to notice a lone pink clad figure with diamond tears in her eyes.

Sora though, cast an I-know-what-you-did look towards him, and he cringed at her harsh glare and he said with his eyes, I did what I did for her own good. You know it too.

With that she nodded and turned back to the others, but she turned towards Mimi just long enough to see a single crystal tear fall to the ground.

***

End Flashback….