Every Rose Has Its Thorns

Every Rose Has Its Thorns

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Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Never have and never will. I do own Celeste, Aries and the Elder though, so don't steal them.

Author's note: Okay, for those of you who have been reading this little " series", here's something you should know. In this part, I do a little switachroo with the POV's. I will be switching between the POV's of the different Digidestined, but still, mostly, Mimi and then I'll still keep the third person view. If this is confusing for you, please don't flame me. This is just the easiest way for me to write this part, okay? Sorry for it sucking, especially after me taking so long, but I do have a life! ( and not to mention, awful writer's block!) Good, Also, there is going to be a sequel to this story, but only if you guys want it, ok? So lemme know what you think. All right? Well, I'll let you know in the final part. Now to the story!

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Part Three: Return

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P.O.V- Mimi…

Slowly, but surely, I felt the supressing mental fog, lift from my brain, freeing it somewhat, from the state of sleep that I had been in only moments before. Light crept into my range of vision, even through my closed eyelids. I squinted fussily at the light's intrusion. I wanted it to stay out! Nonetheless, the light continued its relentless advance, chasing away the sleep, jarring me to awakedness. How badly I wanted to return to my beautiful dream, a dream that I could only wish would become life, but sadly, I must awaken to this world again. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to.

Yawning softly, I turned onto my back and stretched slowly, leisurely, almost in a feline way, some say, but, I have no idea what that means since I really truly never had a close affinity for cats, Gatomon being the exception of course.

Still squinting against the bright light, I finally managed to open my eyes, if only a little and yawned again. Looking around, I was quite a bit startled to find that I was not in my apartment back in Florida anymore. No, definitely not. This room was far more luxurious than my apartment, better decorated too, I must say.

My vision alighted on the first of many pictures lining the walls. It was a picture showcasing a beach scene. It started out with palm trees in the foreground and a sapphire blue sky as the background, then a white sandy beach came into the picture and finally, the beach faded into a lovely blue ocean, but that was not all in the picture. Beyond that, there was a forested cliff, overlooking the vast ocean. The waves looked as though they were almost captured in the act of smashing against the base of the cliff, awesome in all their splendor. Needless to say, it was a lovely painting.

The second and third paintings, were of various subject matter, but none of those were as splendid as the first. The first of that set, was a picture of a tall lighthouse set against a clear blue sky. I was an okay painting, I guess, but since I did not like lighthouses all that much, I wasn't really that attached to it.

The third painting was, in my opinion, more beautiful that the second. It was a portrait of a woman holding a rose and weeping, done all in blue paints. I liked it, but the first one still outweighed it.

Then, there was the last painting, the one of the angels. It was a lovely painting, but something about it bothered me immensely. I don't know, maybe it was just because it reminded me of the two digital angels, Angemon and Angewomon. That alone was enough to dredge up memories of the digital past. I shuddered as I thought of all those close calls that we had and how we had managed to get out of them. The only way that we had been able to survive and win, was for us to band together and fight as a team. Sure, we had won some battles in what you might call an individualistic way, but even then, our friends were still there, supporting us as always. Even when we were separated, everyone was there for everyone else, if only in spirit. That meant that the digidestined, we, were a team that could never be broken apart, even by death. Even in the darkest of times, we would always be together. Our fates were one, a single thread, albeit, maybe a bit frayed in places, but still one whole thread, each member combining themselves with the others the make up their true destiny, as do individual strands make up a thread, but only when they work together.

That thought, that we, the digidestined were one for always, was enough to conquer my fears and bring peace to my amibivalent emotions that ran rampant inside my heart, torturing me day and night, never giving me rest, until now. Deep inside, I knew that no matter what happened, it was meant to be. The digidestined would be together forever, even in death, no matter what happened, we would always be one, and that, was the most comforting thought, of all.

***

As I continued looking around, remembering thoughts long buried, my eyes fell upon the sleeping form beside me. As they did, feelings, true feelings, long forgotten, welled inside my heart, warming every fiber of my inner being. It had been too long a time, since I had last felt true love. What I had felt for Frank was a deep running friendship, something that I guess could have been easily mistaken for love. I guess that that very misconception, was what had nearly cost me my life. I would never forget what had happened then.

Because of that very fact, that deep friendship could easily be mistaken for love, I was extremely worried, at first, that that might be what was happening here, but now, now that the feeling of true love was revived in my heart I worried no longer. This was what was meant for me. This was what was meant for us both. This is what is meant for us all.

***

As the sun slowly but surely ascended in the sky, I decided that it was time to get up. I had lain here too long already. If we were going to visit Tai and Sora today, then we had both better get up.

Reluctantly, I pushed myself into a sitting position and stretched again. I almost laid back down again, but when I realized that I was only going to fall asleep again, I got up and out of the bed.

Now that I was out of the bed, I had yet to decide what I was going to do, but my mind settled on taking a shower. Since I would take forever in the shower, I decided that I had better get in there early. With that, I headed off into the shower.

***

Matt's P.O.V.

The thing that woke me up, was the sun. It penetrated my sleepy haze, cleared all the fog from my mind and dragged me from my dreams, back into reality. When I actually awoke, it wasn't all that late. In fact, it was just about sunrise. I could just image what it looked like, the sun, bursting through the clouds in all its glory and splendor, gracing the world with its bright gaze. Beautiful? Yes it was, but not right now. Right now, I wanted to sleep, to return to my beautiful dreams, but my pleas fell on deaf ears and I felt myself slowly awakening. I didn't want to leave my dreams, no, not at all. There, I could control everything that happened and life would be wonderful, for me. Nonetheless, I opened my eyes and slowly looked around. The world, my world, was perfect there. The sun was now shining in thin shafts through the window and the rays were warm upon my skin. Comforting, but annoying. So, in order to avoid the sun's rays, I pulled the comforter over my head and turned onto my side. In doing so, my sleepy, blurry gaze lighted on the sleeping girl, no, woman beside me. Almost immediately, I was reminded of everything we had been through together, all the heartbreaks and tragedies, losing friends, leaving our homeland, then returning, but those thoughts had little relevancy to me. All that mattered in my mind, was that we were here now, together We had survived all that had come to pass, and to me, that meant that we would survive everything that was to come. There was no way we couldn't.

***

I took another quick look over a few minutes later and came to the conclusion that she was indeed awake. Pretending to be asleep, I managed to follow her gaze from picture to picture. She spent a long time on the first than compared to the time she spent on the other three. I don't know why, but when she got to the last picture, the one of the angels, she just…something seemed to click. She had looked so frightened before when she looked up at the picture, and it took me a moment to realize why. She was reliving some of her memories of the digital past, and there were some things that none of us would wish to remember, but, when that something clicked, she looked as though she had been told her future and was okay with it. No one will ever know, how deeply that comforts me.

Those pictures were nice all right, and when I say that, I mean it, but those did not catch my eye so much as the third one did, the one of the woman and the rose. I don't know what about it caught my eye, I mean, it wasn't as majestic as the picture of the beach, and it wasn't as delicately beautiful as the last, but I felt that I was somehow drawn to it. As I mentioned before, I'm not really sure what drew me to it, but I knew only that I was.

As I looked at it, I got the distinct feeling, that there was more to this painting than it seemed. It had an almost… mystical air about it, and I felt as though it was trying to convey an extremely important message to me, but I couldn't understand what it was.

Somehow, that brought the words of that woman, Aries, to mind. She had said something about not trusting everyone, but at the same time not distrusting everyone. Last night and the night before I had pondered over their meaning and had come up with nothing except the obvious. I guess that only time would tell their true meaning.

In my mind, I derailed that train of thought started a new one. As I looked back over at her, I thought about many things, but one thought in particular settled on my mind. As I looked over at her and watched her stretch before she climbed out of the bed and walked off, into the shower, I presume, I realized that those beautiful dreams, that perfect life, the world I had wanted was right here. My dreams had come true, and now there was not a chance in hell that I was going to let them go.

P.O.V.- T.K.

( A/N- all right, for those of you who are wondering, yes, T.K.'s in this already. I've put him, Daisuke ( there is NO way that I'm using those English names for the 02 characters except for Ken whose Japanese name I don't know *_*) and Kari in this. They are here for my purposes, I'll explain why they're here in a little bit, and the reasons they're in the hotel are as follows: T.K.'s here because of that music thing that I mentioned in the last part ( he plays clarinet, don't ask me how, but he does), Kari's also here because of the music thing. (I've got her playing flute) and Daisuke's here because of the soccer thing. Okay? Good. Now, on with the story!)

" What a day, what an awful day, and it's only 7 A.M. in the morning," I muttered to myself, somehow managing to stifle a yawn. Not only had we all had to perform for a crowd in the park yesterday, but we totally messed up and to top it all off, it was raining like there was no tommorrow!

I sighed as I continued to stuff various items into my large green duffel bag. At least we are returning home to Odaiba today. I thought, and that means, that I can *finally* sit down and relax with out being bothered by anyone.

As I looked around the small room, that I and three of my fellow band members, I was really glad that we could head home today! Suddenly, interrupting my thoughts, there was a soft, familiar knocking at the door.

"Um, could one of you guys get it?" I asked my roomates. Since they all shook their heads, no, I got up and opened the door.

When I opened the door, I found Kari standing there smiling at me. She looked bit tired, and it appeared that she had a slight cold because of the way she sniffled occasionally, but she seemed okay.

" Good morning, T.K.," she said happily.

"Um…hi Kari," I stammered nervously. " What's up?"

" Nothing much," she answered. " I just came to say good morning, that's all." She seemed to pause as though she'd fogotten something.

" What's wrong?" I asked. " Forget something?"

" Yeah," she answered. There was another pause, but then her face lit up and she exclaimed,
" Oh! Yeah!"

" Oh yeah what?"

" You'll never guess who I saw at the hotel!"

" Who?" I asked sarcastically, " the Queen of England?"

"No silly," she teased. " I went down to get some breakfast earlier and I, literally, bumped into Daisuke!"

I inwardly groaned..Why did that hothead Daisuke have to be here? Now she was going to drag me downstairs to talk to my greatest rival. Oh…joy. Why did they have to meet today? Why? Kari and I were going to go and drop in at her brother's place, maybe spend a couple of hours then head back to Odaiba. Then, once we were there, maybe we'd go to see a movie or something. But, now, Daisuke knew that we were here so now, he would hang around us 24/7 and we'd never get to be alone! As I said before, oh, joy.

" Hey, T.K., are you going downstairs to get some breakfast?"

I was going to say something about not being hungry, when my stomach growled loudly in protest. I grimaced but managed to fake laughter and said, " Sure, why not?"

" Great!" she exclaimed as she grabbed onto my wrist and dragged me out of the room. Joy, I thought again. Oh, joy.

***

When we got downstairs to the small dining area, I found that Daisuke had already gotten a table for us, there was a problem though, it only had two chairs. Oh well, I thought, I'll just drag another one from a nearby table.

" So there you are, T.S.," said Daisuke , " What took you and Kari so long? Hmm?"

I gave Kari this, I can't believe he's still the same, look and whispered to her, " I can't believe this. All these years and he still doesn't know my name!"

" I guess some things never change," she muttered back.

We stood there, just staring at the table, ignoring Daisuke's question, when Kari said, " Come on everyone, let's go sit somewhere else, this table's too small for all three of us."

Seeing, that since we weren't going to sit down, Daisuke followed me as I followed Kari to another table. We all sat down at this larger table and were going to get some food, but since the line was extremely long at this point in time.

" So, why are you here?" I asked Daisuke.

" Hmm? That's none of your business, T.R. All that matters, is that I am here. Someone's got to keep an eye on you two, and that someone, just so happened to be me." He turned to Kari, " So what are you here for?"

" I'm in the music competition with T.K."

" So," began Daisuke, " what do you play?"
" She plays flute, first flute to be exact, and I play first clarinet." I said.

" So, what?" Daisuke said to me. " What you play doesn't matter."

" It does to me!" Kari inerjected, angry with Daisuke. Was it just me, or did Kari seem a little pale? She looked about ready to faint.

Concerned, I asked, " Kari, are you okay?"

Following my lead, Daisuke asked something similar.

For a long couple of moments, she said nothing, and we were both concerned that she had passed out…we shuddered to think of the "or worse".

" Kari?" Daisuke repeated.

"Something's happened," she said quietly, almost too low for us to hear.

Again, was it just me, or did I happen to see a faint outline of the crest of light on her forehead? I tired to shake it away. Our crests had been destroyed in the final battle against Apocalymon. It couldn't be, but, when I looked back, Daisuke too was staring at her as though he had seen a ghost. In that moment, I knew, what was happening. We had both seen it at least once before, it really depended on how long you had known her, but that didn't matter, as I said before, we both knew what was going on. She was having a premonition, and from the looks of it, it wasn't a good one, but that wasn't what scared us. What scared us, was that her premonitions always came true. Always.

"What do you see, Kari?" asked Daisuke.

" What do you see?" I echoed.

" It…it's not good," she said slowly.

Kari's POV-

" It…it's not good," I said slowly. I saw their jaws drop at that, and T.K. began shaking his head slowly.

" What exactly do you see?" asked Daisuke. " We must know."

As I opened my mental eye again, I had a frightening vision of complete darkness. I shook my head again, and said " I don't know. It's too dark to see."

"You've got to try," said Daisuke.

I felt someone's hand take mine and I heard T.K. say, " Use your light, Kari, you aren't the child of light for nothing."

" I'll try," I said, " but, it's been so long since I used my crest power, I don't know if I can."

" You've got to try," Daisuke said. " We need to know to prevent whatever it is."

" Okay then," I said, " here goes nothing." In my mind, I managed to summon up an image of my crest of light. At first, though, it was dim and gave off little if no light. I've got to try! I must stop doubting myself! I've got to do this! I mentally scolded myself.

Come on! Please, I ask you, Light, please, lend me some of your glow. I need to see what is going on!

Sensing my thoughts, the image of my crest began to glow with a soft pink light. The light, although dim, allowed me to see my surroundings. As it turned out, I was in a long tunnel, with darkness at the other end.

Well, I thought, there's nothing here, I don't see why I'm here. Maybe I should just leave.

I turned around, to try and find my way out of the tunnel, when I heard something coming from behind me. It sounded all too like footsteps. I froze to the spot. Oh great! Someone…or something, is in here with me! I've got to run, but I can't! My legs won't move! It's as if I have taken root to this very spot!

" Don't be afraid," I heard a female voice call.

Slowly, I turned my head partway to see if I could identify the person, at least, I hoped she was a person, who was standing behind me.

I found that she was indeed human, but as for her identity or appearance, I could tell neither, but somehow, I had the unshakable knowledge, that she was indeed a friend.

" Who are you?" I asked, surprised at the strength in my own voice.

The only response from her was a slight giggle, and she held out something in the palm of her hand, but in the almost tangible darkness, broken only by the slight light from my crest, I couldn't tell what it was. Although, it did seem somewhat familiar.

As she stood there, I could discern another figure move in the darkness. This one was a man, I could tell. Also, I knew that he was an enemy because he radiated an aura of hostility that I could sense even from this distance. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. The shadow of the man moved behind that of the woman, but she didn't seem to notice it, she just stood there, completely oblivious to it. I could only watch helplessly as the man's shadow pulled something out of his pocket, a blade presumably, and with it, slashed the woman's throat, causing her form to fall to the ground, dead. I screamed, this time with more success that the last, my scream echoing through the suffocating silence of the tunnel. I then saw the man look up at me, and I was afraid that he was going to come after me, but thankfully, he didn't. He just stood there, staring before dragging the blade across his own throat, killing himself.

I screamed again because, right now, it was the only thing I could possibly do. Here I was, alone in a tunnel with two dead bodies in front of me. I felt rather than saw, the light of my crest die also, leaving me alone, cloaked in darkness.

***

" Kari! Kari! Wake up!" I heard someone scream.

No I thought, just let me sleep. Please, this is so peaceful.

" Kari! Please!" I heard someone else scream.

" Don't leave me!" screamed the first person again, " please!"

Don't leave you? I'm not going anywhere.

"Please wake up!" screamed the first again. " Please! I'll always hang onto hope, please hang on to your light!"

" Just as I'll always hang on to my courage and my friendship," said the second, " please hang on to your beautiful light."

That's when it happened. I felt three strong virtures flow into my heart, strengthening me, making me aware of my surroundings. I was laying, unconcious on the floor of the dining area. At first glance, it seemed that I had simply passed out, but inside I knew that it was much serious. I knew that if I didn't wake up now, I never would again.

My light will shine again! It must!

With a burst of self-will and self-preservation, I managed to drag myself from the recesses of my mind, back to conciousness. Unwillingly, I managed to pry my eyes open, but closed them just as soon against the bright light. I gave my eyes a moment to adjust before even attempting to open them again. When I did however, I found myself staring into a pair of worried blue eyes and another pair of equally worried dark brown ones.

" Kari! You're awake!" Daisuke exclaimed. " What happened?"

I paused for a moment, not sure if I should burden my friends with the horrors of that premonition. " Oh, nothing," I lied, " I just passed out. It must be this cold, or something…" my voice trailed off into nothingness.

They both gave me an, I know you're lying look, but decided to say nothing more about it. As I looked around the room, I noticed that the eyes of everyone in the room were upon me, and that made me feel uncomfortable, in the least. Why are you staring at me??? I wanted to scream. Just leave me alone! Stay away from me! Stay away!

"Kari?"

T.K.'s voice broke into my mental daze and with a start, I realized that I was slipping into another vision, and if this one was anything like the last, I didn't want to have anything to do with it.

" I'm alright, T.K.," I said.

" Are you sure?" Daisuke asked.

" Positive. I'll be fine." They helped me to my feet, but I found that my legs were shaking uncontrollably. They just wouldn't stop, they wouldn't provide me with much support for walking, so I decided to sit at the table instead. It was then, when I sat down, that I realized that , my entire body was shaking. It was as though I was having some sort of seizure, but I knew that I wasn't. It was probably because of the vision.

" You want something to drink?" T.K. asked.

" Um," I paused, " anything would be fine." I decided.

" I'll stay here with, Kari," stated Daisuke.

" Fine," I said. I wasn't really in the mood to hear those two fight.

" Kari?"

" What, Dai?"

" Um, if it's okay," he paused, " you know I've got to ask this, but what did you see in your vision?"

" What vision?" I asked, flustered.

He pounded his fist on the table, " Please," he pleaded in a so unlike Dai way, " don't lie to me. I know…I know that you had a vision. We all do. Please. What was it about?"

" Yes, Kari, you must tell us what it was about," said T.K. as he set a small plastic cup in front of me.

" Thanks for the drink," I said, " but I can't tell you about this. It's…it's too traumatic." I stopped and took a sip from the cup.

They both were silent for a moment, but then T.K. said in a low tone, " Someone's going to die, aren't they? Is that what's going to happen? Is one of us, the Digidestined, going to die?"

I set the cup down with such a force that some of the liquid spilled over the top and onto the table. " I said I didn't want to talk about it!" I shouted. " Please! Don't ask me anymore!"

I couldn't take this anymore, this was too much. I didn't want them to have to experience the sheer terror and helplessness that I had experienced. I knew that, at least, the woman who was killed was one of us, a Digidestined, or at least, someone that was familiar, very familiar, to me. I knew that the object she held out was the key to her identity, but I couldn't see it! I couldn't see it! I didn't want them to know that nigthmarish scenario that had played out in my mind. But, maybe it wasn't about them. Maybe, maybe, it was all about me. Maybe, I didn't want to tell them that I didn't know who it was, maybe, I didn't want to go through that whole ordeal again. Maybe, all this apprehension, was all about my own fear.

Whatever it was, I knew that I couldn't stand this anymore. I stood up from my seat at the table, and took off towards the corridor. I ran towards the elevator and took it up. I didn't care which floor I got out on, I didn't want them to find me, so I selected a floor number randomly. 6, I guess that that would do, so I asked the elevator attendant to take me up to the sixth floor. Just as the doors of the elevator slammed shut, I saw T.K. and Daisuke standing there, yelling for me to wait, that they had something to tell me, but I paid no heed to their cries.

Daisuke's POV-

" Great job, genius," I said as we watched Kari run out of the room and into the corridor. " You made her upset."

" I'm in no mood for your jokes now," he said solemnly, " we've got a bigger problem on our hands."

" What's that?" I asked, confused.

T.K. clenched his fists, frustrated. " You just don't get it do you?!" he burst out. " you just don't understand! I was right."

" So, what?"

T.K. took a few deep breaths and it looked as though he was going through some kind of internal struggle, before he said, " I was right. One of us Digidestined is going to die."

" Who?!" I exclaimed.

" I don't know who!" he said forcefully. He looked out towards the corridor. " Only she would, and I have a feeling, that she's not going to tell us."

" We'd better go after her," I said. " Where do you think she's headed?"

" To the elevators, she'll try to lose us," he said as he started off.

On our way out, we passed a tv that was sitting near the door. As I passed by, something on the screen caught my eye. " Hey T.K.!" I called, " hold it a sec!"

" What?" he asked, irritated.

" Take a look at this," I said as I pointed to the screen. " I saw something…I mean, I think I saw one of the Digidestined's faces on the screen a moment ago.

T.K.'s POV.­-

When Daisuke told me that he had seen one of our faces on the screen, my heart clenched. A news broadcast was on, and what they were covering right now, was a death.

It seemed that Kari's premonition was coming true, but the question was, who was it. Who had died? That question was to be answered in a few seconds.

"…it was such a tragedy, Mitch," said the female reporter. She was standing outside a large hospital in what appeared to be New York. " The way she ended up here was tragic in itself, but what was even more ironic was the way she died…"

Who?! I mentally screamed at the tv. Who are you talking about?!

"…she was making excellent progress and the doctors here figured that she would soon emerge from her four month coma, despite what doctors from other hospitals said. She was off life support and she showed no signs of any serious health problems. That is why everyone was so shocked when model and actress, Mimi Tachikawa died of a cardiac arrest…"

Kari was right! That's all I found myself thinking. She was dead on, literally. One of us, us had died. She was right, but how I wished that she was wrong. I wished that none of us would have to have died, I wished for it from the bottom of my soul, but I knew that now, wishes could do nothing.

" Come on!" said Daisuke, breaking my train of thought, " we've got to find Kari! We've got to tell her what's happened!"

I don't know, but when I heard Daisuke's statement, to me, it seemed almost like a heresy. He was telling me that even though one of my close friends had died that I shouldn't mourn. It took me a few minutes to r ealize that he was right though. Now wasn't the time for mourning, not until we were all together. I doubt that the others had heard yet. It really killed me to be the bearer of bad news, but I…we had to tell them. It was our duty and we couldn't stop to mourn until all of us Digidestined were together.I stood frozen in front the tv for a few seconds more, digesting this new information, before my body actually reacted and I managed to say, " Let's go."

"Right behind you!" called Daisuke solemnly as he followed me.

It took us a about a minute to catch up with Kari since she had a head start, but it helped that we both knew where she was heading. It was I who spotted her. We saw her step into an elevator and we managed to catch up to her in time to hear what floor she was going to, but not to stop her. We ran up to the elevator shouting that we had something to tell her, something important, but the elevator doors slammed shut in both our faces, effectively silencing us.

Kari's POV

When T.K. and Daisuke came running up to the elevator, I already knew what they were going to say. They were going to tell me that my premontion had come true, one of us, the Digidestined had died, but the main question was, who?

As much as I wanted an answer to that terrible question, I also didn't want one. I just wanted to hear that none of us had died. That's all, but I knew that wasn't going to come anytime soon. All of my friends cared too much to lie to me. All of them. There was no escaping the fact, but I thought that I'd try anyway.

As soon as the elevator hit the sixth floor, I didn't wait to dash off and lose myself in the maze of hallways that lay spread out before me. I knew that T.K. and Daisuke would be coming after me soon, so I had to get lost very quickly. I decided that the simplest way would be the best way, so I took the hallway directly in front of me. I made a system of right turns and maybe one of two left ones, until I found myself a nice quiet, seeming hallway where I collapsed to the ground, both physically and mentally exhausted.

I leaned back against the wall and tilted my head upwards, my eyes sliding shut against my wishes. I didn't get any sleep, however. Through the wall, I could hear a couple talking, discussing some important matter, I guess, I was really too tired to bother. Then, a door down the hall opened up and some one, a man, exited the room and headed in my general direction, a look of confusion, but above all, concern covering his face.

He stopped walking a few steps from my position and I sensed something familiar about him as he asked, " Are you okay, miss?"

Matt's POV

"Are you okay, miss" I asked. There were many reasons for my asking that question, for one, you don't normally see someone sitting in the hallway of a luxury hotel, half-asleep. If that was the situation, it was probably some guy who had been thrown out of the room by his female counterpart, but this wasn't the case (obviously). For that reason I was concerned. There was something about her, an aura surrounding her, that drew me inexplicably to her.

Now don't get me wrong here, it's not like I was interested in her or anything, I mean, she looked way younger than I was, and besides, I had already found my true love. There was some feeling though, and it was a feeling I knew well, though I couldn't exactly put my finger on it. There was something strange about her, I knew that. I felt as though I knew her, as though we were friends at some point, but she didn't look like anyone I knew, but I had this strange feeling that I did and that I would feel utterly stupid when I found out.

The sensation tugged at my soul, beckoning me forward, and I would have fought it, except for the fact that I didn't want to. Part of my soul felt…connected to her somehow,and I knew I had to determine that link.

She looked up at me with huge brown eyes and for a moment, I thought that I might have seen a flicker of recognition in them, but when she asked who I was, that all died away.

I was about to make a reply when I heard a clearly audible commotion coming from down the main hallway which ran just parallel to this one. I heard the sounds of loud, graceless footsteps, then I heard two male voices shout, almost in perfect unison, " Kari! Where are you?!"

My eyes widened in shock. Kari? I thought, as in Hikari, the bearer of the Light crest? I shook my head, reminding myself that there could be any number of people who had that name, I mean, I was in Japan. I told myself repeatedly that she could not possibly be the same person I was thinking of, but­---if she was, that would explain that undeniable bond, that connection that I felt.

My heart quickened as I also realized that the two voices I had just heard also seemed vaguely familiar, although I couldn't place them. I knew I knew them, I knew that they belonged somehow in the mosaic that was my existence, but what I didn't know, was how.

I turned back towards the young woman who still sat cross-legged on the floor, with a dull realization that she was somehow the key to understanding all this, and that she knew, she knew what my future was to bring, but from the expression on her face, I wasn't sure that I was going to like it.

She stood up now at the sound of what I presumed was her name and turned, her deep eyes fear-filled, to run, but I put my hand out in front of her, effectively stopping her in her tracks. Her gaze met mine. I could see that she was determined to elude whoever was following her, calling out for her, and that she was throughly ticked at my interference, but I didn't relent. When I didn't, she glared at me again, her eyes shooting daggers, and unleashed a blood-curling scream of fake terror.

I heard a loud commotion coming from down the main hallway as the people who were pursuing her picked up on the scream. At first, I was terrified that the scream was going to attract hordes of attention, but, for some reason, most people ignored it and went about their business, except for the two that were chasing her. In a moment, two young men rounded the corner, both looking as though they had run a mile or two. I felt a strange connection to them as well as well as to the strange woman. I just couldn't pick it out and it was bugging the hell out of me!

Anyway, when the two other men saw the woman, who I presumed they'd been looking for, their faces hardened.

"Get away from her!" yelled the tall, blond one, his expression serious.

My eyes widened in shock, I felt the connection stronger than ever, it surged through me, touching every fiber of my being, searching for some sign of recognition, but I had none, if I had known this person, I could tell that I hadn't seen him in ages. I felt the bond, but was unable to do anything about it. I could see the recognition flash, not only in his eyes, but also, across his entire face. In that moment, a vision came to me. A vision of a burning, yellow sun with a long flowing, equally yellow structure beneath it, that could only be described as as 'cape'. I gasped sharply. Of course! How stupid I must be not to recognize my own brother! Now all the rest fit into place, the young woman was Kari Kamiya, and the other man must be Daisuke! It all fit into place!

Deep in my thoughts, I didn't notice that T.K. was talking to me, apparently, he recognized me as well, but the other two didn't and were staring at us.

T.K. and I stood in silence for a few minutes, just staring, but then he broke the silence by saying, " Oniichan!"

" Long time no see, T.K.!" I replied as I scooped my no longer little brother up in a huge bear-hug as Daisuke and Kari looked on. I know Kari picked up on what was going on, because she relaxed somewhat, but Daisuke still looked confused. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Kari give Daisuke a resounding whack on the head before explaining to him what was going on.

T.K. took a few steps back from me before letting out a long sigh of relief. I opened my mouth to ask him what was going on, but he turned to Kari.

" Kari," he said slowly, " I guess you already know what we were going to tell you, right?"

" That I was right? If that's what you two were going to tell me, then you, unfortunately, are right."

" It's a real shame," Daisuke said quietly.

I shook my head in utter confusion. " What are you talking about?" I asked, finally.

All three of them turned to me as though I had just asked the dumbest question in the world, but then they realized that I did have no clue as to what they were talking about, so, they briefly explained the whole scene that had played out downstairs and what had happened up to this point.

When I heard Kari say that one of the Digidestined had died, at first, I was shocked, but, then I remembered Code Blue and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. In return, I received looks of utter confusion mixed with disgust and anger from the other three.

Daisuke opened his mouth to say something, when he was interrupted by a voice that came from behind me.

" Good morning."

Mimi's POV-

" Good morning," I chirped happily, receiving curious stares from Kari, T.K. and Daisuke, in turn, but I ignored them.

" Good morning, Lin," said Matt, smiling an almost fake looking smile. It took a second for him to realize that Kari, T.K. and Daisuke had absolutely no idea who I was…yet.

They will soon though, I thought. They will soon.

" Who's she?" Daisuke asked,as though reading my thoughts.

"Just a friend," I answered in reply, hoping that they wouldn't question that response.

" Oh," muttered Daisuke under his breath, apparently not satisfied with that answer. Our little group stood in silence, and I received penetrating stares from them all as though they were deciding whether or not I was a friend. They should know. I couldn't help but think.

" What's your name?" T.K. asked finally.

With practiced ease I replied, " Lin."

" Lin what?"

" Lin Hishika."

" Oh, all right." With that ending note, he fell back into silence.

" What's going on here?" I decided to ask.

After a few moments, my question was answered. Matt turned to me, and with as much solemnity as he could manage ( which was, in my opinion about as solemn as me on a sugar rush, but it seemed to fool the others partly, if not completely) said, " One of my close friends just died, no…was murdered by another friend of mine."

When I heard that, I wanted to burst out laughing and I realized why he was laughing when I had entered the hallway, but I managed to keep myself under some measure of control and said, " I'm sorry. It must be awful for you."

" Well, I'm glad you think so," spat Daisuke, " you don't even know what we're going through. Hell! You don't even know who we really are, yet you say that you're sorry. You can't even know what we're really going through! But your friend over there, who knows all of what we've gone and are going through doesn't give a damn!"

" Who says that I don't care!" Matt shot back. " I probably care more than all of you! You all may know her, but she was part of us older Digidestined, not your group! She belonged to a different time and it wasn't yours!"

" Hey! Kari and I were part of that group as well! Brother, how could you even say that we don't care?!" shouted T.K. angrily. "Besides!" he continued, " I know for a fact that you don't care! You said so yourself all those years ago!"

" What are you talking about?! Matt yelled back, equally angry.

" I…I was there!" T.K. yelled gesturing emphatically towards himself with his finger, " I was there when you yourself said that you would have cared less if she had died!"

Matt froze, unable to speak. Truthfully, even I was surprised that T.K. still remembered it. The only reason I even remembered, was because of how deeply that statement had hurt me, but now that it was forgiven, I had almost forgotten. After a few minutes, Daisuke shattered the silence and continued arguing.

" It doesn't matter which group she belonged to! She is…was still a Digidestined! She was one of us!" exclaimed Daisuke.

I couldn't stand this. No more, no more fighting! I wouldn't let friends…my friends treat each other in this way. I couldn't. I couldn't bear it anymore.

My temper skyrocketed obliterating any control I had left. My small hands clenched into fists and I exploded with a cry of," Everyone shut up now!"

My fist shot out and caught a very surprised Matt in the jaw. " Shut up everyone!" I screamed again, hot angry tears flying from my eyes. " You'll never understand what I've had to go through! What you've gone through is nothing compared to what I've gone through!" My hand flew up to my neck and tore my crest away, the string cutting with a refreshing, yet sickening snap. I cast it away from me, feeling as though I was casting away everyone I've ever known. I flung it into the midst of the startled group and without another thought, turned and bolted down the hallway, ran into the room and bolted the door behind me.

3rd Person POV-

Everyone in the thoroughly surprised group could do nothing except stand and gape in absolute shock for the first few moments. Kari was the first to recover. Bending down slowly and uncertainly, she gently picked up the small brownish object, cupping it protectively in her shaking hands. It took her about a moment to recognize it, but when she did, her hazel eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my," she breathed. " I don't believe it!"

" What is it?" asked Daisuke and T.K. simulataneously.

Kari said nothing as she handed it to T.K. Daisuke peered at it over his shoulder. Kari shot Matt a record breaking evil glare, but he simply stood to the side, brooding and rubbing his sore jaw. Kari moved over to the others' side and watched as their faces widened in complete shock.

T.K. looked up. " You mean that…that?"

Matt nodded without speaking, affirming his brother's conclusions.

" But how?" asked Daisuke. " I thought she was…"

" It's a long story," Matt said, cutting Daisuke off. " I'll explain later."

" Anyway," said Kari, " we know that Lin is actually Mimi, but we need to find her. We need to find answers! Did anyone see where she went?"

" I think she went into that room there," said T.K.

" Yeah," chorused Daisuke.

" Well then," said Kari, " what're we waiting for?"

" Nothing. Let's go," said Daisuke.

They took the few steps down the hall to the door that T.K. had indicated and which he now banged on with his fist. " Hey! Open up will you?"

Matt said nothing, but placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and gently pushed him to the side. Pulling a key from his pocket, he silently inserted it into the lock, and unlocked the door. He stepped inside without so much as a noise leaving the others to follow. They all stepped into the luxurious suite. T.K. stopped walking to look about causing Kari and Daisuke, who also weren't paying attention, to bump into him.

" You were staying here with her the whole time?" queried T.K. raising an eyebrow. When his brother didn't answer, T.K. didn't bother to question the matter any further.

They found her curled up on the large bed, sobbing uncontrollably. T.K. Kari and Daisuke were all moved to sympathy, but Matt, who was still rubbing his sore jaw, was a different story.

" Who the hell do you think you are?!" he roared.

Her head shot up and her eyes, which were red from crying for so long, widened in horror. He stalked up to the bed and harshly grabbed her by the arm, dragging her off the bed. He threw her against the wall causing her to cry out in pain.

Mimi's POV-

Pain soared through my body as it made contact with the hard surface of the wall and my head was spinning. Who was I? Where was I? Why was the person mad at me?

" What gives you the right to hit me! You have no right at all!"

You have no right to treat me like this either! I wanted to scream. There were so many other things that I wanted to say, but the problem was, that I couldn't bring myself to say them.

" You're worthless!"

I am not worthless! I am a human being!

He raised his hand to strike me and terrifying images flashed through my head. Several times, I thought that it was Frank standing before me. My defenses crumbled as I began to cry. I felt as though I could do nothing else. I wasn't strong enough to fight back. Frank was right…about everything. I was weak, I was hopeless, I was worthless… I sank to my knees

I closed my eyes and waited for the pain of the blow to come, but when it didn't, I cracked open my eyes. I found that T.K., unable to bear this sight, had stepped forward and grabbed his brother's hand before it could even descend. Daisuke now knelt by my side with his hand on my shoulder, surveying the scene. Kari stood at a distance, looking as though she was about to faint.

Kari's POV-

It was happening again. The hideous premonition that had overwhelmed me downstairs came flooding back into my mind. I remembered it all now because I saw it playing out before me. Now I understood why the object the woman held out was so familiar! I held it in my hands this very moment! It was a crest and not just any crest, it was the crest of Sincerity.

But, still, something about this scene wasn't right, it didn't feel right. Of course, there wasn't anything right about the premonition in itself, but this wasn't what it was trying to warn us about. No, it foretold something far more hideous than this, something far more terrifying. I vainly wished that we would never have to find out what that something was, but I knew that regardless of the premonition, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I felt my knees buckle and a wave of dizziness engulfed me. For a moment, I thought I was going to pass out again, but I didn't. Those symptoms meant something more ghastly. The image of the tunnel sprang up in my mind again as did the horrible chain of events that occurred there. This time though, I knew what was going to happen, but was still helpless to interfere. I cried out. I don't know whether I thought I did or if I actually did, but it seemed that my cries had been heard for there was a new person introduced. This one walked up to me, and clasped my hands in his assuring me that everything would be all right and encouraging me to open my eyes.

I opened my eyes.

Daisuke's POV-

If there was anything I hated being, it was a spectator, but right now, that was all I could be. When Kari, T.K. and I saw what was transpiring, I promised Kari that I would protect Mimi and I wasn't about to go back on my word now. I almost did though. Kari, who stood a good distance away from where everything was happened, now looked as though she was about to faint again. Something in her expresion unnerved me and I felt my stomach turn sickeningly. It reminded me of how she looked as she was having that premonition and my only guess was that she was having another one, or that the same one was repeating.

I felt so useless! Was there nothing that I could do to help anyone? Yes. There was.

" T.K.," I siad.

" What?" was his reply.

" Kari doesn't look too well. Go to her. I'll take care of this."

He looked at me, eyes wide with shock. " Are you sure? I'd probably better be able to take caer of this. Why don't you go?"

I smirked at him. " Are you calling me weak? Get going before I do change my mind."

" All right then," said T.K. with a nod. " I appreciate it."

" No problem," I returned as I stood between the two warring Digidestined, T.K. walked off.

T.K.'s POV-

What's wrong with everyone today? I asked myself. Everyone's acting so strangely. Mimi's sufffering from a badly broken spirit, Kari's having one premonition after another, Matt is on one short fuse today and Daisuke's being noble. I'm surprised that I haven't changed to day!

Maybe it was just the day. I walked over to a very pale and obviously ailing Kari, knelt down beside her.

It was more than obvious that she was having a premonition and from the looks of it, it was the same one from earlier. It appeared, though, that she was handling it better than before. Probably because she knew what was going to happen this time. From the look on her face however, it still was awful.

I knelt beside her and took her shaking hands in my own ( A/N: All together now "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!), wanting nothing more than to eradicate all of her fears.

" Kari," I said, " it's me, T.K.. Please. If you ever do anything for me, please do this. Please, please, open your eyes."

" I can't," she mumbled. " Even if I did, it would still be too dark to see. There's no point."

" Now you don't know that for sure, do you?"

She paused. " Well, no, I don't, but…"

" Then it couldn't hurt to try, now could it?"

" Well, I guess not."

She drew a deep breath, before cracking her eyes open slowly. Soon I found myself staring into those hazel orbs that enchanted me so much. Right now, nothing ever looked so beautiful to me. I was so drawn into those spheres that I almost forgot about the more immediate problem, my brother and his so-called girlfriend.

Matt's POV-

What the hell was I thinking?! How could I possibly ever do this to anyone, let alone someone I claimed I loved! The problem was, I wasn't thinking. My mind was so overcome with rage, that all thought patterns were completely erased, but still, that's absolutely no excuse for what I did. No excuse whatsoever.

" What have I done?" The words escaped my lips before they even registered in my mind. My entire body went numb and I fell to my knees, my legs unable to support me.

" I'm sorry," I whispered, hot bitter tears stinging my eyes. " I'm sorry," I repeated, sobbing.

" Well, well," said Daisuke, bitterly, " you should be after what you did."

I turned away from his gaze, unable to meet it.

" In case you didn't know," Daisuke continued, " I do know about what happened with her fiancee, all of us do and we're not going to let history repeat itself! We'll do whatever it takes to protect her from her enemies and if you become one of them, then so be it!"

( A/N: There is a reason why Daisuke is acting this way, but it has no relation to the story…yet.")

I continued looking toward the window, not wanting to turn back to meet Mimi's gaze. I had hurt her so much. Once before and now again. Who knows what the future would bring.

My mind wandered back to my train of thought from earlier this morning. I had foolishly thought that we had to survive all of the future events. I had thought that we were immune to Fate. I had underestimated Life itself and now, I was paying for my foolish mistakes.

My heart sank. Now I would probably lose the only person I could possibly ever love. It would be beyond miracles if she would accept me back now. It would have to be.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, I turned back to them. " I'm sorry," I repeated, my voice now nothing more than a hoarse rasp, sounded harsh and unfamiliar to me. I looked up, meeting her gaze uneasily. I continued speaking. " I know that doesn't atone at all for what I did and what I might have done, and I know it sounds cliched and all, but it's the only thing I can think of to say." I looked away again. " It's funny," I said to myself, " there are over 1,000 ways to say 'I'm sorry', but there's nothing to make it any easier to say."

I couldn't help remembering back when she had told me that she had started dating Frank because of how he reminded her of me, I had thought that I couldn't be anything like him. It was only now that I realized how truly like him I was. We all have a cruel streak in us, in some people it's just more prominent than others. Perhaps, everything was triggered by pride. I now, just realized the true truth about pride, but perhaps it is one of those things that you just know all along. Without my pride, I would not be where I am now, and that is in more ways than one. Pride is a vine that bears two types of fruit, life and death. I have seen and met both, although I am better acquianted with life, than with death. Now, I can't help but feel that I am facing the ultimate death.

As I looked back at her, there was a tense silence between us, but after a moment, she gave a deep sigh and said softly, " I believe him."

My heart soared, but I knew that I wasn't in the clear just yet. She had only said that she believed me, she hadn't said anything about forgiving me yet, and that would probably be the hardest thing in the world for her to do.

She paused uncertainly, as though she was trying to make up her mind. " I believe him. I don't think he would lie again. Not after what happened last time." She leaned over and took my hand. She lowered her voice so that only I and any one within a two inch radius could hear her. She spoke slowly and cautiously, as though one more word would cause her to break out in tears, " What I said last night…I still mean. I can only hope that you love me as much as I do you."

I looked down at her hand in mine, looked back up and smiled sadly at her. " I don't love you as much as you love me." Her expression spiraled downwards, but I quickly said, " I know that it might be hard for you to believe this now, but I love you more."

She smiled again. "If such a thing is possible." I smiled back, this time, my expression was one of joy, as we embraced. I took her head in my hands and gazed into her eyes. I noticed unshead tears welling in her eyes. As they slipped out, I wiped them away with my thumb. In that moment, time seemed to stand still. I vaguely recalled once being told something about time standing still when you're truly madly deeply in love. Well, even if I hadn't known anything about that, what else could this be? All other thoughts were lost as we kissed.

I knew that all of the others except for my brother were staring in shock, but I didn't care, and I knew that she didn't either. All that mattered to me right now, was that I had her back. I now had my soul back and I could live again. We were back together, and hopefully, that will be how we stay. Forever and all eternity.

3RD PERSON P.O.V-

"So," said T.K., " you're going to visit Tai and Sora today?"

Mimi nodded and looked up at him from trying to stuff her large duffel bag into the trunk of the rental car. " Yeah, we figured that if I had to leave the U.S. that the safest place for me to go, would probably here. And, we also reasoned, that if I had to return to Japan, the best people to go to, would be them." She looked back down at the bag as she continued speaking, " I don't plant to mention anything to them about my problem though." Her hands clenched into fists, scrunching up the material of the bag. "I won't say a thing. I don't want them to worry about me." She looked back up yet again, " You know how Sora mothers us all. I don't want to cause any of you any more pain than I already have. The absolute last thing that I want to do is cause anybody any more pain than I already have!"

She looked back down at the bag as though she was about to burst into tears.

"Don't worry," he said, slowly turning back to look towards the building, " Everything will work out. You'll see. In the end, everything will be fine."

She turned back towards him and gave a slow, tired smile. " I can only hope you're right. I can only hope."

***

( A/N: Okay, I'm writing from this note on in short condensed form just so I can finish this. I'll try to make everything as conscise as possible without taking away from the story. Hey I know you're all probably mad at me for taking so long, but things on this end got a little tight and I couldn't get to the computer, then, there's the holidays, my birthday J and my Midterms, which I thought were hard. And of course, there were those days that I just didn't feel like writing. Just so you know, after I completely finish Rose, there is going to be a sequel, but I think that I'm either going to write the whole thing first then put it out, or write most of it first, put that out and finish the rest as I go along to avoid things like this in the future. K?)

***

Everyone from the hotel is now at the house…

The door bell rang with a low, hollow sounding chime as though to futher emphasize the state of the occupants. It took several tries before there were any sounds of movement coming from inside the house. There were footsteps coming down the hall and sounds of a deadbolt being undone. When the door opened, it wasn't exactly the image that they had expected. Instead of seeing a cheerful young woman in her early twenties, they came face to face with a morose looking woman in her late sixties dressed in a black dress and carrying a rather large feather duster.

"Who are you bunch?" she asked in a hard, gravelly voice.

They couldn't restrain themselves. Everyone in the group except Mimi, who had agreeed to conceal her identity until it was evident that there were no spies around, gasped in shock. It wasn't that they suspected Tai and Sora, but Matt worried that their friends might be unknowing…or perhaps unwilling accomplices.

" Sora???????????" they shouted, clearly shocked at the appearance of this old hag.

For a moment, the woman's eyes widened, whether in shock or regonition, no one could tell, but her expression soon resumed its previous appearance. She stuck the feather duster into a large pocket in her skirt before leaning across the doorway.

" I presume you're here to see the missus and her husband, then," she said, not moving aside from the doorway. Perhaps it was for the best that she didn't hear the large sigh of relief coming from the group in front of her. " Well, let me tell you something," she said waving a large finger at them, " they ain't in the condition to be seeing anybody right now. You best leave them alone."

"What happened?" Kari asked, concerned for brother and her sister-in-law. " Are they sick or something? Did they catch that new bug that's been going around?"

The woman folded two large arms across her chest and said quietly, " Well, it's not really for me to say, but…" she hesistated, " I don't really know if I should tell you this, but you look like a nice bunch. The missus was watching the television or something, and I was going about my business as usual. Then, the next thing I know, the missus tells me to go get her husband. She looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown or something of the like. I did what she asked and fetched her husband. He closed the door behind him. I heard only little bits and pieces after that, but, from the way the missus was crying, I assume something awful musta happened." She stood up straight, but still remained in the doorway. " The missus is such a sweet woman. I was a friend of her mother's and when I ran into some hard luck, she offered to let me stay with her. I hate to see a good person like her in such pain. I wish there was something I could do to help, but I doubt that I can help if I know nuthin about what's going on."

Up till that point, the whole group had listened in silence, but now, the woman had finished speaking, so Matt asked her, " When was this? Was it today?"

The woman nodded.

"What time?"

" About 9:00, and they've been locked up in there ever since."

T.K. turned to Daisuke. " Daisuke, what time did we see that report?"

He seemed to consider the question. " Well, I woke up at 8:45 and I decided right away to go down for breakfast, but then I ran into Kari, we spoke briefly, then she went to get you and came back about 6 minutes later. Then she had the vision and ran off. It was just about nine when the broadcast was airing, so, yeah, I'd have to say about nine."

"So," said T.K. turned away, then to his brother. " It's what I thought."

" Right," said Matt, nodding slightly. He turned to the woman. " Listen," he said, " we're friends, close friends of Tai ad Sora. Could you tell them this, ' Hope is not lost. Friendship is eternal. There is always Light in the darkness. The Gate may not be open, and Sincerity is not lost yet we will go back through the Gate if it becomes necessary. We would need Courage and Love to survive the journey'."

The woman looked puzzled, but nodded and turned back into the house, closing the door behind her.

When the sound of her footsteps had vanished into the house, Matt turned to his brother. "T.K.," he said, "did you call Izzy and the others before we got here?"

" Yeah," he said as he nodded, " they should be getting here any minute now."

As if to further verfy T.K.'s statement, a car pulled up infront of the house and another group of people stepped out of it. First, Ken steped out of the car, followed by Miyako, then Iori, then Izzy and finally Joe. When Izzy stepped out of the car and spotted Mimi , he was about to greet her by her name, but Daisuke hissed at him to keep quiet. Joe took a hint and didn't say a word. Matt pulled them aside and explained to them that Mimi was going to remain known as Lin until they knew the coast was clear, and to say nothing to Tai or Sora that she might still be alive. They agreed. By this time, there were noises at the door again, but this time, instead of the old woman they had dealt with before, the door was opened by a very disconsolate looking Sora and an equally woebegone Tai.

" Tai! Sora!" screamed Kari, distressed at the sight of her brother in such a state. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Sora," said Kari as she turned to her sister in-law, " I guess you've heard."

Sora nodded mutely, before saying "I guess you have too."

Kari and everyone else nodded solemnly before saying, " We just heard this morning."

It was then that Sora noticed Lin at the back of the group. There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes, but that quickly died away. "Who's that?" she asked pointing at Lin, " does she know about what's going on with the Gate?"

" I'm a Digidestined from America," she answered in a quiet voice, " one of Michael's friends. I met up with Kari and the others a while ago." She paused. " Listen, I didn't know your friend personally, but, she was a Digidestined, so I share in your pain."

For a moment, Sora seemed to consider her statement, and when she didn't speak right away, Lin thought that she might not believe her, but when Sora nodded slowly, she let out a soft sigh. For a long while, the group simply stood in silence, but then Tai invited everyone in and offered them a seat, but as Lin passed him, she turned to thank him, but stopped. His glare was harsh and cold, not like the person she had known all those years ago. For a moment, she wondered if he suspected who she was, but decided to not react, but rather to let it go and she passed on into the house.

***

Later…

Sora buried her tear staind face in her hands for a moment before continuing. " When I heard, I…I just couldn't believe what was going on. My entire mind shut down. I mean…she was like a sister to me. I…I…" Her sentence trailed off into a bout of sobbing. Tai put an arm around his wife, more for his security than hers.

" And when she told me," he continued, " I couldn't believe it either. Even though we never talked much, she was still a friend because she was still one of us. I just can't believe it! After everything we went through, all those battles we fought! Why did she have to die like that?! She deserved to live a long full life!"

" I know," said Sora under her breath. No one said anything for a couple of minutes, but Sora shot as much of a glare as she could muster in Matt's general direction, but he didn't seem to notice.

After a long while, Ken spoke, filling in the silence. " Things like this shouldn't happen to people like her. I remember, right after you defeated me as the Kaiser, when Golemon was going to destroy the dam, she was the only person besides Daisuke who trusted me enough to call me to help."

( Author's Note: I really envy Miyako in the following scene cause I'm a huge Ken fan. So, if the next scene comes out awful, you'll know why)

" Now Ken dear," began Miyako gently, tears beginning to fall from her eyes " it's not that we didn't trust you then, it's just that…that…?"

" That what?" he asked, eyes growing misty.

" Nothing…"

" What?"

" Nothing!"

At first he said nothing but then he said, " I'm hurt. My own girlfriend won't tell me anything."

She started blushing. Even though they had been going out for about two months, she still turned red when he called her his girlfriend.

" Ahem," interrupted Daisuke by clearing his throat rather loudly, " If you two lovebirds will break it up, we have more important things to deal with…like what to do about Frank."

The name drew Tai's attention. " You mean Frank Wirani?" Daisuke nodded. " What's he got to do with all this?"

" You mean, you don't know?" said Matt, speaking for the first time in ages.

"No," stated Tai simply, turning towards his friend. " What?"

Matt gave a long, tired sigh, then said nothing for a few moments.

Lin's ( well, actually Mimi, but anyways,…) POV-

Matt gave a long sigh then said nothing for a few moments. This was it. I had a gut feeling that the truth would more than likely come out with this statement. All we needed was their reaction to the fact and we would know what side they were on.

" Frank," he hissed clenching his fists in anger, " was Mimi's financeé."

" I don't mean to sound disrespectful," said Iori, speaking for the first time in ages, " but, what does that mean in regards to her…demise."

Daisuke shot him a look, but explained anyway. " I know they said how she died, but I know they didn't say how she wound up in the hospital."

" I think I have an idea," said Tai quietly.

Sora looked up at him. " How?" she asked.

" I remember something from the party," he said. " Do you all remember when the neighbors were complaining about us making too much noise?" That drew nods from everybody. " Well then, I suppose that you remember that Frank and I went outside to settle the problem." That was also affirmed by the others. Tai steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them, deeply in thought, as he delved into the memory.

"Keep it down over there!" a man shouted angrily.

" Young people these days have no kind of respect!" shouted a grandfather of one of the neighbors.

" I'll show you respect you old geyser!" shouted Frank as he rolled up his sleeves, prepared to fight. He stalked forward and grabbed one of the men by the arm and pushed him to the ground. He then turned around and grabbed another man's shirt collar and was just about ready to punch the living daylights out of him, but Tai put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on, big guy, easy now," cautioned Tai. " We want to do this without fighting. Remember, we don't want to get the law involved."

" Who cares about the law," muttered Frank, " they won't be able to hurt me. I'm not scared of them."

By now, everyone who was gathered outside of the apartment, was staring in utter shock.

" Frank," said Tai in a low voice, " I think you'd better go inside now. I'll handle this."

" That's what happened," said Tai. " I never thought to mention it before, because I figured that he was stressed about moving and all and was just blowing off a little steam. The nieghbors seemed to think so too, because they didn't do anything either, but everyone was wrong. Something didn't sit right with me after that, I guess it was that, deep down, I knew that he was a truly violent person, but I didn't want to falsely accuse him." He gave a deep sigh. " I feel so guilty. I feel as though I was the one who actually killed her. If only I had said something sooner, she might still be alive today!"

" Tai," Matt began, " there was absolutely no way that you could've known that this was going to happen. I, on the other hand, knew that something like this would probably happen."

" What do you mean, Matt?" asked Iori, speaking for the first time in ages."

" Shortly after the party, just before Frank was ready to leave for New York, the guys in the band got together one last time. It was a while before I actually got to talk to him alone, but when I did, I discovered something really disturbing…

" So," Matt began, " how'd you like the party my friends put together?"

" I thought it was great," said Frank absentmindedly as he fiddled with the empty champagne glass.

" Yeah," said Matt, " Things will never be the same again. I mean, the old gang is split up now. It'll be awfully hard to get everyone back together for some time to come." He gave a short laugh. " I sound like the one who's going to be leaving." There was a short pause. " So, Frank, old friend, what'll you miss the most about Japan?"

Frank, lost in thought, fiddled with the glass a bit more before setting it down on the wooden bar. " I don't know exactly what I'll miss the MOST, but I know that there's something that I will miss."

" Oh?" asked Matt, his curiosity peaked. " And what might that be?"

Frank gave a short laugh before replying, " Well, there was this girl at the party yesterday, I think you know her."

" Well ," he joked, " there were plenty of girls at the party and I know every one of them. You'll have to be more specific than that."

" Do you know the girl who was wearing that mauve cocktail dress. You know the one who came in from New York. She has the shoulder length pink hair, big brown eyes and one of the finest bodies I've ever seen, and trust me, I've seen a lot."

" I know who you mean," he said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He wasn't used to hearing any of his friends talked about like this.

" Well," said Frank, " I've had my eye on her ever since she walked in the door yesterday, and I've wanted her ever since. I'd do anything to have her! Anything! There's no way she can resist. All alone, with no friends, yeah, she's gonna be desperate. There's no way she would refuse."

" And what if she did?"

Frank turned towards him and smiled evilly. " Trust me, my friend, she won't. I'll MAKE her love me."

3rd Person P.O.V.-

" From the moment I heard this, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't tell anybody. Why? I don't know. I truly don't know." He looked up and cast a glance in Lin's direction. He saw that she was looking rather sick and upset and he understood why. The way Frank had talked about her was absolutely sickening. When he turned back towards the group, he saw Tai throw a backwards glance in Lin's general direction. Their eyes met and Matt noticed that his eyes had grown cold. He couldn't help thinking that somehow, he suspected Lin.

Matt shook his head again. " To think, one of my friends is a murderer."

" He wasn't who he appeared to be," Tai said.

" Yeah, I just wish I could've known sooner. I can't help feeling that I could've prevented this."

At this, Tai stood up and began walking around his living room. He walked over to his fireplace mantlepiece and picked up the photo that had been taken shortly after Apocalymon's defeat. He held it up and scrutinized it. Turning towards Lin, he held up the picture as though to compare them. He placed it back before addressing Lin.

" Miss," he said to her, " Lin, I believe, tell us what you think about all this."

" Wh.what do you mean?" she asked, eyes wide.

" What I mean," he began, anger rising in his voice, " is that, one of our friends was murdered, a Digidestined at that, one whom you claim you empathize with, and you're sitting here, quiet calmly as though nothing is happening. Now, I'm going to ask you once, who are you?"

She gasped loudly. " I don't know what you mean!"

" Dammit!" he shouted, " don't try to fool me with that kind of crap! I know you're not who you claim to be! Whether you're a friend or not, I don't know, but I know that you're not some kind of innocent bystander! Now, I'll ask again who are you!?"

By now, she was in tears. The force of his voice reminded her all too well of Frank.

" Lay off it, Tai!" shouted Matt, concerned for his girlfriend. She had almost completely broken down, having fallen to her knees and weeping into the carpet.

" Who are you?!?" Tai demanded again.

" Stop it, Tai!" Matt said. "Leave her alone!"

Tai spun around. " Just whose side are you on anyway!?"

" I don't know what you mean," he stated in a low tone.

" You know damn well what I mean! Are you two working for Frank?! Cause if you are, you'll be dead before you can even make a sound."

Matt's blood began to boil and he was on the verge of saying something about not making idle threats, but instead, he remembered his earlier suspicions. " And how do I know that you're not on his side."

"He was your friend not mine," he retorted simply.

" Do you think I'm happy about this?! Is that what you think?! Well, if so, then you're way off!"

" That's not what I meant."

" What did you mean then?"

" What I meant was, you knew him better than I did. You were closer to him than any of us. If anyone would be on his side, it would be you. But…since you are one of the Digidestined, just like she was, I don't think you would hurt her, let alone kill her." He turned back to face a shaken Lin. " But, she, on the other hand, claims to be a Digidestined, yet, no one here knows her. She says that she was Michael's friend, but there's no way to prove that now, since no one has any idea where he is. How do we know that she's not on Frank's side, that she's not one of his spies or something. Hell! How do we know that she didn't kill Mimi herself?!"

Matt reached his breaking point at that comment. He couldn't bear to remain under the burden of keeping the secret anymore, and he could tell that Daisuke, T.K., and Kari couldn't either. He decided that it was time to end this conspiracy of silence.

" She can't kill herself!" he shouted, unable to contain himself any longer.

*~*~*

All right, it's later, and everything's been explained to those who didn't know prior to the big revelation- ( I'm sorry I'm rushing this, but I just want to finish this. You're not really missing out on too much in that bit. I'll give you some tears, but I've left most of them out.)

When Ken, Miyako, Iori, Tai and Sora had over-come their intial shock and had gotten past the tears, Mimi and the others took the time to explain everything that had happened. She told them about her first flight, then her flight to Florida, then back to Japan, and now to them. They omitted the part about the fight this morning, however, thinking that it might be best not to worry the others, considering the fact that she had almost been killed by Frank.

By the time they had finished her tale, it was already late into the night. Tai and Sora somehow convinced Mimi to stay with them for a while, and she agreed under the condition that the others could stay as well. They agreed ( and it was quite possible, seeing as how they lived in a large, mansion-like house.) and Mimi said that she was going to get her purse from the car. Ken agreed to help her and followed her outside to the car.

Mimi's P.O.V.

The night air seemed unusually cold to me tonight, not that it should have bothered me. I don't know why it did, but it did. It chilled me to the bone and sent waves of shivers up and down my spine as I walked over to the car and unlocked it. I told Ken that the bags were in the trunk and he agreed to get them. I reached into the front seat of the car and grabbed my purse, which had been sitting on the seat. I locked the door before closing it and bent over to glance in the side mirror so that I could check my hair. I was intent on rearranging my hair into an acceptable fashion, but my attempts were halted as a hostile, but indistinguishable, presence crept into my mind. Spinning around, my eyes searched for Ken. When I saw him stand up with my duffel bag in his hands, I felt extremely relieved, so I turned back to the mirror and continued to fuss with my hair. However, my attempts to fix my hair were soon stopped again, as I heard a thud sound come from behind me. Deciding that it was only Ken dropping something, I didn't think too much of it at first, but when I heard no further sounds, I grew concerned. I turned around and looked for Ken, but once again I didn't see him. I waited a few minutes, thinking that he was just trying to get something out of the car like before, but when he didn't appear, I walked around to the back of the car. I ofund Ken, out cold on the pavement. Apparently, he had been shocked by a stun gun of sorts. Panicking, I turned to run back into the house, but I didn't make it very far. I ran smack-dab into a man standing on the pavement. I didn't even have to look up to know who it was. I turned and tried to run across the street into an alley, but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back before I could even take a single step. Next thing I knew, the double prongs of the stun-gun were jabbed into my back, and an electrical charge ran through my body. I fell to the pavement, unable to control myself. The man stood over me, his features filled with twisted pleasure. The street lights were now growing dimmer and his face dissolved before me as I felt the specter of unconciousness coming to claim me. The last thing I was aware of, was myself speaking before the darkness closed in. I spoke my assailant's name only once, but it echoed throughout the desolate street before being lost in the peace of the night. The last word I uttered was, " Frank."

A/N: All right, here it is, finally. I know it took me a long time. ( All right, that's an understatement, but hey…) The next part won't be out for a while. I don't know how long, but I'll do my best to get it out A.S.A.P. Just one thing, if any of you know of a place where I can get subtitled editions of the 2nd season's movie, please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanx.-Celestial Angel.