I Thought She Knew
Story by Soulfull Ishida
Song by *NSYNC

Author's Notes: yes, I know, I have to do The Next DigiDestined and I Think I Like You, but this story had been spinning in my head for a really long time, and I just had to write it down! So, here it is, my first Jyoumi and Mishiro, I Thought She Knew! By the way, it's rated PG for a bit of blood. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I don't own *NSYNC. I don't own the song "I Thought She Knew." If I did, I would be banging my head on the wall, wondering why the heck I'm writing a fanfic instead of a new song for *NSYNC and a new eppie for 03 with Matt and Ken in it. So there, you can't sue me!
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The young man clutched the handles of the coffin, leaning on top of it as his tears fell onto it. He recited a love poem between his sobs, the words echoing throughout the twilight sky. Finally, he finished the poem, and let go of the coffin. He wiped furiously at his tears, then, without looking back, he walked away from the coffin. He walked over to another man, only a few years older than himself, then collapsed into his arms. The older man looked at the coffin, and at the picture on it. It showed a beautiful young woman of twenty-six, smiling at the camera, her flowing light brown hair framing a face with huge, twinkling hazel eyes.
"Mimi," he managed to say before he broke down into heart-wrenching sobs.

She was my once in a lifetime
Happy ending come true
I guess I should have told her
I thought she knew

Izzy finally looked up at Joe, tears in his black eyes. Joe's glasses were fogged up from his tears, but it wouldn't have mattered if they were or weren't. He could only see Mimi, beautiful, wonderful Mimi, Mimi smiling at Joe on their first date, Mimi giving Joe his last kiss, Mimi marrying Izzy, Mimi playing with her two children. What had gone wrong? he had thought over and over. Why did Mimi leave me in the dust?

She said I took her for granted
That's the last thing I would do
I'll never understand it
I thought she knew

*Flashback*
"I can't stand it anymore, Joe! It's like you love your job more than you love me! You took me for granted, Joe, and I can't take it! I want a love that will make me feel special, and you can't give that to me! Good bye!" Mimi screamed, tears streaming down her face. Joe stood there, staring at her as she grabbed her suitcase and ran out the door. Mimi rushed down the steps of the apartment building, then looked up towards her apartment, expecting to see Joe following her, holding her in his arms, telling her that he was sorry, that he would never ignore her again. But no, he didn't come. Mimi turned away and ran, never to return.
*End Flashback*

I thought she knew my world revolved around her
My love light burned for her alone
But she couldn't see the flame
Only myself to blame
I should have known, I should have known

She had gone to Izzy afterwards, and a year later they got married. Joe hadn't been invited to the wedding, which hadn't been surprising. During the reception, Matt had visited him, and Joe told him everything. Matt nodded in understanding, not saying a word as Joe broke down before him. Then Matt told him the news he had held inside during Joe's talk. Sora had just asked Matt for a divorce. Joe gasped, finally noticing how pale and depressed his old friend looked. But before Joe could say anything, they both heard sirens. Matt leapt to his feet and rushed out the door to see what was going on, Joe right at his heels. One of the policemen stopped and asked them if they knew about the wedding that had gone on, tying the knot between Izzy and Mimi Izumi. They both nodded, and the policeman spoke again, changing their lives for the rest of eternity.
A gunman had gotten into the reception, and shot two people before running out of the room. No one recognized to man, for they were too busy staring, shocked, at the dead bodies of Mimi Izumi and Sora Ishida. Joe instantly started to cry again, but Matt just stood there, staring at the police officer.
"Are you sure?" Matt had said quietly. "Are you sure they're dead?" The policeman nodded.
"May I ask how you know the two victims?" the officer asked gently.
"Joe used to date Mimi. I-I was-I was married to-Sora," Matt gasped, trying to talk without sobbing. Joe fell to his knees, clutching his face and screaming into the night, crying out incomprehensible words. Matt stood there, staring at his feet. A single tear fell down his pale face. "I-I didn't even know-what I had done-for Sora-to want a-divorce," he whispered, crying silently. No one had heard him over Joe's screaming, though. No one noticed when he had run away into the night, towards the noise of the sirens. Joe continued to cry long after Matt had disappeared, long after the police officer had left, crying into the cruel night, screaming to God, asking him why he had taken away Mimi, why hadn't You taken me instead? Finally, he managed to stand up, and rushed into his car, driving over to the reception hall.

A heart full of words left unspoken
Now that we're through
I'd sell my soul to have this silence broken
I thought she knew, I thought she knew

Joe rushed into the reception hall, looking wildly for Mimi, Matt, Izzy, and the others. He saw Tai crying, Kari trying to comfort him. T.K. was trying to get to Matt, but Izzy held him back, saying that Matt needed to mourn. Izzy's face was pale and terror-filled. His eyes. . . they reflected the pain he felt inside. It hurt to look at them. Finally, Joe saw Matt clutching Sora's body, her blood staining his shirt, his tangled, messy hair framing his terror-filed face and his eyes, the eyes that looked lost, alone, confused, trying to figure out who would shoot Sora, who would want to destroy his angel. Next to Matt and Sora, laid Mimi. She was wearing her wedding dress and veil, clutching her bouquet, consisting of pink and white roses, in her right hand. In her left, she held her DigiVice, showing six different colored dots. The two that were missing were her and Sora's. Joe couldn't help but think that one of Izzy's theories were true, that when a Chosen Child dies, the energy traveling to her DigiVice is cut off, causing the DigiVice to stop "working". Joe then noticed the blood stain on her chest. He waked silently over to Mimi, then knelt down next to her. Everyone else stopped making noise except for Matt, who sobs echoed in the otherwise silent room. Joe felt for a pulse, but didn't feel one. He looked for signs of her breathing. None. He then noticed a necklace she was wearing around her neck. He picked it up in his hand, a sob escaping his lips.
The necklace had been a copy of the Crest of Sincerity. He had bought it for her, making sure it was made of pure gold for the tag, emerald for the crest, and silver for the chain. She had loved it, and wore it every moment afterwards.
The bullet had hit it, splitting it in half.
Joe then started to cry silently, his small sobs echoing Matt's.
Izzy then walked up to him, and put his shaking hand on Joe's shoulder. "She should have married you," the young man whispered. "She loved you more than she could ever love me." He then bent down and removed Mimi's two rings, her wedding band and her engagement ring. Izzy looked expectantly at him, no signs of regret in his eyes. Joe reached his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it and took Mimi's lifeless hand in his.
"Mimi, will you marry me?" he asked as he slipped the ring, designed with emerald Crests of Sincerity and silver Crests of Reliability. A breeze suddenly passed through the room, and Joe knew the answer was yes. He then collapsed into her limp arms, crying into her bloody chest.
"Thank you, Mimi. For forgiving me," he mumbled as he hugged her, afraid to let go, not wanting to accept the fact that she would never hug him back again.

I thought she knew my world revolved around her
My love light burned for her alone
But she couldn't see the flame
Only myself to blame
I should have known, I should have known

Joe and Matt had stayed with Mimi and Sora the longest, not allowing the ambulance to take them away. Matt took a necklace off of his neck and placed it on Sora's heart. It looked like Mimi's Crest of Sincerity, except that it had a gray Crest of Friendship and a red Crest of Love put where one crest should be. Joe watched Matt as he stared at Sora's lifeless body, looking at her closed eyes, knowing they would never open again. Finally, Matt stood up as the sun began to rise. He turned his back and walked away from Sora, not looking back.
"Matt," Joe said. Matt didn't turn around, but he did stop walking. "Matt, I'm sure she loved you."
"No, she didn't. The last thing she ever said to me. . . was how she hated me. . . and I just stared at her and ran away. That's what I've always done, Joe. I always ran away when I couldn't handle it. I never told her that I didn't want her to leave me, I never told her how much she meant to me. . ." Matt whispered, then ran. He ran from Joe, from Mimi, from his wife. He never looked back.
Joe suddenly knew what he had done to make Mimi leave him. He had ignored her, he had run away from her when he couldn't handle being with her. "I. . . never told her that I loved her. . . I thought she knew. . ." he whispered, then started to cry. He kept crying long after the ambulance took the two bodies away.

She was my once in a lifetime
Happy ending come true
I guess I should have told her
I thought she knew

Now he was standing next to her coffin, the coffin that hadn't been buried under the ground yet. He held Izzy, let him cry on his shoulder. It was the first time that Izzy had cried for Mimi, and his tears flowed steadily down his face. Joe stared at the coffin, and a single thought crossed his mind as he remembered wonderful Mimi. He was married to her, even if she was dead. She loved him. And he would never abandon her again. The breeze started to blow gently, as if it was kissing him.
And as it blew, Joe felt his soul leave his body. he heard Izzy gasp as his body fell to the ground, dead.
He then saw Mimi, and Sora. And Matt, holding Sora's hand, holding her close. Mimi ran up to him, and hugged him tightly. She looked up into his face, and smiled. "I knew you would come," she whispered, then kissed him. Joe kissed her back, holding her close.
And he smiled.


Ending Author's Note: Okay, who cried? Raise your hand! He he, J/K, do you like? Do you hate? Please tell! Flames accepted, positive comments loved!