Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. (I really hate saying that each time.)



Note: This takes place a few years after 02. The gang is 16, 17.



Tame This Night



She lay under the canopy of an old oak, wrapped in his arms. Elsewhere the storm raged and pounded the ground with all the fury it could muster, but the rain did not reach here, under the tree. The surf could be heard crashing against the base of the cliffs, as thunder rolled and lightning lit up the sky of the digital world.

"Ken," she breathed, gasping for breath.

"Ssh, don't speak," he replied in the same breathless tone. He again placed his soft lips over hers, and kissed her with all he felt.

He felt her slender fingers reach up and begin to undo the buttons on his shirt. He reached over and began to undo hers. When they finished, she snuggled closer to him, bare chest to bare chest, and kissed him for all she was worth. He buried his hands in her lavender hair and kissed back.

***

"Hey guys!" the lavender-haired girl called cheerily. The sun shone bright in the park.

"Hey Yolei," one of her friends replied as she walked over to join them.

She sat on the edge of the picnic blanket and looked around frowning. "Hey, where's Ken?"

Kari gave her a look that clearly meant, 'You see him more than we do,' but didn't say anything aloud. She knew their relationship wasn't yet public knowledge.

"He's probably just late," Davis said, munching away.

"Ken? Late?" Yolei asked skeptically.

"If you're so worried, go check on him," Davis said.

Yolei thought. It was very odd for Ken to be late. "Yeah, I think I will." She turned and left the park, heading for Ken's apartment.

She rounded a corner and stopped dead in her tracks. Police cars and fire trucks surrounded his building. Smoke and flames poured out from the windows. The lavender-haired girl took off at a dead run.

There was a crowd of people gathered around the building, some tennants, some onlookers.

"Ken!" Yolei screamed at the top of her lungs, scanning the crowd. "Ken!" A tear slid down her face. She spotted his parents and ran over to them. "Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji, where's Ken?"

"We don't know, Yolei," Ken's father answered. "We were out shopping, and when we got back, it was like this. He had told us earlier he was going to meet his friends later. We were hoping he was with you."

Yolei shook her head in silent shock. "He never showed up at the park," she said quietly. She looked up to Ken's bedroom window, and heard his mother break down in sobs. "I have to go," the girl said, almost to herself. She turned and ran, heading for the school. She ran recklessly through the grounds, not caring who saw her.

"Digiport open!" she said through her sobs, shakily holding out her D3. She was sucked into the digiworld and found herself at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was where she and Ken had made love the night before.

"Oh, Ken," she cried, falling to her knees under the old oak. She lay on her side, and sobbed until she fell asleep.

She awoke several hours later, to the sound of thunder booming overhead. She sat and looked around. It was raining again, and it was dark out. In a rush it all came back to her why she was here, without Ken, in their spot.

The girl stood shakily, and walked over to the cliff edge. The tears began to slide down her face, mixing with the raindrops.

She teetered on the edge, watching the spray crash below. "Oh, Ken, I loved you," she whispered, fingering the picture of him she always carried. "Oh, Ken, I can't live without you." She flung her head back and screamed for all she was worth, "I can't live without you!"

"Yolei!"

The girl spun around and tooka tentative step back from the edge.

"Ken?" she asked, barely daring to hope.

"Yolei, over here." His voice called to her, a lifeline in the raging storm. She swung her head to the right. Ken stood under the old oak, navy hair plastered to his head. His white button-up shirt was all but see-through, dripping with water. He held out his arms to her.

"Ken!" the purple-haired girl cried, running to him. She plowed into him, wrapping her arms around him, still sobbing, only now from happiness.

"Yolei, oh Yolei," he said, head buried in her hair. "My Yolei, what were you doing?"

"Oh Ken, I went to your apartment......and the fire......I thought you - I thought you," she sobbed violently. She pulled away to stare at the boy. She looked deep into his violet eyes. "I couldn't stand the thought of living without you."

"Yolei," he whispered. He reached up to brush a strand of lavender hair from her face. "I would never leave you without saying goodbye." He leaned in and kissed her softly.

"You didn't show up at the park today," she said. A flash of lighning lit up her worried expression.

"I went to the store to get you this," he replied. He freed a hand from the tangles of her hair and reached down into his pocket. He withdrew a small box. A ring box, Yolei realized. "I love you, Yolei," he whispered, "and I got you this." He opened the box and another flash of lightning illuminated the legant-looking diamond. "I know we have about a year to go before we're old enough," he said, then dropped to one knee, "but Yolei Inoue, will you marry me?" He looked up at her expectantly, wiping a strand of wet hair off his face.

"Oh, Ken!" she cried. "Yes, yes!" His face realaxed into a smile, and he took the ring out of the box. Shakily he slid it on. He stood slowly and stared into her golden eyes.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I know. I know. I love you, too," she cried, again throwing herself into his arms. They kissed, gently at first, and then with all their might, as if their lives depended on it.

The rain had stopped, and thunder no longer pealed overhead. The lightning was visible only in brief, dim flashes; stars peeked out from between clouds.

But under an old oak tree on a high bluff over the sea, a storm raged of its own passion.






The End