Chapter 11! Wow, how long ago was it when chapter 1 came into existence? Ahhh…memories. Thanks to all those who had supported me, cheered me on and even those who have threatened me, damned me and hated me. Without that support and the need to prove myself a success to some people, I would never have gotten this far; not to mention the nagging and complaining from a couple of friends. Next chapter, which is the last, I will give a comment to each and everyone who had ever reviewed my story. Why? I'm weird, and I don't think the last chapter will be that long so I've got space to fill in and after a long, hard journey, I thought it would be special. Although this story wasn't a big success, it entertained several to an extent. And that's what makes me proud of this story. Well, I'll leave my speech for the next chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If you've gotten this far without knowing that I don't own Digimon, what the heck have you been reading?

Dreams, Hopes & Wishes – Chapter 11

(Alternate titles, "Rose of Life, Hope for the Future" or "The Downfall of Evil")

            The evil laugh continued as the Digidestined watched a large form rise slowly into the air.

            "Did you think I could be so easily defeated?" Nakiro's voice was now deeper, and colder, causing chills to run down one's back. "You've only released my true form, more powerful than ever!" (A.N: So who's getting Myotismon flashbacks here?)

            The others could only stare. What else could they do? The only ones who were supposedly able to save them were seemingly gone. But our fearless leaders would not give up, for they had the courage to go on.

            "Davis?"

            "Yeah?"

            "Give me my goggles."

            Davis grudgingly took them off and handed them to Tai. The goggles reflected where the leadership was and out of the whole lot of them, Tai was truly their leader.

            As Nakiro relished in his glory, high up in the sky, Tai turned towards the group.

            "It's time to stop acting like children. We've got to try and save the world. I don't care what a damn prophecy says. As long as we try, we just might succeed. Like our fight with the Dark Masters, friends were lost," Tai didn't need to say a word for them to know that he was talking about TK and Suki, "But we managed to succeed in the end. And who knows? We might succeed this time. This fight is different from our previous ones. This is probably going to be the most important thing we're ever going to do in our whole entire lives, so don't screw up. Ready?" He glanced at the other destined. They nodded in response.

            The Digidestined all stood there ground, and each with a wish in their hearts, helped make their Digimon reach a higher level. (A.N: I'll spare you the details.)

            Nakiro was not as stupid as they thought. While the transformations had occurred, he had been watching the whole thing, gauging their powers. They were immediately dismissed for having less than the power expected for Nakiro to waste his time.

            All the newly digivolved Digimon attached at once but hit an invisible force field (A.N: How many of those have I had now?). The field seemed to push them away with energy and they fell on to the ground, weak. The power that was given to them by their partners returned to the Digidestined.

            So caught up in their battle, they had not noticed the movements of the Guardian Angels on the ground, not knowing that hope had come back to save them.

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Well, I have no idea what I just wrote. Tai's speech was rather…inspiring, ne? Well, I suppose that's one of the best pep talks he's ever gonna give. Does he even understand most of it? Well, as always, let's go dip into the thoughts going on in the unconscious minds of our Angels, shall we?

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            Darkness. Was that how it was when you die? Surrounded in darkness, cloaked with shadows. Nothingness. It was like floating in an alternate universe. But not being able to see anything. Wait.  Is that a light? Yes, it is. Green? Or is it yellow? I can't tell. Wait! Don't leave me here in this empty place. Please stay, Takeru.

            Silence. No sound, not even a whisper. Am I dead? No, it can't be. We couldn't have failed…could we? It was different, floating around somewhere. Seeing but not hearing. Did I just hear a sound? "Wait!" I did. "Don't leave me in this empty place." I won't. "Please stay, Takeru." I will…Suki.

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Erm…. that was quite weird…I didn't get that either. *shurgz* Think of it as something to fill space. I suppose, in a way, that reflected their relationship and how deep it is. If you find that meaning in there. Good for you! Now, back to regular scheduled programming.

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            The meeting of their souls seemed to wake them up from their deep slumber. (A.N: So THAT explains it!) Their eyes opened and reflected there was determination. They needed to win. Struggling against the pain they felt from their aching bones, they stood. They knew what they must do.

            The Digidestined finally noticed them. A glance was all it took. A silent understanding dawned on all of them. They knew what they must do also.

            Everyone gathered around, forming a circle. And inside, as a different circle, stood our two Angels. Two circles, no beginning in sight, no end either. Nakiro knew nothing of this. And this distracted to no end. This gave them time.

            "As the ancient prophecy stated, Life will be needed to save our worlds. What makes up life? A little bit of everything." Suki was speaking, a powerful note in her voice.

            "First, a little courage goes a long way." The symbol of Courage appeared over the hearts of Davis and Tai. Both symbols flew to the center of both circles. They dropped into the mirror, the surface of it rippled as the crests disappeared.

            "Friendship to keep everything in line." The symbol of Friendship appeared over Matt's heart and another glowed on Davis' forehead. As the symbols of Courage before, Friendship dropped into the mirror.

            "Love to heal all wounds." The process again repeated.

            "Knowledge to solve problems."

            "Reliability for our strong hold on life."

            "Sincerity, justice and truth."

            "Kindness to fill in the gaps."

            "And light to shine on our path."

            "Last but not least, Hope and Faith, to keep our will to live."

            All the components of life, the different crests or symbols, dropped into the mirror, one by one. The mirror began to change as the last ingredient of life was added. The mirror turned into a rose. It was different from ordinary roses. This one had 13 petals, one to represent each Digidestined, and one for Suki. Each petal was a different colour, to match with crests of the destined. Orange for Tai, blue for Matt, red for Sora, purple for Izzy, green for Mimi, dark grey for Joe, a yellow blend for T.K./Takeru, pink for Kari, a mixture of blue and orange for Davis, green/red for Yolei, grey/purple for Cody, pink/grey for Ken and purple/blue for Suki. (A.N: For Ken, I have no idea what colour to use so I just took the colour of his digivice and the colour of the crest of kindness, k?)

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Ever notice how I like to stick these in every time something interesting is going to happen? I don't do it on purpose or I don't do it consciously. Anyway, why a flower, you ask? Because a flower represents life. Makes sense sine they are making something as Life to help them save the day.

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            Suki picked up the rose and held it close to her chest with both hands. She closed her eyes and began to wish, to hope, to dream. Takeru walked over and held her hands. The rose was now between them, held up by two sets of hands. The others, already n a circle, held hands. All bowed their heads and together, they hoped, dreamed and wished. Hoping for a better future, dreaming about what could still happen, and wishing they still had time to tell the one they loved what they felt. And then, the magic started.

            The rose began to sparkle in rainbow colours, and then the sparkle turned into a glow. Steadily, the colours grew brighter and bigger. Soon, the colours had encompassed the whole group.

            Nakiro was doing something, contrary to our beliefs. True, he was still in the sky watching as the glowing of colours grew. And yes, he was still there, unmoving, and it didn't seem likely that he was going to do anything anytime soon. You see, Nakiro was panicking, emotionally. You couldn't tell, he was silent, but the thoughts running around in his head were proof of it. Nakiro, the evil, the Dark Lord (A.N: Harry Potter, anyone?), was afraid that he might lose. Then he smiled confidently. And watched the scene with different eyes. He was amused by this attempt to save themselves. He was not afraid anymore, although he probably should have been.

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Time for a little dip in Nakiro's thoughts, you're probably wondering what brought about the little mood change, hmm?

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            How many times are they going to try to defeat me before realizing that it won't work? People are so gullible. It will be easy for me to take over all worlds. If only Elisabeth was still alive, she'll see what a fool she was to have chosen my brother over me. (A.N: Ohh, something for a new story…) Nasuki…she looks so much like her mother…the hair, the eyes, her determi-

            What's this? No, it can't be. The Rose of Life. It was just a legend…nothing but a story. They're just trying to deceive me, no, trick me into believing such a thing. Yes, that's it…

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What do you think? He didn't panic enough for my tastes, but hey, I couldn't write it out.

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            The glowing stopped growing. Everything was still and quiet. Without warning, the glow leapt and sped straight for Nakiro. He was not slow to react. He blasted energy at it and it was a battle of light. The light pushed against the darkness and for a moment, it seemed that the light would win. But Nakiro increased his output of energy and the light was pushed back. And back…and back…it looked as if Nakiro would win after all. But then Suki's voice sounded.

            "Rose of Life, hear our pleas, we do not wish to do yet. We still have our dreams to achieve and goals to meet. Hear our pleas and gain energy from the power of love."

            As before, it seemed natural to all the destined to know what to do and were quick to act. Takeru spoke first.

            "I have loved Suki for years and then lost her, now that we've found each other, I wish to get to re-introduce ourselves, perhaps learn more. I dream of ending this battle and having peace to do what I wish."

            Suki nodded in assent and energy flowed from them and into the glow but it only succeeded in moving the light forward a little. Sora took a deep breath and spilled her feelings of love for Tai. Unsurprisingly, Tai felt the same way. As each couple paired off – Yolei and Ken, Kari and Davis, Mimi and Joe – more energy flowed from the group and into the glow until there only a tiny bit left before defeating their nightmare.

            They knew Nakiro was fighting a losing battle but there was no one else to declare their love. But Matt, being the holder of Friendship and all, knew what to do. Friendship was just as powerful as love. He glanced at the two that remained, Izzy and Cody. They caught his gaze and understanding dawned on them. Matt spoke up.

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Well, there's a little Taiora, Miyaken, Daikari, Mimou for you, lol, it's just a lil weensy bit but there's gonna be a lil weensy bit more, later on.

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            "Friendship is just as powerful as love, if not more. And although Izzy, Cody and I, aren't that close, we're still friends, who would help each other out."

            Izzy and Cody nodded in agreement and energy flowed from them as well. The necessary amount needed to finish off Nakiro.

            Everyone watched in awe as the light now encompassed Nakiro. A sickeningly painful scream sounded and pieces of data that was Nakiro floated away.

            Suki dropped the rose and fell, at a loss of energy. Takeru caught her before she hit the ground, but he too was drained of energy, only hanging by a thread.

            The others broke away from the circle and embraced the ones they had declared love to. Matt, Izzy and Cody stood together and just nodded, not needing any mushy sentimental business to let each other know they appreciated each other's friendship more than ever.

            "Come on, you guys, we've got to get her home," Takeru said. Before anyone could do anything, a light caught their eye. The rose was sparkling again but this time it floated in midair and broke into pieces, which in turn, changed into rainbow butterflies. The butterflies flew around and touched different clouds. The dark clouds disappeared at the touch and sunlight shined through. After awhile, the clouds had disappeared, as well as the butterflies.

            A few minutes later, noise began to fill the Digital World once again. The Digimon were back. Wherever Nakiro had sent them, they were free now. The worlds were now saved from evil. And hopefully, it won't come back for at least a long while.

            After receiving thanks from many Digimon, they were finally able to escape the crowd. They reached the gateway, otherwise known as a television set, that lead them back to what we know as the real world. But something had changed. Before the whole fight, they would come back to the same place they came from, but now, they were separated and sent to their own respective homes. With a little difference of course. T.K. grinned as he found himself in Suki's room; this was all the work of the Rose of Life.

            Upon hearing the pleas of the ones who formed the Rose of Life, it had, in a certain way, granted their wishes. T.K. knew that somewhere out there, Tai was with Sora, Joe was with Mimi, Davis was with Kari, and Ken was with Yolei.

            T.K. tucked Suki into her bed; she was still out of it. She would probably sleep for a day or two before all her energy came back. He brushed back some of Suki's hair, and lightly kissed her on the lips. At the door, T.K. switched off the lights and before closing the door silently, he whispered, "Goodnight, my Princess."

            Even through the day's events, Nidake waited outside his sister's door for the boy he had seen holding her. True, Nidake was certainly not Suki's biological brother, but the years of being sister and brother were not for nothing. Nidake was still Suki's best friend, and a protective brother, not by blood, but through love and time. He could tell that T.K. wouldn't hurt Suki, still, he needed explanations about the news that had come up and it couldn't hurt to remind T.K. what would happen if he ever hurt Suki.

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Yay! I'm all done chapter 11! Just one chapter left, unless I decide to write an epilogue. Next chapter, Nidake and T.K.'s lil "talk," lots of mushy romance, more Taiora, more Kenyako, more Joumi, and more Daikari. Well…maybe less Daikari. I'm not really that big of a fan. Anyway, that's the end of Nakiro, Nidake is a protective brother and I'm still wishing for a guy like Quatre (Gundam Wing), Syaoran (CCS), Takeru (Digimon), Takato (Digimon), Henry (Digimon), Taichi (Digimon), Ken (Digimon) and Mondo (Mon Colle Knights) all rolled up into one. *sigh* As if! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! A little different from my usual writing but I suppose it's all right. Look forward for the next chapter, which might come out in a few days.

Luv & Hugs,

Kayla

P.S. Please leave this poor little author a review, *puppy dog eyes* please?