DISCLAIMER: I do not own digimon.

Note: This story takes place ten years after Love, Hate and Coconuts ends.

~*~

Rika's lavender eyes followed the wisps of steam as they coiled sinuously over one another in their quest to reach the ceiling, fading long before they reached their goal. She pressed her hands against the cup as she stared out the window of the coffee shop, relishing the warmth radiating through her skin as she watched snowflakes blow past in the cold wind outside.

She looked at her watch and sighed. She didn't want to go back out in the cold, but she had to be going. She swallowed the last of the coffee quickly and wrapped her scarf up around her nose. A tiny bell jingled as she pushed open the heavy glass door and then the wind buffeted against her. She scowled.

Miserable, yucky, disgusting, awful weather, Rika thought as she walked back to the twenty-story office building where she worked. Snow and wind should be made illegal. It was hot in the elevator and by the time she got to her floor, she had peeled off her scarf, coat and gloves and was beginning to sweat. Oh, isn't that just perfect, she thought with disgust. Uncomfortable outside, uncomfortable inside.

She sat in her cubicle and glanced at the pictures she kept on a corner of her desk. There was her mother, her grandma, Renamon (she'd had a few comments about this picture, but she really didn't care what other people thought about her digimon), Takato, Henry, Suzy…and Ryo. She blinked a few times when she looked at his photo. It was over ten years old. She'd gotten it from Kazu after Ryo died, to remember him by. His blue eyes stared cheerily out at her from their frame. Rika sniffed loudly and was startled to realize she'd been crying.

Pull yourself together, girl. You've got work to do. She wiped her eyes and turned to her work. She tried to concentrate on the spreadsheets she had to finish, but her thoughts kept going back to Ryo.

Rika remembered the three days she had spent stranded on an island with him in the digital world. That was when she had fallen in love with him, though it took time. She supposed now that she had always liked him in that way, but she had been embarrassed by it and pretended to hate his guts instead. She laughed at herself. So childish.

If only I had swallowed my pride and said something sooner. Maybe I could have spent some real time with him before he died. Rika had been having bad dreams about earthquakes ever since his death. The incident still bothered her so much that every time she was standing somewhere unstable, even on a boat, her chest got tight and she would start to panic until she realized that the earth wasn't really shaking, and then she would relax, feeling silly for freaking out.

As she thought about this she felt a little shaky, but she quickly subdued the panic attack. I'm in a perfectly solid building, it's just nerves. But then she noticed the glass of water on her desk. The surface, which should have been calm, was covered in tiny ripples. A pencil rolled off the desk and one of her pictures wobbled and fell over. She looked up.

The whole room was shaking visibly now. A picture fell off the far wall with a crash, and Rika's co-workers were all standing up, wondering what was going on.

Finally her supervisor stood up and started talking loudly. "It's an earthquake, everyone, don't panic, just get under your desks and brace yourselves! It will go away soon."

Rika's eyes went wide and her chest felt constricted. An earthquake! She clenched her hands at her sides and willed herself to breathe deeply, then crawled under her desk to wait it out. Soon the tremors stopped and everyone got up. Everything looked intact.

Rika sat back down and turned her computer back on. She got through the system check and was starting her work again when she heard another rumbling.

"Not another one! Get back under your desks! Don't cry Alice, it'll be fine!"

But Rika could feel that this one was stronger, almost as strong as the last earthquake in her memory. She looked with alarm at a tiny crack in the drywall a few feet away from her. She stood up quickly. "Everybody get out!" She yelled as loudly as she could. "Get out of the building!"

Somebody was evidently thinking along the same lines as her and ran immediately to the door. It was held open and everybody pushed their way out of the office and down the emergency stairs to the street. Rika was scared but she stayed behind to make sure everyone got out. A light fell out of the ceiling and filled the air with plaster dust. There were definite cracks in the wall now. She turned to leave when she heard a voice behind her.

"Who's there?" She called into the room. The lights were flickering and a partition fell over. She peered around but could see nothing. Then she heard it again, a pained voice calling for help.

"Alice?" Rika put her sleeve over her nose and mouth in the dust cloud and made her way through the maze of offices. "Alice, is that you? Where are you?" She nearly walked right by the young woman, still huddled under her desk.

Rika stopped and held out her hand. "Come on, let's go. It's not safe." The girl shook her head.

Rika sighed. "Are you scared?" Alice nodded.

A loud crash made Rika flinch. She looked over. A piece of the ceiling was missing, and the edges of the hole were already crumbling away. "Okay, I know, I'm scared too, but it's too dangerous to stay in here. The whole building might come down! Let's go!"

Alice's eyes widened in shock and she held her hand out to Rika mutely. Rika grabbed it and ran for the door to the hallway. They were on the sixteenth floor and had a lot of stairs to cover to reach the ground.

As Rika catapulted down the stairwell with Alice in tow, she noticed the immense cracks rippling up and down the walls around her from the violent tremors. Sometimes she had to dodge around a chunk of fallen ceiling obstructing the path in front of her. The air was choked with dust.

The two women were onto the fifth floor when a particularly violent rumble knocked them off of their feet. Rika worried that the whole building would come crashing down around them right then, but it held.

They went down another floor to find the stairway ahead completely blocked by fallen rubble.

Alice looked at Rika. "Now what do we do?"

Rika ran over to a large window on the landing. She looked out and saw a brigade of firefighters and paramedics standing just down the street tending to people. Thinking quickly, she grabbed a large chunk of concrete from the blockage on the stairs. "Stand back and shield your eyes!" She instructed before she heaved it at the glass. She heard the window explode from the force and felt tiny shards cut her arms as she covered her face. Instead of a window there was now a hole the size of a medium person in the wall. Rika leaned out and waved her arms, then watched as firefighters raced over and began inflating a giant air mattress.

She turned around. "Alice, they're blowing up a crash pad. When it's ready, I want you to jump first. Okay?" The girl nodded meekly.

Soon the crash pad was ready and then Alice was down on the ground being helped by the paramedics. Rika would have to wait for the pad to be re-inflated before she could be rescued. She paced nervously around the small fourth floor landing while she waited. Rika checked their progress. The crash pad was half full of air. She sighed impatiently. Come on, get me out of here! She started pacing again.

She was in mid-stride when another violent aftershock shook the building. Rika stumbled and looked up just in time to see the large block of concrete break loose of the ceiling above her.

***

Where am I? Rika thought dazedly as she opened her eyes. She was standing at the foot of a very long flight of stairs. She couldn't see where they led through the clouds that crowned them. There was nowhere to go but up, so she climbed.

Soon she was ascending through the clouds and she could see a light shining faintly at the top of the stairs. Rika felt strangely detached from her body, and the feeling got more definite as she continued to climb higher, but she wanted to see what was at the top that shone so brightly, so she kept going.

Suddenly Rika thought she heard a rustling behind her.

RIKA! He wasn't actually talking but she could "hear" him. Ryo was behind her. Rika, stop! What are you doing here?

She turned around to face him. His form was pale, like a shadow. She looked down at her own hand and was surprised to see that it was almost a silhouette itself, though still more definite than his. I just appeared here. Now I'm climbing these stairs to see what's at the top. She pointed. Do you want to come look at it with me?

Ryo frowned. No, I don't. You shouldn't be here, Rika. Not for many years yet. They promised me… He extended his hand to her. Come with me, I'll take you home.

Rika felt disappointed. She wanted to see what the light was, but she thought she should go with Ryo. She took his hand and let him lead her back down the stairs to where she'd started. As she descended again, the feeling of detachment faded gradually away. She looked at her hand again. The outline was becoming steadily clearer.

She watched Ryo walking in front of her. The glossy white wings folded neatly at his back looked so beautiful, she found herself wanting to reach out and touch them, but she blushed and withdrew her hand. Instead she just gazed at them longingly.

Rika… They were standing at the bottom of the stairs again. Rika looked up at their heights. Clouds obscured the light at the top again.

She looked back at Ryo. What was that light at the top, anyway?

He studied her with his ghostly blue eyes. That was Heaven, he said softly.

Oh. She blinked at him.

Rika, I have to send you back now. He took her hand. It was good to see you again. I've been watching you, but it was nice to see your face.

I missed you, Ryo. Rika felt herself blinking back tears.

Oh, Rika, don't cry. I missed you, too. But I'll see you again someday.

Then we'll have forever. She smiled at him.

He laughed. It was light and ethereal. Yes, Rika. Then we'll have forever.

He held both of her hands in his as they gazed at each other. He leaned closer and his lips found hers. They felt cool and light like his touch. She closed her eyes and gave in to the warm sensation that coursed through her.

***

"Ryo…" She breathed. She opened her eyes, expecting to see his shadowy figure still before her. Instead Rika saw the swimmy forms of two strange people.

"She's awake. Remove the intravenous." Rika was lying on her back, strapped down to something hard. Her vision cleared and she recognized the inside of an ambulance.

"Wh-what happened? Where's Ryo?" She mumbled. Her mouth felt dry and cottony.

The woman leaning over her smiled sympathetically. "I don't know any Ryo, honey, but a block of concrete fell on you while you were in that building. The firefighters had to come in through the window and get you. We thought you might be dead, but I think you'll pull through now."

A man to Rika's right was examining the levels of some drip bags. He looked at her. "We heard how you cleared out that office from the girl that jumped through the window. The building came down about twenty minutes ago. You saved a lot of lives." He smiled.

Suddenly the woman looked concerned. "Have you got something in your hand, honey?"

Rika lifted her hand as much as she could in the strap. "What--?" She stopped abruptly as she saw what was in her hand. It was a single, pure white feather.

The paramedic's eyes widened. "That must belong to your guardian angel."

Rika smiled.