Author's Notes: Hey peoples! It's me, you know, the author. I wanted to say that, Yeah, I know Tai was being "overly dramatic" about the Kari/TK horse ride thing in the last chapter. But you guys have to remember that he's really stressed out rite now. I mean, he's about to be crowned King of his country, for Pete's sake! Wouldn't you be stressed? I don't know about you, but that's the way I act when I'm stressed, so that's how I made him act. Sorry if you didn't like it (b/c I really want people to like it), but what's done is done. But anyway, ignore me, I'm just bored.
Oh yeah, one last thing. *Ahem* Digimon belongs to Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei, Saban, etc.
The ARROW, the STAFF &the SHIELD
Part 11
By Android Eleven
"Mimi, we need to talk with you about something important," King Tachikawa told his daughter. He and his wife had gone to Mimi's room one morning, about a week after they had arrived in Kamiya, so that he could finally tell her about her engagement. The Queen was there to make sure he didn't run away again.
"Oh?" Mimi asked, trying to seem innocently curious instead of showing the immanent dread that she was really feeling. "Whatever about?"
"Darling, we've decided..." the King trailed off momentarily, but his wife shot him a very dirty look, promising nothing short of complete and utter torture if he failed again. He cleared his throat and started again. "Mimi, darling, your mother and I have decided that, since you're 18 now... an adult really, when you think about it, all grown up and-" His procrastinating was interrupted by the impatient tapping of the Queen's foot. She gave him a look that obviously said 'STOP STALLING!'
The King cleared his throat again and continued. "As I was saying, you are 18 years old now. Your mother and I think that you are now old enough to, uh... to..." he paused, unsure how to phrase what he was supposed to say next. He didn't bother looking to his wife for help, knowing what kind of an answer he'd get. He thought for a moment then went on.
"We think that you are now old enough to-"
'No!' Mimi thought desperately, 'No, no, no, no NO!'
"-Be married. We have decided to arrange a marriage for you." He finished and took a deep breath, fully expecting her reaction.
"WHAT!" she shrieked, jumping up from her seat. "How could you do this to me?!? I don't want any 'arranged marriage'! I want to fall in love on my own! You can't do this!"
"Now, Mimi," the King started to reply soothingly to his hysterical daughter, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Princess Mimi?" Lady Miyako's voice called as she poked her head into the room. "Sir Jyuu is..." her voice trailed off as she realized that all three members of the royal family were staring at her and looking more than slightly stressed. "Uhh... I'll tell him to wait," she said quickly, retreating back into the corridor.
Once she left, the King and Queen's eyes fell back onto Mimi, but she continued to stare hopefully at the door, willing Miyako to return. But she didn't and so Mimi was alone. She dropped her gaze to her feet and fell helplessly back into her seat. There was a long, uncomfortable silence before she spoke again. "Who?"
The King looked over to his wife doubtfully, asking with his expression whether or not to tell her. All she could do was shrug.
"Umm..." he replied hesitantly, "Sir Jyuu of the House of Kido said he would agree... if you did."
Mimi's eyes widened immensely as she continued to stare at her shoes.
**
"Princess Hikari!" a voice called out down the corridor as Hikari was headed to the library. "Princess! I have something for you!" When she looked up, Hikari discovered that the voice belonged to Baron Daisuke, who was running towards her, and he had a beautiful bouquet of flowers grasped in his hand.
Once he reached her, Daisuke bent over slightly, trying to catch his breath. Still puffing, he handed her the bouquet. "I picked them just for you."
"Oh, Baron Motomiya!" she exclaimed as he went to hand them to her.
"Just Daisuke, my Princess," he interrupted politely.
"These are beautiful, Daisuke" Hikari replied taking the flowers. But then she gave them a sad look and handed them back. "But I couldn't possibly accept them."
Daisuke suddenly looked incredibly disappointed. "Why not? None of them are wilted are they? Because if they are I can always-"
"No. No, it's not that." Hikari looked down at her feet. "It's just, I feel like... Well, I feel as if I'm-"
"Hikari!" Takeru's voice echoed down the corridor in their direction as he appeared from around the corner, holding something behind his back. "Oh, good day Daisuke. Hikari, my dear princess, I've been looking everywhere for you."
He came towards the two, not noticing the bouquet in Daisuke's hands as he pulled another, more exquisite one from behind his back. "These are for you, Kari," he said quietly handing them to her and kissing her hand in the process. Hikari blushed. Takeru stood and offered her his arm. "Would you care to join me on a walk through the gardens?"
She nodded, but not before giving Daisuke an apologetic look. Takeru turned to him also. "Please do excuse us, Daisuke. Oh, Iori is downstairs fencing in case you wanted to join him." Daisuke nodded stiffly, trying his hardest to remember what Iori had said about respecting his Prince.
"As a matter of fact I think I will. After all, I am a very good swordsman," he added to Princess Hikari. She smiled at him politely. "Good day, my Princess," he said kissing her hand. Then he added, somewhat sarcastically, "And to you, *Prince* Takeru." He gave a curt bow and left.
Hikari gave a quiet sigh that escaped Takeru's attention as they headed down to the garden. Daisuke had been doing things like that everyday for the past week and it was starting to get to be a bit much. What she had been about to tell him before Takeru had arrived was that she didn't feel right accepting gifts from him when she was not interested in him like *that*. She did NOT want to lead him on.
But as she looked down in her hands at Takeru's bouquet, thoughts of Daisuke quickly fled from her mind. She held it up to her nose and inhaled deeply. The smell was delightful.
Takeru watched her smell the flowers he had given her and smiled. He had really enjoyed the time he'd spent with Hikari during the past week. She was sweet and caring and he loved being around her.
He had even wondered occasionally if he was in love with Hikari herself. He suspected that he was and it was a strange feeling, seeing as he had never really believed in true love before he had met her. That was the reason he'd laughed whenever Yamato had suggested he find a "lady friend". His own parents had fought all the time when he was a child and so, even though he knew they cared for each other, he had usually thought that love was just something people made up to write about in books. But that had been before he'd met Princess Hikari.
Hikari looked at him a moment later, studying his features. He had a strong, yet gentle face and his messy blonde hair gave him a child-like appearance that she adored. But it was his eyes that she loved the most, his beautiful ice water eyes. They shone with innocence, hope, that she couldn't help but be drawn to.
The two of them stared at each other for a while, before Takeru cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Um... Hikari?" he asked hesitantly a moment later.
"Hmm?" she answered.
Takeru took a deep breath before continuing. "Uh... could I kiss you right now?"
Though initially surprised by his question, Hikari smiled a moment later and nodded. Takeru breathed a sigh of relief and nervousness. "Okay, so... um, now I just feel very awkward. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do what I'm about to do."
Hikari laughed quietly and stepped up closer to him. "I think," she replied slowly, placing her right hand on his chest, "That it goes something like this." She then stepped up on the tips of her toes and gently touched her mouth to his.
**
"Taichi?" Lady Sora called quietly as she entered his study. "Are you in here?" As she stepped further into the room, she still could not see him. But then the door creaked shut behind her and she whirled around.
There stood Crown Prince Taichi, a slight grin on his face, locking the door. He turned to face her, his grin growing. "Good afternoon, milady. How have you been?"
Sora snorted and walked closer to him. "As if you actually care."
"I do!" Taichi exclaimed, mock insulted. He came closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. "How could I not? You love me too much."
"You keep telling yourself that, Tai," Sora teased, kissing the tip of his nose. Taichi grinned at her and titled his head upward, capturing her lips with his own and pulling her closer.
For the first couple of days after "the incident" when Koushiro had walked in on them, he and Sora had been unable to look at each other. Then one day Taichi, sick of the uncomfortable silences, had summoned her to his study to tell her that he didn't want this to ruin their friendship. She had whole-heartedly agreed. But when Sora went to leave, she had barely made it out the door before she came running back in, slamming head-on into Taichi, who'd been running out after her.
But they had both decided it would serve their best interests to pretend as if nothing had happened whenever they were around other people. Koushiro, of course, had agreed to keep silent as long as they didn't do anything around him ever again. The two of them had readily agreed.
But Koushiro wasn't around now.
##
Author's notes: Hehehe! Don't you just love my ending? It's just so... suggestive. BTW, just in case you might be wondering, all they're gonna do is kiss some more (this IS a PG rated story). Anyhow, people keep asking me to have Mimi's parents tell her about Joe, so I finally did it (so King and Queen Tachikawa aren't going to have very big roles from now on, just to let you know). And a note to all Ken fans: He WILL show up, you've just got to be patient. And now I've just got to do this before the A/N is over... TAKARI FOREVER, BABY!!!! I finally made them kiss! YEH 4 ME!!!
Oh, and one last note to anyone who bothered reading this far into the boring author's note: If I can get up to a hundred reviews before it comes out, the epilogue will be dedicated to the 100th reviewer. Thanks for the great feedback, Part XII soon and TOODLES! ^_^
