Author's notes: Yay, the closing chapter up at last! I feel kinda sad though, since this is the end of my first Digimon fanfic. I named this chapter Snow, after the title.
Winter ended rather abruptly.
It stopped snowing at around 2 a.m. in the morning.
And then it was spring.
Mimi took out her new uniform and examined it closely. Okaa-san had put too much starch on it. True enough, the whole thing stood up when she put it on. It crackled as she moved around the house. She reminded herself never to allow her mother to wash her uniform for her ever again.
Hikari sat in her hospital bed and looked out of the window. The nice nurse had granted her request of the bed beside the window. The snow was melting away and buds of flowers were beginning to sprout. She heard a bird twitter in the distance.
Spring had always been her favorite season. After all, it is the season of life. Reaching out, she touched her crest gently. Onii-chan had placed it next to her when she was still unconscious. Perhaps this had helped to pull her away from the foolish darkness she had been collapsing into.
Blond hair and a radiant smile which brightened up her life. She still felt that pang of sadness in her heart whenever she thought of him. Broken hearts take time to heal, after all. She held her crest in her hand and let the warmth fill up her whole body.
Outside, one could see the beginnings of sakura.
The alarm clock hit the floor with a loud crash. A certain brown-haired person tumbled out of bed in a mess of sheets and pillows. It did not help that he had chosen to sleep on the upper bunk last night.
Rubbing the swelling bump on his head, Taichi scrambled up sleepily and stared out of the window absentmindedly. Out of habit, perhaps. It wasn't snowing anymore. He smiled properly for the first time in years, however slight it was.
It is surprising how fast flowers take to bloom. Perhaps they are just too eager, after remaining dormant for such a long time.
Mimi liked the colour pink. She liked flowers too. Therefore, she liked sakura petals very much indeed, especially when they came drifting down in the soft spring breeze. Anyone walking through the school gates would have seen a slender girl twirling in and out of the sakura trees in sheer delight, not even bothering to pick the petals out of her hazelnut hair.
Sora laughed at her friend's actions, not spitefully. She knew Mimi's obsession with flowers very well. Despite the awkward glances from passers-by, she strode over, armed with the school's most popular and wanted blond male.
It seemed as though Ishida Yamato gave off cold vibes wherever he went. Mimi could feel his presence from a meter away. She stopped her ridiculous spinning and stared right into his sharp grey eyes.
That's right, Mimi. You just have to confront your fears and everything will be all right.
Strangely, as she thought this, an image of their goggle-headed leader popped into her head. She giggled and suddenly, the icy atmosphere was broken.
You're not formidable anymore, you stupid piece of eye candy! she said inwardly, rather satisfied by her feat. She realized that upon staring, those intense eyes weren't as scary as she'd imagined them to be.
As usual, Taichi was late for class. It was so frequent that the sensei forgot to give him detention. Not that he was all that interested in coordinate geometry anyway. Sakura petals floated lightly past the window and onto the ground. If one didn't look properly, the falling flowers really seemed to be snow, except that they didn't dissolve to nothingness when they touched the floor.
"Mimi!" he called out to the klutzy girl.
He could see the change in her. She seemed to have lightened herself of a heavy load, somehow. She skipped around, her pigtails swinging about her face, and grinned. Her hyper ness was infectious. A few minutes later, he found himself twirling amidst the blossoms drifting down from the trees as well.
Hikari opened her eyes slightly. She could hear hushed tones all around her. Really, she wished people would learn how to tell when she was really sleeping or faking it. All the same, she rather liked listening to the quiet chatter that always seemed to come during visiting hours. It was louder than usual. Good; she liked visitors.
When she decided to announce to the rest of the world that she was fully awake, she saw only her older brother and Mimi. Although crestfallen, she tried her utmost to hide the disappointment which was spreading throughout her face. Yet, she still couldn't rid herself of the feeling that today's visit would be slightly different from the norm.
And she was quite right.
Walking in rather hesitantly was Okaa-san and Otou-san. They weren't holding hands or even showing any sign that they were husband and wife but the point was, they were there. Together.
She didn't expect them to hug and make up suddenly in front of her; it was too unrealistic. The mere fact that her parents had bothered to come within a few inches of each other just for her was enough.
Hikari felt herself dissolve into tears as her mother cuddled her. It was a long time since she'd felt that familiar warmth of her mother. Otou-san sat beside her, looking so relieved and gentle, like before. It was then that Hikari grasped that she really missed family warmth. She promised herself and everyone else who believed in her that she would never do such an irrational act ever again. Through her tears, she saw the hazy figures of her brother and her friend step out of the room.
"Hikari-chan seems happy," Mimi remarked, as she pranced alongside Taichi. He made no attempt to answer.
The air outside was still cold, since it wasn't fully spring yet. They strolled out of the hospital and went down the pavement lined with sakura trees. Mimi jumped onto a wooden bench right in front of her companion with a displeased expression on her face.
"Yagami Taichi, you are going to stop sulking and acting like a baby right now, do you get me?" she barked in an authoritative tone; and Miss Priss always did seem to get her way.
This time, it didn't seem to work. He walked past her indifferently, with the same blank expression stuck on his face. Growling, Mimi walked off in the most dignified manner she could muster and declared to herself rather loudly that she would not bother herself with such useless people.
Suddenly, there was pitch blackness as someone stuffed a scarf or some sort of thing made of cloth over her head. She was lifted up just slightly over the ground and spun around, all over the park.
"You're really light," the someone commented. When Mimi made sure she could move her hands without falling off the moving object she was on, she yanked the piece of cloth off her head and turned to see a grinning Taichi on the verge of laughing.
"LET GO OF ME, IDIOT!" she yelled, causing many heads to turn. Taichi raised his eyebrows and let go off the trolley she was on.
That caused quite a bit of commotion as the hazel-haired girl shrieked and tried to stop herself from crashing into a tree at the same time. Just before the wheels knocked into a crack in the pavement, Taichi grabbed hold of the handles again and escorted her back to safety.
"You are never, ever, going to do that again," said Mimi, breathless, fuming and grabbing onto the side of the trolley. His brown eyes twinkled in the darkness as they went for another round of spinning.
Those watching would have seen two maniacal teenagers, one sitting on a trolley and screeching, and the other laughing his head off, whirling through and fro the sakura trees in the park.
"Yamato, isn't it weird that both Taichi and Mimi fell sick on the same day? The weather last night wasn't all that bad…" Sora said to the blond thoughtfully.
He shrugged.
"Lots of things can happen in one night," he muttered simply.
As time goes by, spring will be over, and winter will be at the doorstep again. Falling snow in the cold, painful winter. But it isn't so bad now, because they don't have to endure it alone anymore.
Broken hearts take time to heal; for some a season of winter is enough.
end.
To readers: Well, that's the end. I hoped you guys liked it. I'm surprised it ended Michi/Taimi though. This chapter is so bright and cheery and different from the rest of the angst. One can't be gloomy all the time, I guess. :) Kudos to Fruits Basket, which gave me the idea of snow melting into spring. Thanks to all those who have been reviewing this fic. Cookies for all of you!
Revised: 16th September 2007