Promises Are Meant To Be Kept

Final Chapter, True Ending

A/N: Yes, I'm back and trying to update ASAP. Unfortunately, my uncle came from Iowa, and I swear he watches me like a hawk. He told my parents I went on the computer too much and that kinda killed my time I could have used typing the story. -frowns- Oh well. This is the original ending, but I made an alternate one. Read whichever you like. The next chapter will begin just like this one. I will put a bunch of hearts (♥s) to separate it so that you can start down there if you read this chapter. For some odd reason, this site dislikes exclamation points next to question marks, so some emotions may not be shown correctly. Sorry. I also misspelled some things on purpose in here. You'll know where it is. -wink- Thanks, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Now then to the story! ...Are you still reading this? Shoo, Shoo! -does that little shooing motion thingy-

Hikari POV

It's been so many years since that fateful night at our senior prom. Takeru and I are married, and we even have two of our own kids. Our first son Hiroshi and our younger daughter Tori. Of course, Takeru and I both have jobs, but believe it or not, Takeru's the stay at home parent. In our old high school days, everyone thought he would be a basketball star, but they were all wrong. My husband is now an author of many books, and he stays at home to take care of our children. As for me, I've achieved my goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher. My best friend Leiko is also married to Daisuke, who became famous, not for his soccer skills, but for his noodle company. Their family has two boys, twins, named Ryu and Hoshi. Daisuke owns a restaurant that our family goes to quite often...but only because we get free meals. It's a good thing Dai is a nice guy. Overall, everyone has stayed together, and our children have become the best of friends.

It's another day at work. Thank God it's a Friday. Tomorrow's Saturday, and Tori's been begging me to let her play with Hoshi...maybe we could all have dinner at Daisuke's ramen shop...

"Tori...Hiroshi...wake up." I said when I entered their room.

"Wha? Mommy?" Hiroshi asked.

"Yeah, it's me. Wake up your little sister and get ready for school." I said as I carried him off the top of his bed. (A/N: Bunk bed.) "Be ready by the usual time."

"Mm...'k." he murmured.

I taught Tori at school since she's in kindergarten, while Hiroshi is one year older and is in first grade. I waited for my kids to get ready as I gathered my papers and started making breakfast. Soon enough we were all heading towards the car and saying goodbye to our dear dad.

"Bye, honey." I said before I kissed him on the cheek.

"Ja ne, otou-san." (1)

"Bye, bye, Dadda." (Hopefully, you can tell who is who. ;) )

"Have a good day at school!" Takeru smiled. "By the way, Tori, you said you wanted to play with Hoshi right?"

"Uh-huh." she nodded, eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

"Well then why don't we eat at Dai's ramen shop tomorrow?" he asked, looking at me.

"Great minds think alike." I said. "What do you think, Tori?"

"Uh-huh! I weeeeeeaally wanna pway with Hoshi!"

"That settles it. We're eating ramen tomorrow!" I said. "Now then, we're off to school!"

Next thing I knew, I found myself with 20 kids, all running around in a classroom. Teaching kindergarten kids is pretty fun. I guess I just wanted to be around a lot of kids. Plus, I get to watch Tori in her first year at school. I smiled as I clapped my hands, signaling the children that playtime was over, and that we needed to start class.

Time had really flown by. I had finished the day's worth of teaching, and it was now Saturday, the day we promised our daughter Tori that we would go to Daisuke's ramen restaurant so she could play with Hoshi. Takeru drove us to the famous shop, and our two families once again got our kids together to play.

"I swear, Tori and Hiroshi are growing so fast!" exclaimed Leiko. "It never seems that Ryu and Hoshi are growing up at all."

"Well, you're always with them, so you see them differently than how you see my kids." I smiled. "By the way, it was your turn to take the kids somewhere, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." she replied. "Hey kids, where do you wanna go?"

"THE PARK!" they all yelled at once...well, almost all of them. Tori was the only exception, seeing as she said, "The 'poke'." Takeru and I still have no idea how she got that word out of park, but she'll learn.

"Talk about a unanimous decision." said Daisuke as he stepped into the room. "As usual, you guys come to eat after everyone leaves."

"Heh. Doesn't that just make it easier for you?" smirked Takeru. "You should be thanking us."

"NO thanks," said Daisuke as he laughed. We all enjoyed the joke, and right after, Leiko gathered up the children and took them to the park.

"Soooo...you guys want the usual ramen?" Daisuke asked.

"Yep, the usual bowl." replied Takeru. But just as Daisuke turned around, the sound of glass shattering was heard, and when we turned our heads, we saw a robber with gun in hand.

"Hand over the cash, Mr. I-think-I'm-so-famous-cuz-of-my-ramen. I'm here to take the greens." he said in a low, threatening tone.

"And what of I don't?" Daisuke asked. He'd never been the type to give up, and I noticed that his hand was moving around the bottom of the counter, looking for the gun he always kept there.

Is he nuts? He's pulling out his gun against this guy! If he gets shot...NO! I can't think of things like that! I shook my head as I tried to stay calm and safe, even though I was on the floor, unprotected.

"Then little girly here'll die." He stated, aiming his gun at me. Crap...now I'm a hostage of some sort! "And you better not pull out that gun of yours...if I see it, she dies on the spot."

Daisuke froze, not knowing what to do. But I guess he made his decision as he opened the cash register to pull out the money. He stuffed it inside a bag and handed it over to the scoundrel, not knowing what would happen.

"YOU ACTUALLY TRUST ME? YOU MUST BE AN IDIOT! WHO TRUSTS A THEIF? I'M SENDING HER TO HELL NOW!" he yelled as he cocked his gun and looked in my direction. "Have fun in Hell."

I quickly prepared myself for the pain, curling myself up into a ball, sobbing. Why did I have to die! Why!? Then, I heard two gunshots ring throughout the shop. I looked up...only to see...

...Blood. His blood. I screamed as I felt Takeru's limp body fall onto mine, covering me in his blood.

"TAKERU! WHY?" I screamed. "WHY?"

"You know why, silly. I have to protect you. I love you. I did it so that you'd stay alive." he quietly whispered. "Be careful..." His body sagged, and his eyes closed. I frantically reached out to search for his pulse. It's slow...but he's alive...I hope... That's when I was snapped out of my thoughts and brought back to reality. The thief! I looked up, only to find his dead body, shot through the heart. What? When? How? I looked at Daisuke and realized that he had his gun in hand. Smoke was steadily streaming out of the gun's barrel, revealing that Dai had killed the robber. His hand was slowly shaking...most likely because of fear. He turned his head towards mine and said,

"I'm sorry. I wasn't fast enough. But right now we need to get him to the hospital, and quick!" I nodded and had him assist me in lifting up Takeru's unconscious body. We called an ambulance, and now we're all inside the waiting room...well, with the exception of Leiko, who was out with the kids. We gave her a call and explained everything. She promised to keep the kids busy so that they wouldn't learn of what was going on. They're too young to know about it. I don't want Takeru to die. I want to stay as a family...with BOTH parents...Hiroshi...Tori...

"Hikari...what do you think is going to happen to Takeru?" Daisuke asked me, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"Well...he lost a lot of blood," I said looking at my shirt, "but...I want to say that he'll pull through...but I have this feeling that he won't." I finished, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Excuse me, Mr. Motomiya? Mrs. Takaishi? I...I'd like to have a word with you." the doctor said, coming out of the room. Daisuke and I followed him to a quiet and secluded area, where only Dai and I could hear what he had to say.

"I'm sorry, but Takeru has been shot in a very vital area. We tried to save him, but... He only has a few minutes left to live. I suggest you make the time worthwhile. I'm sorry." he said, turning his back and walking away. I was...heart broken. The thought of not being with Takeru was...horrifying. Takeru's gonna...die? It can't be... I walked into Takeru's room, looking at him. He was wide awake, and he probably new everything.

"Hey...Hikari-chan? I want you to spend time with Takeru. Just let him know from me that he was my best friend, 'k?" whispered Daisuke.

"...Yeah." I walked over to Takeru's bed, seeing a lonely look in his cerulean eyes.

"Hika-chan? Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, but you -"

"No, Hika. I already know everything. It's okay." he said coughing. "I wish I could stay here longer, to see our children grow up...but I'll do that from above. I'll still watch over everyone..."

"Takeru!" I cried. "Please don't go!"

"I'm sorry Hika, but it's my fate. And...I'm sorry for something else..." he said, looking down at himself. "I broke my promise..."

"Your...promise?" I asked confused.

"Promises are meant to be kept, but in a way I broke mine..." Then it hit me. He was talking about that night.

"I'll stay with you forever, and I'll protect you forever. I promise."

"Keru, you didn't -"

"Sorry for interrupting again, but back then, my promise meant that I'd be here, in the flesh. But...now I'll keep watch over you from the heavens." he whispered. His eyes began to droop, and I could tell his time was coming. "Hika..." He slowly lifted his head, and for the last time, we kissed. Right after that, his head fell to the soft, white pillow, eyes shut. He was...dead.

Takeru...I already miss you...I want to follow you... But I know you wouldn't want that. I have to watch over our children. Please...keep our children safe. I stepped out into the familiar waiting room, seeing everyone's faces. Everyone.

"So is he..." Leiko left out the last word, knowing that it would hurt me more if I heard it. I simply nodded my head in response to her question as I steadily walked toward my children. I embraced them, one in each arm.

"Okaa-san, where's otou-san?" (2)

"Where Dadda?"

"Your dad...went away." I said quietly.

"What do you mean, Mom?" asked Hiroshi. "Is he gonna come back?"

"...No. But he's always watching us, so never forget to love your dad, okay?"

"...Okay..."

"Lub, Dadda!" giggled Tori.

I quietly walked my children to my car, taking them home. They were so innocent, not knowing about death. But it was better that they didn't find out. Not until they are older. Takeru...watch over them. They're gonna miss you... I drove away from the hospital, where your body was. Then night was silent no sounds could be heard...at least not by my ears. They were too busy listening to what you used to tell me. Memories of you popped into my mind, and I couldn't help but look up to the sky and whisper, "I love you."

A/N: Yes, it's sad, but please don't kill me. I don't have much time until my family goes on vacation, so it'll be a little while before I can post the epilogues, so for now I'll put up the endings. Give me a few hours and the alternate will be done, but to satisfy some of you, I'm posting this first. Let me know what you think of this ending. Takari forever! - Shikyo Yaiba.

(1) Ja ne, Otou-san. Bye, Dad.

(2) Okaa-san, where's otou-san? Mom, where's dad?