Disclaimer: I Do NOT own Digimon or the characters ... apart from Nico and Mr Shimizu and the security guard from the last chapter. I own those three characters and the plot!! And incase it isn't obvious, I don't own Italy, ROFL

Sorry for the VERY late chapter. Things had come up and I was extremely busy. But I hope this chapter will make it up to you readers -smiles-. Also, thank you to all who have read this story (I've had 978 hits!! WOOT!), added this story to their subscriptions and favourites, and to those who have commented.

Just a recap on what is happening:

Rika's mother was given a photoshoot in Italy and was allowed to drag Rika and her friends along. On the second day of the trip Rika had met a too-good-to-be-true kind of guy; Nico. Whilest Rika was with Nico, Ryo developed some jealousy towards them. During their days together, Rika had been telling Nico all about her Digital Adventures. In the last chapter we had learned that Nico and Mr Shimizu were plotting to take over Italy at midnight. But their plans never carried on, due to Ryo.

So that about sums it up, rofl. Hope you enjoy this chapter! There is swearing in this chapter!!

By the way! My old name went from Kaoru2585 to SpookyButt, incase it wasn't obvious -winks-.

Chapter 6 – The Truth

Rika folded her arms and glared at Kazu. They were stuck in the hotel that day due to massive rain. Like usual, Kazu had said something to greatly piss Rika off. Henry had his hand on her shoulder as to tell her to calm down. Calm down? There was no possible way she could calm down after what he had said. If it wasn't for the fact Rika had a terrible headache, she would have thrown him off the top of the hotel. Rika and Kazu locked eyes in a deep glare, which sent sparks into the air.

"R-Rika?" Jeri studdered quietly. She was the first to speak in what seemed like hours – which were mere minutes in reality. Tears glisened her eyes as Takato wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Clearly Takato was frusterated too, as his face was demented into a frown.

The tension grew in the room. Everyone stood around Rika and Kazu, well, everyone but Ryo. Everyone was afraid of what to say, they knew what Kazu said was true, hell even Ryo knew, that's why he stormed out. Jealousy and rage had gotten the better of him so he slammed the door to the hotel room as he left.

Rumiko darted her eyes back and forth, from Rika to Kazu and back to Rika. Even Rika's grandmother was scared to say anything. Finally Kazu dropped his gaze and spoke – his voice filled with anger but guilt. "Rika ... I'm sorry." Rika's eyes filled with tears of hurt and hatrid as her hand made contact with the side of his face. He let out a yelp of surprise and pain, which caused everyone to jumped because of how hard Rika had hit and how loud Kazu screamed.

Rika had readied herself to smack him again, but her hand never made contact with skin. Henry grabbed onto her arm before it reached his face. She turned to glare at him and his face was visible with dissapointment. A tear managed to slip down Rika's face, which was rubbed away almost instantly. Kazu touched his cheek, it stung him horribly to do so. "Kazu ... I-I hate you."

Rumiko's jaw dropped, "you can't possibly mean that, Rika!"

Rika shook her head and faced her mother, frowning. "I mean it. And I will never stop meaning it." She pulled her arm out of Henry's hand and headed for the door. She stopped and faced them once more before leaving. "I hate all of you. Just leave methe hell alone."

xxxvxxx

The rain had died down a bit. Sprinkles of water touched Rika's nose. She had left the hotel with out looking back, heck, she didn't even know if she truly wanted to go back. She was angry with Kazu – no, with everyone. Kazu had meant his words and it tore Rika in half.

The streets were filled with people ridding their boredom by shopping. Every so often a car would drive down the one-way street, splashing water as it passed. Rika walked on, and just kept walking. She had no idea where she was heading, and had no idea if she would remember her way back to the hotel. The whole ordeal was just to frusterating to her to even think straight. She knew very well she would pay the consequences of what she had said when she gets back to her room. Not that it even mattered. None of their opinions mattered to her anymore. She was just done with them, plain and simple.

A car honked as Rika walked across the street in front of it. Getting hit would have been nice, she thought bitterly. But of course, she wasn't hit, just pelted with water, soaking her right side. The water was cold, and made her clothes stick to her skin, but she continued to walk until she reached a very small sitting park. She recalled being there before; Nico had shown her the place. But because of the weather, it wasn't exactly beautiful today. And given the time in the afternoon, the park was empty. Well almost empty; a couple sat hand in hand on a park bench, faces pressed against each other.

Rika let out a sigh and slowly walked over to a nearby tree. She sat down on the damp grass and cringed in pain. Her head was killing her, which evadently, was her own fault. Her eyes locked onto a small pond where a mother and her duckling were quacking at each other. Rika gave a half smiled and closed her eyes.

A storm cloud rolled in, and it began to pour. Rika was drenched in seconds but she didn't care. With all the hurt, anger, and frusteration ripping her to pieces, nothing else in the world mattered. She could get mugged at that very second and still not care. Her world ended with the touch of Kazu's words. Kazu, that god-damned moron! More tears escaped Rika. Imagine, the Ice Queen crying. The Ice Queen, heh, it's all I'll ever be. For the second time in her life, she let her emotions take control of her body. The only other time that happened was when Renamon was taken back into the Digital World for good. Renamon; her best friend. Some best friend, she's not even here when I need her. Hell nobody is there, nobody is ever there when Rika needed them. She was alone, alone before, alone now.

The thoughts of all the events from yesturday and today, raced through Rika's mind. She couldn't rid them, it was impossible. But she wanted to. Rika wanted to pretend nothing had happened. If she could change it, she damn well would. But the events were real. The actions were real. It was just real. And it was his fault. Nico's fault. All of it was. But why couldn't she bring herself to blame him? They were in Italy for a measily two weeks. Two! Could she have developed feelings for him? No, impossible. Her heart was set on Ryo. Ryo – who now offically hates her.

Why couldn't she stop everything that happened before it had. Would she have? Would anyone have? It's Italy for God sakes, wasn't she allowed to be free? Do what she wanted to? Sure drinking isn't exactly being free, but was it too hard for everyone to understand that she wanted to? Have fun for once. No! Of course not. Ice Queens are never allowed to have fun. But Rika did have fun. But the guilt was killing her. It pained. It felt worse then her energy being driven into Justimon when she was Sakuyamon.

Rika opened her eyes and peered around. The rain was still coming down, but not hard anymore. It was a relief. That's all she needed – pneumonia. Get sick and die, though no one would care. It was getting pretty late, close to dinner. She had been sitting out in the rain for a few hours.

A hunger pain lurged into Rika's stomach, making a loud and clear grumble. Rika winced at the pain, she hadn't eaten at all that day. Closing her eyes once again, she replayed the images of the previous day through her mind.

"Three minutes, Rika, it will all be over."

"I liked you Rika. Trust me, I really did." He looked up into the sky. The moon was shining bright, and the night was cloudless. Nico grinned. "Less then one minute, Italy is offically our to conquer." He flicked the blade open to his knife and bright it down viciously at Rika.

Rika's eyes shot open. She could picture it so clearly. He was about to kill her but yet she isn't blaming him for anything that went on? Okay Rika, you've now offically lost it. She groaned in annoyace. "It's all my fault."

"What do you mean, Rika?" A cool voice said from the other side of the tree.

xxxvxxx

"Do you think Rika will forgive us?" Jeri asked. They were still sitting in the hotel room, gathered around. It had been three hours since Rika had left, yet no one had dared to say anything.

Henry answered her calmly. "We don't need to ask for forgiveness. She was the one who said she hated us, remember."

Jeri sobbed, of course she remembered. But she knew Rika never meant it so harsh, she was just frusterated.

Takato let out a sigh and all heads turned to him. "Well, not much we can do really. Rika probably wont be back until we are all asleep, and Ryo. Well, he's old enough to take care of himself. I say we just go out for a walk or go for some dinner. I'm starved."

Rumiko nodded. "Yes, but I'm afraid. What if that boy comes back after Rika?"

"Judging by the description Ryo gave us, it seems that Nico is pretty injured." Henry said.

"Rika is a crazy but tough cookie, she can handle herself." Kazu said. "I just ... I regret saying that to her." His head dropped. "I never thought she would get so mad at that."

"It's Rika we are talking about, she gets mad at everything you and Kenta say," Takato half laughed. "She'll get over it. And hopefully Ryo will too."

Everyone nodded. "Hey, Takato?"

"Yeah Kenta?"

Kenta straightened his glasses as he spoke, " would it be alright if we bunk with you guys tonight."

"I ... ahh ... yeah sure, if it's okay with you, Henry?"

Henry nodded, "Ryo will probably need his space tonight anyways. Now both of you pack up so we can go get some dinner." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a cellular phone. "I need to call my dad, and have him warn Yamaki about what happened."

Henry left the room and dialed his fathers number. "Hello?"

"Hey dad, it's me."

"Oh, Henry! Glad to hear from you. What's up?" His dad asked.

Henry gave a sigh and explained to his father all about what happened last night. His dad was quiet the whole time. "So if this Shimizu guy is really up to something, we need to be prepared."

"I agree. I will also inform the other monster makers of this ... Spirit Evolution?" He thought for a moment. "Never heard of it before. I'll call Yamaki right away."

Henry smiled, "great. Have Yamaki try to get our Digimon back for us. We sure is hell are going to need them for this battle. Cyberdramon said over five thousand Digimon. Way out of our league."

His father agreed with him and told him to be as safe as possible and not to wander off alone. After several minutes of telling him how his trip was, Henry hung up and went back into the room to wait for Kazu and Kenta.

Xxxvxxx

Rika didn't need to look to know who it was. The voice belonged to Ryo Akiyama. He sat down beside her but never looked at her. "How is it your fault?"

She shrugged and looked back at the pond, "maybe I shouldn't have hung out with him. He was so nice though." She couldn't believe herself when she said that. It was quiet for several moments before Rika broke the silence, "I'm sorry Ryo."

"For?"

Rika let out a sigh, "if I wasn't so careless you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"It was your carelessness that lead us to finding out Nico's plans though. If the events never happened, Italy would have been demolished," he reassured her. Rika smiled. "And besides, it felt fucking good beating the crap out of him."

Rika gave a half laugh, "yeah, it did." She stole a quick glance at him. He was looking straight ahead still. He was frowning. After Rika's words they didn't speak. They sat in complete silence. Rika watched as some robins landed on the grass just feet ahead of them. Their tiny little beaks pecking into the ground, hunting for some food. The moment was awkward and Rika knew Ryo was too thick headed to say something first.

She shifted her body and turned to look at him. Slapping him in the chest where his cut was, she smiled. "So does it hurt?"

He groaned, "like you wouldn't believe."

"Does it hurt when I slap it?" She asked innocently.

"Yes."

She grinned. "Good. You deserve it."

He was taken back by that. "What did I do?"

Rika raised her finger in a 'tisking' motion. "You never came after me right away."

Ryo knew she was referring to not coming after her when her and Nico left the others. He sighed and looked at her, "so? Maybe I thought you wanted time with your boyfriend."

Rika frowned, "whatever." She said. Folding her arms, she looked over at the pond again.

Ryo chuckled and leaned closer to her, "I'm just teasing you." She blushed and pushed him away. "Getting a little red in the face, are we?"

"Shut up." She said annoyed. He laughed again. They were silent again until Rika brought up a question that was bugging her. "So you aren't mad at me?"

Ryo rubbed his hand through his hair, "I was when I stormed off. But then just laughed it off later."

Rika nodded. "So why did you come after me last night?"

Ryo was a bit surprised by the question since she asked it the previous night. "I thought he was going to harm you."

She shook her head, "you're a liar. Tell me the real reason."

That was his real reason for going to get her, but Ryo knew she wasn't satisfied with the answer. "I wanted to protect you." She rolled her eyes, "because I care about you, Rika." He grabbed her arm and pulled her onto his lap. He placed his arms around her waist to hold her there. Rika struggled but then relaxed. With a heartful voice, he whispered into her ear, "because I love you."

xxxvxxx

"Riley, do you have the reports for me?" An annoyed Yamaki asked. He was pacing back in forth on the tenth floor of the Hypnos building. Due to the damage and money spent on the D-Reaper, Hypnos wasn't funded as much, therefore recieving information had taken three times as long to recieve.

The purple-haired women answered quickly, "still working on it, sir." She typed speedily at her computer. Yamaki swore. "Sorry sir, but our technology isn't so great anymore."

Yamaki nodded and flipped open his cell phone. "Dolphin, have you gotten ahold of all the makers yet?" He asked impatiently.

"Not yet, Yamaki. Some have gone on vacation." He replied calmly. "And I have been working on a man-made portal, along with Shibumi."

"Well hurry it up then. We don't know when these things are going to attack." He hung up and dialed a new number. "Tally!"

"Y-yes sir?" A hesitant voice came.

"Have you gotten ahold of Italy's President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister is the English way of saying it)?" He asked.

"Yes sir, they laughed at us though." She answered.

Yamaki growled. "Well, are they going to prepare for it or not?"

"No sir."

Yamaki took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. "Whatever, if Italy gets destroyed before the kids' Digimon get there, then it's their fault." He hung up before Tally could reply.

Xxxvxxx

Rika's stomache gave another growl as her and Ryo walked out of the park. Ryo was rubbing his face as Rika was smirking. He's such a liar, she said to herself. After Ryo had confessed, Rika slapped him – which only made him smile to see her blush for the second time that night.

It was nearing sundown so they decided to grab a bite to eat before heading back to the hotel. Ryo convinced Rika to go to a small restaurant which himself and the others went to a few nights before. What the Tamers had found out was the place was meant for couples at a candle light dinner, but Rika didn't know that (haha). They turned around a corner and Ryo almost got whiplashed from being tugged so hard. Rika had yanked him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him into a very shadowy alleyway, filled with bad smelling garbage cans.

"Rika, what the hell are you doing?" He asked frowning. He rubbed his neck where the shirt rubbed against it. "Trying to choke me?"

"Shut up and hide," she snapped. Rika bent down and hid behind a trash can. She pulled Ryo down with her and wrinkled her nose at the smell. "It's the others."

"So?" He was confused.

"So I am not in the mood to get the third degree from my mother or grandmother," she whispered. Ryo was about to ask why but Rika placed a hand over his mouth. They watched as the five kids and two adults walked by the alley way. Once Rika was sure they were long gone, she stood up and walked to the edge of the alleyway, peering around the corner. With a satisfied look on her face, she continued walking down the street. Ryo had to jog to catch up.

"So why are you going to get yelled at?" He asked.

Rika stopped in her tracks and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "I told them I hate them." She continued walking again.

Ryo frowned and lead her to the restaurant. Holding the door for her, he asked, "why did you say that?"

Rika shrugged, "I was mad at them. Not like I mean it. Well, to Kazu and Kenta I do."

The two made their way to the very back of the restaurant. A petite women came and handed them menus as another women who looked to be about fifty, came and poured them some water. A violinist played music walking around the resturaunt as couples exchanged stories. Ryo smiled, "so I guess this is our first date, huh?"

Rika kicked him under the table as she looked at her menu, "so who is going to pay for this? I don't feel like washing dishes."

Ryo smacked his pockets for his wallet. Finding it, he pulled it out and counted his Euro. "Well, I've got about 125 Euro on me. So, I will pay for dinner."

Rika smirked, "so I should get the most expensive thing then?"

Ryo laughed, "get whatever you want, my treat."

After a few minutes the waitress who gave them menus came back. Taking their menus and placing them under her arm, she pulled out a notepad and pen. "What can I get you?" She asked in her sweet Italian voice.

Rika thought for a moment, "spaghetti and meatballs please."

"Same." Ryo said.

The waitress looked confused but still smiled. Using her pen, she pointed at Rika, "spaghetti, si?" Rika nodded and she pointed at Ryo, "Sardinia?"

Ryo shook his head, "Spaghetti" The waitress nodded and left. Ryo ran his hand through his hair and smiled at Rika, unsure of what to say. Rika returned it with a dirty look as the older women came and lit a candle for them. Ryo thanked her in his best Italian voice he could, which sucked, making Rika laugh. "Candle light is romantic," he said. Rika rolled her eyes, and folded her arms.

"Why do I get the feeling you knew this was a cheesy romantic restaurant?" She asked.

"My, what ever do you mean, Rika? I had really no idea." He said innocently. Rika kicked him again as their food was being served.

Xxxvxxx

It was late by time Rika and Ryo left the restaurant. The street lights were on and it was drizzling out. Cars and Mopeds zoomed down the streets, and old couples walked hand in hand. A cool breeze washed over them every now and then, which sent shivers down Rika's spine. Everytime it happened, Ryo would try to put his arm around her – which ended up in horrid results.

They reached the hotel and huddled inside. Thank god we made it in before it poured, Ryo thought as he watched the rain pelt the doors and windows of the hotel entrance. Ryo glanced at the clock before they reached the elevator; 9:24pm. Exausted, they both headed down the hall after being taken to their floor. The two stopped outside Rika's room. "Well, good night, Rika." Ryo said. Rika twisted the handle to her door but it was locked.

"Err, Akiyama?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Let me guess, you are locked out of your room and you have no key, so you want to bunk with me for the night."

She nodded and looked at the ground, in a dissapointed kind of way. Ryo laughed. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he replied quickly. He grabbed her by the hand and walked to their room. He opened the door and walked to the sofa-bed – which was still open due to his laziness of not folding it back up that morning – and collasped. He patted the spot beside, "room for one more," he teased. She growled but sat on the sofa anyways. She was tired and it was a hell of a walk from the restaurant to the hotel.

"So which room do I get?" She asked.

Ryo thought for a nano-second, "the sofa bed. Kazu and Kenta sleep in the rooms. The sofa bed is pretty comfy though," he winked. Rika rolled her eyes for the thousandth time that day. "I'll sleep on the chair tonight."

"Whatever," she said. She threw off her socks and crawled to the front of the bed beside Ryo. Rika gave a hard tug at the blanket that Ryo was laying on – which caused him to fall off the bed – and wrapped it around herself. Using both pillows she made herself comfy, grinning.

"What am I supposed to use?" Ryo asked in disbelief, looking at Rika who was hogging all the comfort items.

"Improvise," she said. "But ... you have a very, very small brain, so I highly doubt you could do that. I'm sure your mommy still tucks you in at night."

Ryo's face dropped into a sad frown. "I don't have a mother," he said.

"Oh, sorry." Rika said, like I knew.

Ryo flopped on the bed and layed up against her; his chest to her back. "It's alright. Now give me a pillow." She shook her head and he grabbed one from under her. "Thanks." Moving himself to the other side of the sofa bed, Ryo layed his head on the pillow and fell into a relaxing sleep.

--

Mr Shimizu was standing on top of the hotel. His light jacket flapping in the wind. He was watching the sky turn into a crimson colour, a sly grin on his face. "Now, my baby, attack!"

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I enjoyed writing it. I'm not too great at writing this lovey-dovey stuff so don't complain if it isn't good enough, lol. Also note that I DID NOT READ OVER THIS CHAPTER, aren't I a stinker -winks-. Oh and if you want to know what Kazu said to Rika, well I guess you are screwed, LOL! I don't even know, in a future chapter I might have Rika bring it up ... so for now, use your imaginations, hahahahahaha.

Please review! Or subscribe! Hehe.

Also, does ANY one know where I can find all the Tamers episodes in Japanese with English sub?? I know YouTube has the first six episodes but I want them all! Please let me know through Private messaging. Thanks!