Series: Buds & Blossoms||Story Title: Flower of Life
Characters: Mimi, Hikari|Pairing: Mimi x Hikari/Hikari x Mimi
Chapters: 2-5||Words: 1,060||Total: 2,112
Genre: Drama, Romance||Rated: G
Prompt: Digimon Femslash Week, day #1, flowers
Notes: For the purpose of this story, this is set a few years after the defeat of BelialVamdemon and doesn't acknowledge anything that happened after that.
Summary: Hikari's life hangs in the balance and Mimi rushes to find the antidote, which grows in a territory ruled by the Queen of the Flowers. And Rosemon is not one to hand over her possessions lightly.
The Digital World didn't have kingdoms as such. What it had were general areas where the most powerful Digimon more or less ran things. Sometimes it wasn't the most highly evolved Digimon, but whoever it was that was the best at running matters.
But Rosemon was one of the most highly evolved Digimon in the Digital World itself at the time, and Mimi tingled all over at the thought of meeting her.
Or she would have, if her every thought wasn't taken up with how to persuade the Flower Queen to let her have that flower.
"Have you ever met her before?" she asked Lilymon, tilting her head up. They were both plant Digimon, so it wouldn't have surprised her.
Lilymon shook her head. "I've heard of her, though. She's supposed to have started off like I did, as a Tanemon. But that was a long time ago. No one knows how old she is."
Maybe that would make her easier to persuade. Mimi held tight onto that. Surely someone with that much experience would know how important it was to save someone's life?
Getting into Rosemon's territory didn't take nearly as long as Mimi feared it would. Her fingers remained tight around Lilymon's arms and she refused to look at the countdown. It moved far too fast for her taste. She just had to get this done, that was all.
"And who are you that enters my lands?"
Mimi knew wonderful voices. She wasn't as into music as Yamato was by any means, but she knew a lovely voice when she heard one. Rosemon's voice put all the ones she'd ever heard in her life to shame.
Lilymon spun until she saw the other Digimon, who hovered not that far away. Exactly how she'd come on them without Mimi seeing her, Mimi wasn't certain. But there she was, a tall being with a flow of golden blonde hair, most of her face consisting of blood-red petals, and a hint of a smile that enticed and warned at the same time. By one hip there hung a thorned rapier, and by the other a coiled whip.
Mimi tried to gather her voice, focusing on the fact Hikari needed her.
"I'm Tachikawa Mimi. I need to ask a favor of you." She kept a grip on Lilymon, trying to ground herself, not wanting to be distracted.
"Of course you do." Rosemon's mouth quirked. "That's why everyone comes here, to ask something of me. What will it be for you? What do you want?" She paused, a deliberate and measured deed. "And what are you willing to give me for it?"
"Give?"
Rosemon waved one hand. "Nothing in any world is free. You must know that." She tilted her head toward Mimi and Mimi had the sudden feeling that she hadn't needed to introduce herself at all. Rosemon knew who she was. "Speak, then."
Mimi gathered herself again. Rosemon amazed her; she'd never seen a creature so blindingly beautiful in her entire life. She couldn't let herself lose track of what was going on, no matter how easy it was to do so.
"My friend, Yagami Hikari, is very sick. She was poisoned by thorns." She wished she'd asked what kind of thorns those were. It might be useful now. "Our other friend Koushirou figured out that we need a special flower to save her."
She scrambled for her D-Terminal and pulled up the information. "The Lifeblossom, that's what we need."
Again Rosemon's mouth quirked but downward this time. "The Lifeblossom. The greatest treasure of my garden. A flower that can take up to twenty years to bloom and possibly more: usually more. Twenty years is the least amount of time that's passed between bloomings."
Mimi could feel the blood draining from her. Clearly Koushirou didn't know everything about this plant.
"Has it bloomed? Is it going to soon?" In the back of her mind, terror screeched. She ignored it. She could panic another time. Hikari wouldn't be served by her going into hysterics now.
"It bloomed this morning," Rosemon said, examining her nails for a few moments. "It will last for seven days and seven nights before the petals fall and it remains in stasis until next time." Now she turned her head toward Mimi. "You have not yet said what you would give me for the Lifeblossom. What can you provide that would be worth this gift?"
Again her lips moved and yet this time, Mimi wouldn't have been willing to say that it was a smile. "Can you provide anything that would be worth it to me?"
Mimi's shoulders tightened up. She hadn't honestly expected anything like this at all. She didn't even consider one of her credit cards or any cash. Money from Earth wasn't always valuable here, and she wasn't wearing any proper jewelry.
"What do you like?" Lilymon asked, still keeping Mimi firm in her grip. "How are we going to know what to offer you if we don't know what you like?"
Rosemon chuckled at that. "I should've guessed that you would know that much, at least. You and I are much alike." She regarded Lilymon carefully. "Yes, I was once like you. Perhaps one day you'll be like me."
For a few moments, Mimi let herself be distracted by the thought of Lilymon evolving to such an amazing beauty. Then she pulled her thoughts back to the Rosemon who stood before her now.
"She's right. So what is it that you like?" She didn't want to have to go on some other quest just to find a gift for Rosemon. Time did not work in her favor today.
Rosemon tapped a finger on the side of her face. "Flowers, of course. That which is rare and held precious because it is beautiful, not because it is rare. There are certain gemstones which I find lovely but I think those would not do very well in this case."
She shifted in the air, little more than the faintest of movements, and the breeze caused by this sent a waft of the most tantalizing perfume ever toward Mimi, sending her thoughts spinning against her will.
"Can you offer me anything from that?" Rosemon asked, regarding Mimi and Lilymon both. "I suspect that you should make your mind up quickly. Time is of the essence, isn't it?"
To Be Continued
Notes: Mimi better make an offer soon. But what could the right offer be?
