Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ I Do... Not ❯ Part 1: Tears and Heartbreak ( Prologue )

AN: Hello to all Tkari fans who's reading this. Yes, I'm really excited about this fic, not just because it's my first fic for this couple, not including any other couples (okay, so there's a hint of Mimato), but also because I just love the plot of the story. If this is similar to some fic you guys have written and/or read, I assure you that it is pure coincidence. Please tell me if you like!

Disclaimer: I'm still here, in case the owners of Digimon decided to give Yamato away. Wonder when that'll be. Oh well, I can still pretend I own Digimon even if I don't, right? Right.

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I Do… Not

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The gloomy, winter sky that enveloped the whole city for the past two days was finally giving the sun a chance to shine once more. Little by little, pillars of bright light pierced through the cloudy sky, indicating that in just a few moments, the giant ball of fire will once again rule the heavens.

A very nervous Takeru Takaishi paced around his living room, making his already irate brother even more furious. Yamato pried his azure eyes from the sports magazine he was reading to look at his younger sibling.

" T.K. I swear if you don't stop, I will be forced to tie you to the chair," Yamato threatened. Takeru gave his brother a tired look with those same sapphire eyes and sighed.

" What if she says no? What if she's not ready?!"

Yamato glared at him.

" T.K., we've been through this before," moaned Yamato.

He then again buried his face in the magazine he was reading. Takeru went up to where his brother was and rudely yanked the reading material from his hands.

" Hey!" Yamato yelped.

" Matt! Can't you see that I'm in total need of advice here?" Takeru demanded.

Yamato closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep his cool. After all, his brother is already freaked out about this whole thing as it is. The last thing Takeru needs is Yamato giving him a long, boring lecture.

" T.K.," he started, once he has calmed down. " You're making this harder than it really is. Just take her to dinner then go to the park or somewhere you two can be alone. Then pop the question. It's as simple as that!"

He immediately dived for his magazine that was still in Takeru's grasp who, fortunately for Yamato, is now too occupied with his own thoughts to notice the robbery that had just occured.

" But what if she says no?"

" Bro, this is Kari we're talking about. The girl's crazy for you! Why are you having doubts?"

Takeru let out a long sigh. He covered his face with his now empty hands, in frustration.

" I don't know if she's ready," he confessed.

Yamato smiled mildly at his brother, understanding what he's going through.

" Just try."

~*

Hikari Kamiya brushed away some of her mahogany tendrils that escaped her loose bun. She was sitting in the living room, waiting for Takeru to make his appearance. Hikari glanced at her watch for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.

8:12 it read. He's now twelve minutes late. Hikari was getting a little worried. Usually Takeru is at least five minutes early. What's keeping him?

She was just about to grab the phone and call him when the doorbell rang. Praying that the person who's at the door is the one she was anxiously awaiting for, she quickly got off the sofa and dashed to the front door. There, standing with his usual disheveled blond hair neatly combed, and holding a bouquet of white roses, was her boyfriend.

A relieved smile crossed her attractive face as he greeted her with a peck on the cheek and an apology. Brushing off the excuse, she grabbed her coat from the rack, and both of them went out into the cold night.

~*

" Is it good?" Takeru asked, unable to hide his nervousness.

Hikari, who was too busy eating her strawberry cheesecake to notice replied, " Really good."

" Good," breathe Takeru, who once again returned to staring at his dessert.

The night is not going well at all. Not at all! Everything seems to be going wrong. First a clumsy waiter spilled water on him when he tripped, causing a big commotion. Then they waited for almost thirty minutes for their orders to arrive. And to top it all off, they haven't said a thing to each other all through dinner. Usually, he would lighten up the mood by cracking a joke or two, but tonight, his mind is just blank.

Hikari gentle set her fork on the plate with the half-eaten dessert and looked at Takeru with questioning eyes.

" T.K., what's wrong?" she finally asked, making those sapphire eyes of his look straight into hers. He was quiet for a while.

" No-nothing," he stuttered, averting his gaze from her.

" Oh," was all she could say.

~*

Hikari rubbed her hands together in attempt to warm them up. Takeru had suggested that they go for a walk through the park. This puzzled her at first. It is winter after all, and to many people, the idea is just simply idiotic.

" Come on," Takeru whispered as he led her to a nearby bench.

After positioning herself beside Takeru, Hikari looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say whatever he needs to say.

" Ka-Kari," the blonde stammered, " I-I want to explain to you what's been happening."

" Well, I'm gla-"

" Please don't say anything yet," he pleaded, cutting her off by putting his fingers on her lips. " Please. It-it's just that I don't think I'll be able to say all the things I want to tell you if I'm interrupted." He paused as he took in a deep, shuddering breath.

" Kari, you've been the most wonderful person I've ever had the pleasure of having in my life. I-I cherished the times we spent together. You were always by my side, even though sometimes you know I'm being stupid. You're the one person that believed in me when I started to doubt myself. The one who's kept me strong through all these years. The one who taught me never to lose hope.

You're one of the few people who can cheer me up just by smiling. I-I don't know, but you just have that special gift.

Kari, we've been through rough times. Especially with our relationship. But after five years. Five, long years, full of happiness, surprises, sadness, pain, and tears, we stayed together. We had passed tests after tests. Worked out all disagreements. Together." Takeru got out of his seat and kneeled before Hikari, who finally realized what he was trying to tell her.

" Hikari Kamiya," he continued while taking a small, black velvet box from his coat pocket and opening it, revealing a simple emerald ring shaped like a heart. Her birth stone. " This may sound corny, but you have to know that you are my light. My love. And after all those years together, I'll be the stupidest person in the entire galaxy if I let you go. I love you so much. Please. Please marry me," he whispered as tears slowly formed in his eyes.

Hikari looked at him with tears streaming down her lovely face. The guy she loved, the one who she had dreamed to spend the rest of her life with, was kneeling down in front of her, waiting for the answer.

What Takeru heard next ripped his heart into shreds and shattered his dreams into a million of pieces.

" I-I can't," Hikari sobbed, and she ran off into the night.

~*

He walked towards his car, which was parked in the empty lot. He felt numb. Lifeless. The cold winter breeze blew, making the bare trees dance like skeletons in the middle of the night. Soft snow fell from the sky like tiny feathers.

Takeru inserted the key into the keyhole and slid in his car, staring straight into nothing. He closed his eyes as he realized how exhausted he was. Leaning back on his seat, he sat quietly and sobbed. The tears his heart cannot cry poured from his puffy eyes and down his flushed cheeks like rain, as emotions boiled inside him, turning the rain into a storm.

As he sat there, replaying the scene over and over again until his brain throb, there was only one question he wanted to be answered. Why? He had thought, that after all those years they had spent together, she loved him as much as he loved her. That she'd be more than happy to finally walk down that aisle, stand hand in hand with him before many witnesses, and declare her simple " I do". Because he sure was. He was ready. He was obviously mistaken.

~*

She never knew her heart can feel so much pain. Being a Science teacher, she had never really paid attention to what it's saying or feeling. To her, it was just another organ whose only job is to pump blood into our body to keep us alive.

She had seen many people get their hearts broken in soap operas and movies, and they had described it often, " as if it was being torn in two". She scoffed at such nonsense, because it isn't logical. Because it isn't real life.

She was wrong, because she was sitting in her room that very minute and crying over her shattered heart. It was impossible to put it back together. It was incomplete now, because still, there were smaller pieces hidden in corners that she cannot reach, for the passages were dark as night and her only light had died.

At that moment, she knew the she wasn't the only one trying to put the pieces back. She knew that he too, is still searching for the smaller pieces in the dark corners, for he's lost his own light. She took it from him because she was selfish. And because she was scared.

~*

" So you said no?"

Hikari nodded silently, who was "busy" with her cooking.

" Scrambled eggs, right?" she asked her company, changing the subject.

A pair of chocolate brown eyes narrowed, as the owner watched the brunette run around the kitchen like a lost duckling.

" You know, I just don't understand why you-"

" Look, I don't want to get into that right now, alright?" the woman cut in. " I have a lot to do today Tai, so I would appreciate it if you just don't mention it again." Her voice quivered a little as she tried to retain the oncoming tears that was forming in her eyes.

" I'll finish this up. Just go rest," an affectionate male voice said behind the sniffling woman.

Hikari nodded and turned around to leave, but stopping a few feet away before running back to her brother's loving arms and muffling a little thank you.

~*

Yamato felt a tinge of anger towards Hikari as he watched his brother in the living room staring unseeing at the bare wall. He'd already figured out what had happened from the way he looked the minute he came in last night. With red eyes, droopy shoulders, and a dull expression on his face, it was rather easy to guess that she refused his proposal.

" Hey, want some company?" Yamato queried, thinking of a more better way to start interrogating by going around the subject, and not diving right into it.

" I'm not really in the mood to talk right now," the other blonde snapped. Yamato brushed off the comment and sat beside his little brother.

He sighed.

" You know, when I had first asked Mimi to marry me, she refused, just like Kari did," Yamato began. This took Takeru by surprise, despite his mood.

" I never gave up though. I went over to her house the next day and begged her to tell me why she had said no."

Interested, Takeru asked, " What did she say?"

Yamato turned his blue eyes to look straight into his brother's, as a mysterious smile crossed his face.

" You have to find that out for yourself," he replied, patting his brother's shoulder and left the room to let Takeru think on his own.

~*

He's skin stung as invisible needles prick on it like a pincushion. He walked down a deserted street with his head bowed, thinking about what his brother had said. Soft snow were crushed mercilessly and unnoticed underneath his black boots.

Takeru stopped and turned at a corner, finally looked up from his boots, and immediately recognized the street. He was about to turn around and go the other way, but his curiosity got the better of him. He was curious. He wants to know the answer; he needs to know, for he cannot live one single day fearing that his heart would forever be incomplete.

~*

The urgent sound of the doorbell startled Hikari, who was lying on the couch of their living room, reading a Style magazine. Groaning, she forced her limp body off the couch and dragged herself towards the door.

Standing there with flushed cheeks and puffy, bloodshot eyes was Takeru. Hikari was about to close the door in his face, but as if on reflex, he held up his hand to keep it open.

" What do you want T. K?" she demanded, rather coldly which surprised both she and Takeru.

" Can I come in?" he asked, sounding heartbroken and desperate.

Hikari restrained herself from bursting into tears, and kept that apathetic expression on her face that matched her frigid tone moments ago. She stepped aside and let her visitor walk in. Takeru slowly closed the door.

" Why?" he whispered, unable to control the trembling of his voice.

" I don't have to speak to you if I do not want to, please just go," the woman replied, her voice strong and demanding, while she avoid his gaze which was pointed directly to her.

A few moments have passed, each quiet in his or her lonely miserable world.

" Why Kari?" was the whispered question that came from Takeru.

In the brim of tears, she plead softly, " Please just go," and buried her face in her hands.

" No! I want to know why?" he sobbed, as drop after drop of the familiar liquid streaked down his cheeks.

" Fine, you want to know why?!" she burst out, looking at him fiercely with her soft brown eyes shimmering with tears. " Because I'm scared, okay! I-I'm afraid tha-that after a while, we'd realize that getting married is the biggest mistake of our life! Then we'd get tired of quarrelling and decide to live separate lives! I'm scared of being hurt again, and I'm sick and tired of putting my heart back together whenever it gets broken!"

Takeru looked at her with eyes full of pain that he felt.

" That won't happen!"

" How do you know?! How can you be sure?!"

" Because I love you! And because I won't let it happen!" he argued.

" Just get out T.K."

" Kari-"

" Just get out!" she yelled

" No!" he protested. " I won't! Not until you tell me the real reason why!"

" Because I don't love you!"

To be continued…

~*

AN: You know, I was going to write it as a one-part story, but really, I can't help it! I love cliffhangers. Please don't flame me! Anyway, the last part will be up soon. I'm taking advantage of our 4-day vacation this Labor Day. Then it will be time to hit those books again. Don't worry because this isn't going to be like Rivals, where I kept changing the number of chapters there might be in the story. Of course that reminds me, anybody who has read Rivals, a big thank you! I'm currently working on the next chapter, so please be patient with me. I will get it done, but with school and all, it might be difficult. Whoa! This AN is way too long. Again, please review, and thank you for reading. Ja ne!

Bye and God Bless Guys!

~hugz~

angel joy87