Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Punishment ❯ Chapter 2

Punishment II
By Archangel Bloodraven

"Hey guys, have any of you seen Biyomon?" Sora asked looking at the couples. Tai and Matt were taking quietly, Joe and Izzy were curled up together, and TK was running his fingers through Kari's hair.

"She gave me a message for you." Gatomon said.

"What did she say?"

Gatomon leaned close to Sora and whispered in her ear. "She said you won't see her again until you quit denying your heart and talk to Mimi."

"She said that?"

Gatomon nodded and said. "And I agree with her."

"Has anyone seen Lillymon?" Mimi asked from the opposite side of the clearing.

"She left a message for you." Kari said as Gatomon nuged Sora. Kari crossed to the older girl and whispered in her ear, then looked pointedly at Sora. The two looked at each other as if to say something, hen turned and ran in opposing directions.

"So close." TK said massaging Kari's back.

"Yet so far." She murmured in agreement.

Sora ended up down by the river berating her own cowardice. "She was right there and you ran! Sora you are as boneheaded as Tai!" She fumed slumping down at the base of a tree and closing her eyes. Soon her own exhaustion caught up with her as the river lulled her to sleep.

~*~

Mimi pulled herself high into the branches of the tree.

"This is just the kind of thing Sora would do." She thought aloud. Thinking of her tomboy lover made her climb higher to escape her own stupidity. "She was there, close enough for me to wrap my arms around and I ran!" She settled herself into a the nook of the branches and cried herself to sleep.

~*~

Lillymon looked down at Sora. She was so beautiful asleep like that, it was easy to see why Mimi loved her.

"Mmm. Aren't these flowers beautiful, mom?" Sora murmered in her sleep. Lillymon was suddenly struck with an idea.

"They're lovely. Why don't you give them to your girlfriend, Mimi?" She whispered.

"Mom," Sora flushed a bright red. "Mimi's just someone I love.... love to be around."

"Sora." Lillymon whispered. "What you're feeling isn't wrong. Love is love and it doesn't matter who you feel it for. You've already lost your best friend. Don't lose your hearts desire."

"But what if she turns me away? It would break my heart."

"But what if she doesn't? You'll never know unless you try."

As Lillymon flew away, Sora turned urgently in her sleep.

~*~

Biyomon looked at Mimi, asleep in the tree, her head tipped to one side. She was going to wake her up when another idea occured to her. "Mimi."

"Five more minutes, okay Lillymon?" She murmered.

Biyomon blinked in surprise but continued. "That's all the time it takes to lose your heart, or your friend."

"Why'd you leave? Don't you like me anymore?"

"Yes I do, but I can't bear to see you punishing yourself. You love Sora, don't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"No buts Mimi. Yours is the the crest of sincerity. Be true to yourself. Tell her how you feel."

"What If I lose her?" She moaned.

"What if you don't?" Biyomon whispered before flying away.

~*~

"Whoa." Mimi said.

~*~

"What a strange dream." Sora mused.

~*~

"But I know what I must do." They said in unison.

~*~

Sora rejoined the others who were more than happy to point her in the right direction. Meanwhile, Mimi was finding that coming down is often harder than going up. As she reached for a branch, she slipped and fell the short distance to the ground.

"Oh Mimi!" A voice laughed and pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks." She said absently dusting herself off. "Have you seen..." She paused as she looked up. "Sora!"

Instead of answering, Sora pushed Mimi's hat back and kissed her for about fifteen seconds. " I love you, Mimi Takichawa, and if you hate me for it, that still won't change the way I feel."

Mimi blinked in surprise, then pulled Sora into a kiss of her own. When they parted for air thirty seconds later, she said. "I love you too."

"It's about time!" TK said from a nearby branch where he sat with Kari.

"Was that so hard?" Joe said leaning against a tree.

"As I recall Joe," Izzy said as the kids jumped to the ground. "we did some hemming and hawing of our own."

"So we did." Joe said gazing at TK and Kari before bursting into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Biyomon asked landing near Sora.

"Yeah." Lillymon said, hovering near Mimi. "Share the joke."

"The only straight couple in the digiworld..." He began.

"Is too young to do anything about it?" Kari asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." TK said pulling her into a deep kiss.

"Whoa." She said ninety seconds later when they parted. "Have you been practicing without me?"

"No. I'm just a quick study, although I wouldn't mind another lesson." He said slyly. Kari grinned and pushed him on his rear.

"You guys didn't leave us." Sora said as she and Mimi embraced their digimon.

"Nope." Biyomon said.

"We could never leave you, but we weren't gonna stay and watch you torture yourselves." Lillymon said.

"Isn't it great, Gatomon? Now everyone has someone." Kari cried kissing the other girls on their cheeks.

"That's great Kari." Gatomon said. So why do I feel so alone?

"Well, let's leave these two alone." Izzy said coolly. "Hey Joe, I know the best place to watch the sunset around here."

"Lead the way beloved." Joe said. "Are you two coming?"

"Nah." TK said. "We're going to cuddle some more."

"Ooh, my favorite part." Kari said following him.

"Hey you two." Sora said ruffling Biyomon's feathers. "Thanks."

"For what?" Lillymon asked, perplexed.

"For whisperering in my ear while I was asleep. It really helped straighten me out."

"That wasn't me." Biyomon said in puzzlement.

"It was me." Lillymon said.

"But then who-" Mimi broke off and smiled at Biyomon. "Of course. It was you, wasn't it?" She nodded.

"You feel like another climb love? I hear there's nothing more romantic than watching the sunset from the treetops with the one you love."

"Only of you teach me how to climb back down." Mimi said smiling as she pulled herself into the branches. "Did you see the look in Kari's eyes when she kissed us?"

"Yeah." Sora said as they pulled themselves up through the leafy canopy.

"Do you think she's like us?" Mimi asked as they snuggled close.

"Nah." Sora said dismissively. "She's got TK. Unless..."

"She has the best of both worlds." Mimi finished.

~*~

TK and Kari were kisssing and cudleing when TK suddenly broke off a kiss.

"Sorry." He said. "Really gotta go."

Kari laughed, waved him on and turned her attention to Gatomon. "Penny for your thoughts."

"I just wish I was someone else."

"Who? Why?"

"TK. He has what I want but can never have."

"What?" She asked suspecting where this was headed.

"I should have never brought it up." She moved to walk away but Kari sat up and grabbed her shoulder.

"Didn't you learn anything from Mimi and Sora? All holding back does is give you a lot of pain and grief. You lose your friends, you lose your loved ones, and in thend you wind up alone. Haven't you had enough loneliness?" She asked as Gatomon averted her eyes. "Just tell me."

"I love you Kari." Gatomon said sincerly. "And I hate myself for it. You love TK and can never return what I feel for you."

"Don't be so certain." TK said. "I felt Gatomon staring at me so I'd thought I'd make myself scarce. I can-"

"No TK. You need to be here for this too." She paused to look into Gatomon's honest blue eyes. "The truth is I love both of you. I never said anything because I was afraid you'd make me choose."

"No." TK said firmly. "First and foremost we're your friends."

"And friends don't make friends choose." Gatomon said.

"That's good to know." Kari said lying back and looking at the stars. "A beautiful night sky, the man," She rolled to her left to kiss TK, then to her right to kiss Gatomon, "and the 'mon I love. It doesn't get more right."

"No," TK sighed snuggling closer. "It doesn't."