(II)

A/N: Wow, thank you so much for all the lovely reviews to Rainfall! I'm so glad it was this well received. I just had to write a sequel to that, it was so sad. But so is this one…except it might end up different. I dunno, you'll just have to see. ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way whatsoever.

xox

She spent the day longing to talk to him, but could never bring herself to actually do it. There was always that cement roadblock. Sora. She was his shadow all day, following him wherever he went.

She felt like beating the crap out of her.

So she observed from a distance, waiting for the right moment. But none ever came.

Her lowest moment of the day had come during her last period class. The whole class was doing make up and extra credit work to boost their grades. Except for her. She was a bundle of nerves. Her thoughts ran wild in her head, a jumbled mess of anxiety as she stared at the clock.

Maybe I can catch him after school. Maybe he'll leave right away with Sora. Maybe she'll drag him away. I'll miss him altogether. Loose my chance to see him, to talk to him. Maybe I won't be able to find him. Maybe he won't be able to find me. Maybe he won't even try to find me. Maybe he doesn't want to wait. Maybe I should just give up. Just stop trying. Admit defeat. One hour to go and that's all I've got. But I'm stuck in class. No ones staying after today…there's no time…

He told me, "Don't ditch tomorrow. I want to see you one last time…"

But we did already see each other. Glances in the hall, a brief shared smile. Maybe he didn't mean actually talk to me. Maybe just to see my face again. That's all.

Maybe he was lying…to make me feel better.

And that was it. She couldn't take it anymore. She dejectedly lowered her head and cried into her desk. Muffled sobs and whimpers. It was pathetic. She hated herself for that. Right there, everybody watching. Unknowing empathy. Maybe.

The bell rang finally. The last one left in the class room. Tears dried and feeling empty. The teacher approached her at last, laid a gentle hand to her shoulder, beckoned her to sit up.

"Mimi, what's wrong? The bell rang…you can go home now."

No answer. She got up from her slump silently, stood on her feet as she slung her bag over her shoulder. She thanked her for her concern, eyes averted and head down. Shook her head when she questioned her again, what's wrong? And she left.

Her kind teacher's voice followed her before the door closed behind her. "See you this fall, Mimi."

This fall…college. He's going to college. I'll still be here…

'You know I'll always be waiting'

What about you Yamato? Will you wait for me? Can I see you one last time?

xox

The halls were still full by the time she left. She didn't even bother to look for Yamato. She never looked up from the ground; she was sure she looked terrible. She let her hair fall forward, shielding her face from wandering eyes. That was all she could do until she finally made it out of the bustling school and into the heat of outside.

She made it to the sidewalk, walked only a few feet down the street, before hearing him. Her heart jumped in her chest, despite her appearance she couldn't help but look up at the sound of her name.

"Mimi," Yamato called.

She returned the smile he gave her as he stepped up to her, took her hand in his.

"All day long…and I finally get to see you one last time."

She nodded dimly. "I wanted to see you earlier. But Sora…"

At the mention of her name, he looked away, his tone lower, sadder. "Sora. She's waiting for me." He looked back up to meet her caramel gaze, offered a forced smile. "I told her to wait."

"Does she know…?"

"No…no I didn't tell her that." The tension was thick, his guilt obvious. He took both of her hands now, held them up between them, gave them a reassuring squeeze before bringing them to his lips for a tender kiss. "I've been looking forward to this all day."

"So have I."

He sighed regretfully, let their hands drop, still tightly locked. "But I don't know what to say."

She looked away with a soft laugh. "All day and you couldn't come up with anything?"

He didn't respond, only studied her face as she gazed off past him, over his shoulder. He hoped not at Sora. But he didn't care at this point. He released one hand, placed it under her chin as he forced her to look at him.

"You were crying."

Her impulse was to deny it, but she couldn't. So she just stayed silent, his azure eyes penetrating hers intently. It made her crazy. She didn't want him to see her like this.

She looked away. "I…"

"Over me, weren't you?"

She followed her instinct, denied his assumption. "No."

He grinned. "You're lying."

She looked back to him now, her eyes narrowed. Why was he smiling? She stepped back, unleashing her hand from his as they fell to his side.

"Who else! I was worrying over you all day. Crying like an idiot. Because of you. You don't want me, but yet you're here. Like you can't make up your mind."

His smile had faded, wearing a worried look, a frown. He stepped closer, she took a step back.

"Why come here? Why see me one more time? What good is this? If anything, everything is worse now."

She couldn't help the few tears that slipped out, didn't want to make a big seen and wiped them away almost as soon as they fell.

"How can you say that?"

"You broke my heart yesterday, yet I forgave you anyway. I was a mess all day today. I was thinking about you constantly. And for nothing. Thinking about you gets me no where."

He couldn't help his wounded expression. This wasn't what he had been expecting to happen at all. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, pulled her to him in a tight embrace.

She couldn't help herself. He was too close, too real. He was right here. She'd been wanting this all day. She held on tight, squeezed him back. Gosh it felt good. Too good. It wasn't really real. It would only last a moment longer, then he'd leave her like he'd promised.

He kissed the top of her head, nuzzled his head against hers. "You weren't supposed to do this, Mimi. You weren't supposed to cry again."

"You're leaving me today…I'll probably never see you again. I think I would have died if you hadn't come today, Yamato-kun. I need you," she murmured.

"I'm sorry."

"You've told me that at least five times already."

"But I don't think you really believe me."

"I do."

"I really am sorry, Mimi. I don't want to leave you, but I have to."

"But why…"

He held her tighter, giving her petite body a squeeze. Then holding her away slightly, kissing her forehead and cheeks. She knew he was about to leave. His time was up. He had to go back to his girlfriend. Sora was waiting. Wondering where he was…who he was with. Worrying…

"Are you going to say goodbye to me today, Mimi?"

"But why would I say goodbye?"

He finally placed his lips against hers firmly, a lingering kiss. "Because I'm leaving."

"You don't have to."

He pulled farther away, put a soft hand to the side of her face as he caught her pleading gaze with his. "Mimi, I'm sorry."

She couldn't say a thing. Her throat seemed tight and dry. Even if she could talk, she didn't know what she'd even say. She wanted to plead, "Please stay with me, please, spend the day with me." Instead, she only felt more tears welling. But she wouldn't let them fall this time. She could only shake her head, a silent plea.

He held her head between his palms, leaned in closer to lay a last light kiss to her lips, two, three. "Say goodbye, Mimi. I have to go."

He pulled back altogether now, connected only at their hands. He looked down at her expectantly. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to mouth the solemn words. She merely shook her head, looked down at their entwined hands. It was all about to be over soon.

He smiled, swept a lock of caramel hair behind her ear and touched her chin, bringing her gaze up. "Bye, Tachikawa."

To his satisfaction, she smiled back, but a soft one. She couldn't bring herself to give him a real one. He was about to leave her forever.

Then he began to pull away, his hand slipping as he stepped back.

Now or never.

Merely hooked fingertips, she tried to hold on, blurted out, "Yamato, I'll miss you."

Then nothing. The connection lost and her skin feeling cool despite the heat.

He grinned, walked backwards away form her as he lifted a hand, fingers spread.

She copied the action, lifted a still hand as she watched him slowly retreat. She just couldn't say it. "I'll miss you," was the best she could come up with. And she meant it. She wanted to hear it back…

Tell me you'll miss me…I need to hear it…

He was at least ten feet away now. She had to resist the urge to follow, run after him.

He called out to her once more. "Will you wait for me? You promised you'd wait for me. You said you'd always be waiting. Is that true?"

She nodded, then shouted her farewell as she grinned, "Always."

And then he was gone.

"'But I have to," he said. You could have stayed. He told me, "What you want is more than I can offer."

xox

A/N: So sorry…I gave up writing this fic. I had a lot more written but I couldn't think of a good ending, so I decided to end it here. So you can make up your own ending. Maybe Yamato finally dumped Sora and they got together after all. Hmm.

In the REALLY long version, I had Yamato leave with Sora, and come back a month early to see Mimi again. But she got with Koushiro over the summer…I bet you're glad I didn't post that one. Ha.