"Knock, knock!" Mimi ran towards the door, pulling a brush through her long, brown hair as she did. It was almost 10, and she had just woken up a few minutes ago. As she passed through the living room, she stopped and buried her nose into a vase of wild roses. Matt had picked them, especially for her, giving them to her after cutting off all of the thorns. She felt her mind wander back over the years. It had been 6 years since they had come back from the Digiworld.
"Knock, knock!" The person at the door seemed to be getting impatient, as the knocking was now more fierce. Mimi slowly un-bent her body.
"Jeez! Can't even have time to stop and smell the roses!" she muttered to herself. Opening the door, she felt all of her impatience slip away, as she starred up into Matt's wonderful blue eyes.
"Hey, Matt!" she greeted cheerfully. She stopped as she noticed the cold look in Matt's eyes. "Wha…what's wrong, Matt?" she asked, her voice trembling as she felt a rush of dread. Matt pushed his way into the entryway.
Mimi started to lead him towards the living room, but he stopped her with his voice. "Stop, Mimi." His voice was cold as steel. Mimi turned to face him. "I…" his voice seemed to soften, but not for long.
With his next words, Mimi felt like someone had thrown acid in her face. Her face stung, though she had not been hit. She knew that she was going to cry.
"I can't see you anymore," he blurted out. "We're over, Mimi."
"But…but why?" Mimi asked tearfully.
"Trust me, Mimi. I didn't want to do this, but it's for the best." And behind the cold look in his eyes, Mimi could see that it really hurt him to say this to her. "I'm sorry," and he turned and left.
Her tears falling freely, Mimi ran back into the living room, throwing herself onto the sofa. She looked up, and through her blurred vision, saw the wild roses that she had stopped to smell earlier. The roses, which had once been light pink, were now brown, wilting. But then they would be dead, she thought miserably. Matt and I are over, so the life from the wild roses would be gone. And her mind wandered back to a time several years ago.
~*Flash-back*~
Matt walked slowly towards her. "Mimi?" he began. Mimi just starred into his eyes, entranced
"Will…will you go out with me?" finally came the words that Mimi had wanted to hear for so long.
She had said yes, of course, and the next day, Matt had come to see her again, this time bringing with him a wild, pink rose, all the thorns gone. And every time they had gone out since then, he had given her wild roses.
*~ End of Flash-back *~
This memory only made Mimi cry harder.
A few moments later, the phone rang. Mimi just ignored it. But the phone kept ringing. Glancing at the caller display, Mimi saw that it was Sora.
"What do you want?" she sobbed into the phone.
"Whoa! What happened, Mimi?" Sora asked, concerned. Mimi didn't answer. and Sora knew that something was really wrong. "I'll be over in about five minutes!" she exclaimed, hanging up the phone a split second later.
Mimi buried her head into her arms. She really didn't want to talk to anyone, not even Sora. But several minutes later, she heard someone quietly open the door, not bothering to knock, and come sit down beside her.
"You wanna tell me what happened?" Sora asked softly.
In choking sobs, Mimi managed to tell Sora what had happened.
"Oh, Mimi! I'm so sorry! I know how much you loved him!" Sora cried, aghast.
"Love him, Sora, love him! I still love him, even though he broke up with me!"
"But anyway, here's the reason that I called. It might even cheer you up a bit!" Sora continued, even though, in her heart, she knew that nothing would really cheer Mimi up. "Remember that contest I entered a while ago?"
Mimi nodded her head, even though she didn't really hear what Sora had said.
"I won! That means that we're going to Canada!"
Mimi looked up. "Sora, I really don't want to go! Take Kari with you instead. Take someone who will actually enjoy the trip!"
"Mimi, if you don't go, I won't go. I'm not going to leave you here like this!"
Mimi sighed. "Alright! I'll go!"
"Good! It may even take your mind off of Matt!" Sora replied happily.
After Sora left, Mimi just continued to sit there. She didn't move to start packing. All she could think of was Matt. She shook her head. Maybe Sora's right, she thought. Maybe it will take my mind off of Matt. With a sigh, she got up and started into her bedroom. But as she did so, the dead roses once again caught her eye.
A day and a half later, Mimi and Sora boarded the flight destined for Alberta.
For the past day or so, Sora had been researching about Alberta, Canada, and now, as they were about to take off, she started informing Mimi about little un-important facts. Mimi just sat and stared out of the window.
"And did you know, Mimi…Mimi? Are you listening?"
Mimi turned and tried to turn her attention to what Sora was saying.
Sora sighed, knowing that Mimi was still thinking about Matt. Shaking her head, she continued. "Did you know that the provincial flower of Alberta is the Wild Rose?"
Mimi's eyes went wide, and she looked like she was going to cry.
When Sora realized what she had said, her eyes also widened. "Oh, Mimi! I'm sorry! I forgot…"
Mimi turned back to the window and stared down at the fluffy, white clouds. She knew that she was going to be miserable for the whole flight. As she stared out of the window, her mind wandered back over the events of the last couple of days. She remembered passing Matt on the way to the airport. Of course, he hadn't seen her, his eyes had been staring straight ahead. For the rest of the flight, neither of them spoke.
"Here's our hotel, Mimi!" Sora exclaimed, stopping in front of a four-story building. Mimi looked up at the name of the hotel.
"The Red Rose Hotel," she read out loud, her face clouding over. And upon reaching their rooms, she also saw that everything—the wallpaper, the bedspread— everything, was done in red roses.
"Sora, I have to get my mind off of Matt!" Mimi cried in frustration.
"You will, Mimi. In time, you'll get over it," was Sora's reply.
"In time!?" Mimi sank onto the smooth, un-rumpled bed in her room. "I'm not going to have any fun!"
"Of course you will! And there'll be tons of things to do that will get your mind off of him, you'll see! As for now, let's go for a walk!"
After acquiring a town map, Sora marked the fasted route out of the city. Walking briskly, the two friends set out. After a while, they came to a hill. Below, was a field of wild roses.
"Uh…let's go that way, Mimi," Sora pointed to the right, not wanting her friend to get upset again.
"No! I've got to get over it! Come on!" And Mimi started down the hill, heading for the field of wild roses.
Matt took a deep breath and rang the doorbell at Mimi's house.
"Is Mimi there, please?" he asked when Mrs. Tachikawa answered the door.
"I'm sorry, she left for the airport a few minutes ago. She's going to Alberta, Canada with Sora!" Mrs. Tachikawa answered.
"Oh. Okay. Thanks."
"I've got to find her!" he muttered to himself as he walked away. He didn't notice Mimi staring sadly out of the window of Sora's car as they passed by.
He shook his head and started for home. He had to pack. He was going to Alberta. He was going to find Mimi.
Matt leaned back in his seat. He had already been in the air for over two hours. He was on his way to Canada. And thanks to Sora's mom, he knew where Mimi and Sora were staying.
He gave a start as the plane swerved and then began to drop. He looked out the window in terror as he saw the ground drawing nearer. They were going to crash! The last thing he thought of before smashing into the ground, was that he might never be able to tell Mimi that he was sorry. And then, he blacked out.
Mimi was suddenly wakened from her slumber by the ringing of a phone. "What time is it?" she muttered to herself, glancing at the clock. "One in the morning?"
She reached out a hand, shaky with sleep, towards the phone. "Hello?" she murmured into the phone.
"Ms. Tachikawa?" a strange voice greeted her. "Miss, I'm afraid…There was a plane crash, last night…"
This fully awakened Mimi. "Who…" she couldn't finish her sentence.
"The plane that Mr. Matt Ishida was on crashed a couple of hours ago," an apologetic voice answered.
"Matt? Is he all right? Answer me!" Mimi's voice was rising in her fright.
"We don't know. He hasn't yet been identified."
"T-thanks for n-notifying me…" Mimi said in a voice unsteady with tears. Jumping up, Mimi threw some cloths on, and fled.
"Mimi!" Sora called out softly, in attempt to stop Mimi.
Mimi kept running. She soon found herself in the middle of the field of wild roses that they had come upon earlier.
"Mimi! What happened?" Sora knelt down beside her best friend.
"He's dead! I know it! The plane crashed!" Mimi choked out.
"Calm down! You're not making any sense!" Sora said. "What plane?"
Taking a deep breath, Mimi began at the point from where she'd been woken up. "I didn't even know that he was flying out here!"
"Oh my gosh!" Sora cried upon hearing the whole story. "Oh my gosh!" she repeated. "I can't believe it!"
Mimi stood up, and with Sora's help, stumbled back towards the Red Rose Hotel.
Mimi sank into the bed of roses. It was two days later. Two days after the crash. The other Digidestined had joined her and Sora in Alberta, and they now all stood in the field of roses. At least, every one but Mimi, who was kneeling on the ground. Carefully, Mimi picked one of the wild roses closest to her. Gently, she tore the petals off, and scattered them to the wind. It was kind of her memorial to Matt.
TK threw himself towards her, and they cried together. This brought on a fresh round of tears from all of the others. The eight of them stayed there until the sun was setting, remembering Matt. But something tugged at the back of Mimi's mind. She just couldn't remember what.
Mimi woke up with a start, sitting straight up. She had been dreaming. Dreaming about Matt. And now she knew what she had been trying to remember last night.
"Sora!" Mimi called softly as she burst into her best friend's room, which connected to hers. "Sora! He's alive! Matt's alive!"
"Go back to sleep, Mimi…" Sora began before the realization of what Mimi had said sunk in. "What?" she sat bolt upright. "But that's impossible, Mimi! He died in the plane crash, remember?"
"Sora, they said they thought he died. But that's not what I mean. I remember when he broke up with me…" her voice trailed off. She cleared her throat. "When he broke up with me, my roses turned brown. They died. But in the field, yesterday, the roses were red. Red, and alive," Mimi continued excitedly. "If the roses died when Matt broke up with me, don't you think that they would have died if he had died?" Mimi's voice was now strong and hopeful.
Sora shook her head slightly. She really didn't think that Matt was alive, much as she wanted to believe it. But she didn't tell Mimi this. She didn't want to rid of the last thread of hope that Mimi had left.
Mimi crept back into her own room, crawling back into bed, and falling asleep with a happy smile on her face.
Mimi looked out over the field of wild roses. The sun was rising, casting its glares over the flowers. It was a beautiful sight. And she was sure that Matt would come here, sooner or later. She knew that he was alive, somewhere.
She sat down in the middle of the field, lifting her face to the sun. She hoped that he would come soon.
Meanwhile, a boy with no memory wandered out of the hospital. He wished that he could remember who he was, what he was doing here. Shaking his head, he began to walk. His feet seemed to be leading him somewhere. Where, he didn't know. But he followed his instinct.
Soon, he came upon a field of wild roses. And sitting in the middle, was a girl. Her long, silky brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and two strands hung down around her face. He could feel something tugging at his memory. He continued to stare at her. "It's Mimi!" he murmured, the truth finally dawning upon him. And with that, his memory came rushing back at him. He was Matt Ishida, from Japan. And he had come here to find Mimi, the girl that he loved, but whom he had broken up with.
He slowly began to walk towards her. As he did so, he bent over and picked a rose. Pulling out a pocketknife, he stopped, and began to cut the thorns off. Then he once again started over to her. Upon reaching her, he knelt down beside her, pushing the strands of hair away from her face. She didn't turn. He then gently tucked the rose behind her ear.
Mimi slowly turned to face him. "Matt!" her face lit up with joy. She threw her arms around him. He returned her embrace.
As Mimi looked out at the field of wild roses, she knew one thing. That wild roses would, to her, always symbolize life. Life…and love.
The End.
Gatomon_1