Once again, I return to haunt you all with another sappy Rika and Renamon romance fic. I just can't help it. They just kinda pour out of me. Well, this one is sure to be a welcome difference from my others. Rika's mother starts figuring something is wrong, or at least happening with her little girl. She's not exactly a parent of the year but she's not completely clueless.

Warning, this is a serious Shoujo-ai, that's girls in love. If you can't take it, get some help.

Send helpful commentary to [email protected] Flamers: At least have proper grammar. MSTers: I guess, but ask first. Regular R&R: Please do.

Rika and Renamon: Termination?

By: Gabriel

Another typical Saturday at the Nonaka house. Mikino, Rika's mother, was up and out, heading for a photo shoot. Rika's grandmother was bustling about the kitchen fixing breakfast with quite a cheerful disposition. Rika herself was fast asleep on her sleeping mat, snuggled warmly beside her lover, Renamon. Renamon kept an arm wrapped around Rika's waist, and had her tail twined warmly around Rika's bare legs, ensuring that her love would never have to feel the chill of the night. As it usually happened, they were both curled up in more or less a fetal position, Renamon because the curling came naturally to foxes, and Rika because she followed where Renamon lead when she was asleep. The warm fur was practically swallowing Rika, almost every part of her body rubbed by soft, sweetly scented fur. The intoxicating scent of sakura and apple blossoms continually rose to Rika's nose, wafting past like perfume on the wind. That was what she woke to this morning. For some reason her grandmother hadn't yet burst in, which meant Renamon could stay in her usual sleep position. For Rika it was heaven, the sweet scent filling her awakening senses, mixing with the full-body warmth and her sense of contentment into pure bliss. "I love Saturdays..." She whispered with a smile. "It doesn't get any better than this."

"You've got that right, Heartbreaker..." Renamon murmured, adding a soft chuckle. She lightly licked around the edge of Rika's ear, breathing lightly into it. "How did you sleep?" She asked, even though she knew what the answer would be.

"As always, Renamon, it was heaven..." Rika breathed, a soft gasp emerging from her lips after she spoke. "Are you sure you should do that? My grandmother could come in at any minute..."

"I'm not going to do anything. It's too lazy a morning to do all that tumbling around. Let's just lay here and enjoy it..." Renamon's hand slowly stroked over Rika's bare belly, caressing the silky skin with her smooth fur.

Rika shivered, a soft sigh emerging from her mouth. She snuggled herself more firmly against Renamon, so content she felt she could stay like this forever. "Ai shiteru..." Rika began.

"Rika! Time to get up! Breakfast is ready!" Renamon vanished the instant the first syllable was in the air, leaving Rika pressed against empty air and suddenly surrounded by chill air. She quickly wrapped herself in a blanket to hide her naked body and to reduce the chill. Renamon's scent was fading rapidly, vanishing into the swiftly moving air she was creating. By the time her grandmother had opened the door and stepped inside she looked like she had just woken up from a normal night of sleep. "Rika, did you say something before I came in?"

"No grandma. I didn't say anything." She kept her head down and her tone normal, but the look on her face was just a shade beyond annoyed.

"It's so strange. Sometimes when I'm around I get the feeling that there's someone else in the room. But of course, that's just silly. I mean, it's not like you'd have a boy in here or anything."

Rika smiled a little, seeing an opening and taking it. "Trust me grandma. There have not been, nor ever will be boys in this room. I promise."

"Well, that's very responsible of you. Come get your breakfast. Just because it's Saturday doesn't mean you can get away with not eating." As she walked away she was muttering to herself. "That girl's better than her mother at least. Knows not to have boys in her room. Wish Mikino could have been the same way. That girl loved boys too much..."

"Very smooth." Renamon commented after Rika's grandmother had gone far enough away to prevent her from hearing anything.

"And very honest." Rika said, standing up and stretching a little bit. Renamon wrapped her tail around Rika's midsection to keep her belly and chest warm while the girl went around to get herself dressed. "I'll never have some disgusting human boy in here unless he forces his way in. You're all I need, Renamon." Rika slipped her broken-heart shirt onto her and shivered as Renamon's tail slid down her body to wrap around her hips. She gave another little shiver after she slipped on her underwear and pants, as Renamon's tail slipped slowly away from her body. Rika gave her girlfriend a quick hug and left to get breakfast, before her grandmother came back to remind her again.

Later on that day Rika and Renamon were sitting outside of Rika's room, snuggled against each other and quietly talking. "I wonder..." Rika mused softly.

"Wonder what, Heartbreaker?" Renamon looked deeply into Rika's eyes, because Rika was usually more inclined to reveal things when Renamon did that.

"I wonder... how my family would react to this..." Rika closed her eyes and a soft blush colored her cheeks. "I mean, you're the biggest, most important part of my life. I'd love to tell the world, but I think my mother and grandmother should be the first. I can't imagine something more essential for them to know than how I feel about you."

Renamon softly cupped Rika's face in her hands and stroked her cheeks tenderly. "If you ever decided to tell I'd be right there with you, and would proudly introduce myself as your love, and say that you are my world. I'm always willing, Heartbreaker. I love you..."

"Rika?" Renamon vanished as soon as she heard the voice, and Rika straightened up, almost falling forward when Renamon disappeared. Rika's mother appeared from around the corner, looking somewhat concerned. "Who's out here with you?" She looked around quickly, eyes seeking any sign of another person.

"No one is out here with me, mother. Just ask grandma. No one but me has been in the house today." Rika sat calmly and confidently, certain she could just explain away anything. Sure, she'd tell her family, but not at that moment. And certainly not her mother alone.

"But I'm sure I heard someone talking to you. It sounded like a girl..." She didn't say anything else, watching Rika's expression carefully.

Rika expression never budged an inch. "You must have been mistaken. There's no one here, and no one has been here." Rika kept her eyes on her mother's, not blinking, nor looking away. It was a look she'd practiced well, and a look she'd given several times. No sense being unprepared in such a situation.

Rika's mother studied the unmoving face her daughter presented and searched for one crack in the facade. But there was nothing. "Sorry I bothered you..." She turned away and started to walk but took a quick look back at Rika. Nothing had moved. So she walked away for real, shaking her head as she entered the house. "I know I heard something. It was a girl. And she said 'I love you' to my little girl. Something's going on here and I intend to find out what's going on."

Meanwhile, Rika sat determined and unmoving until Renamon softly ran her hands over Rika's arms. "It's ok. She's gone."

"Sometimes I just can't stand her."

"I thought you said you were going to tell your family about us."

"I will. But not her first. That would just ruin my life. I think Grandma is mature and open enough to understand."

Renamon embraced Rika tightly. "Just tell me when and where, and I'll be there, Heartbreaker. You can count on it."

Monday. School day. Rika sat in class, disinterested and staring out the window. She didn't care if the teacher saw her; she already knew what was being taught. Times like these flooded her mind with thoughts of Renamon, who was infinitely more interesting than school, and a lot more friendly. Suddenly, a little note dropped onto her desk, startling her out of her daydreams. It was a plain piece of notebook paper, carefully folded into a heart and then torn slightly on the indented point. The familiar handwriting on it said, "Heartbreaker." Rika looked around quickly with a bit of a smile before unfolding the note and reading it.

"Dearest Heartbreaker,

You look so bored there, like it's all old news to you. What are you thinking of? Maybe me? I certainly hope so, as egotistical as that sounds. I'm always thinking about you, my life, my sweetness. Forever yours, Rena." A tiny heart rested beside the signature, as well as two linked female symbols. Another note dropped as soon as Rika finished reading the first. This one said, "PS:

If you want to write back just write up the note and toss it up. I'll catch it. Rena." Again the hearts and linked female symbols. Rika looked around at the rest of the class. Everyone who wasn't paying extreme attention was off in their own little world. Rika smiled slyly and started writing down her own little note.

"Dear Renamon,

I am bored. Amazingly bored. And it is indeed true, I am thinking of you when I stare into nothingness. Sometimes I swear I can see you in the shadows of the room or the shimmer of sunlight out on the grass. Whenever the glass glitters I think it's you dancing. I hope I don't bore you with my inactivity. Always yours, Rika." She doodled a little broken heart beside that, folded up the paper, and tossed it into the air. She watched it twirl for a moment before a streak appeared in the air above her and the note vanished. "So that's how she does it..." Rika thought with a grin. "Clever."

Rika continued to look up at the ceiling, waiting for the streak to appear again. It did, and from it a note fell. Rika managed to catch this one, noting it was folded in exactly the same way, with the rip in the exact same place. Rika eagerly opened up this one, reading it as soon as she could make out the words clearly.

"Dearest Heartbreaker,

It's so sweet of you to say all those things. I can't help but see you all the time. I am always by your side, always near you, because I never want to see you hurt. I am never bored, because I am always imagining what we could be doing, making plans for our happy future together, be it in half a century, or just after school is over. I think I have a few good ideas for later. Just wait until you see. Forever devoted, Rena." Rika smiled at the note, but didn't write another one. She didn't have to. All she had to do was last until the end of school.

"Grandma?" Later on that day. Rika was in her house, cautiously entering the kitchen where her grandmother stood, making dinner. After she'd gotten home and dropped her school things off at her room, she stood at the edge of the koi pond, in indecision. She just knew that she'd have to tell someone sooner or later. She really had only one option, but had just been putting it off and putting it off. Now she couldn't put it off any longer. So there she was, standing in front of her grandmother.

"Yes Rika?" Her grandmother looked up from what she was doing, smiling brightly. Rika was frozen. She couldn't do it. There was no way. Even in the most perfect happy mood...

"I... I..." She stammered, screaming at herself for her weakness, weakness she had never known before. "Do it!" Her inner voice cried. "Do it now, before you lose your nerve." But it was too later. She just couldn't do it. "I... might miss dinner. I have to go and... help someone with some school work."

"Oh... well, I suppose that's alright. If it's for school, go ahead. I'll leave some for you so you can heat it up later." Rika's grandmother smiled at her granddaughter, so trusting. Rika just wanted to escape.

"Thanks Grandma. I think I'd better get going." Rika turned and ran out of the kitchen, pursued by her own thoughts. "Liar!" Her mind screamed at her. "You lied, and you were a coward!" She couldn't escape herself, couldn't keep from hearing the words. She ran from the house, not caring that she'd left her school things in her room.

"Rika?" At almost the same moment Rika was running away from her own fear, her mother was entering her room. She'd knocked, of course, but hardly waited for a reply. She just slid open the door and walked right in. She found the room exactly as Rika had left it that morning, neat and tidy, with everything carefully placed where it belonged. Rika's mother had no idea what to look for, or where. She only knew that she had to. She HAD heard a girl's voice that day when Rika'd said she hadn't. She'd heard that voice say "I love you" right to Rika. There was no mistaking it. Now she just needed some sign, some indication that she was right in thinking that. No other parent would fault her for what she was doing. Opening drawers and checking under clothes, searching for something. She might even find other things Rika was hiding. Drugs, cigarettes, condoms, weapons, something that she'd heard other kids had gotten into. But all she managed to find was that her daughter was very neat and tidy.

Then she noticed Rika's backpack sitting innocently on her sleeping mat. Why anything incriminating would be in her daughter's backpack was unimportant. It was something to search. To ease her mind she had to look, at least a little, to make sure that all was really right with the world. She opened the pack carefully, digging through the neatly ordered layers of paper. Nothing to see. Nothing to see. Nothing... She slowly withdrew her hand from the pack, trembling a little as she looked at what came out with it. Three notes, folded into heart shapes, with a tear in the top. "Just some notes from a boy..." She said quietly to the emptiness of the room, as though speaking it would make it real, like some magic spell. But the magic faded when her trembling fingers opened the notes one by one.

"Dearest Heartbreaker..." she whispered, barely a breath of sound. Her lips moved as she read the first note, but no sound emerged. None could. It was just too much. In those few simple lines, all her hopes of a rational explanation evaporated like the morning dew. "Forever yours..." she mouthed. "Rena..." her heart sank. Her eyes crossed the drawings beside the signature, over and over as though she could erase them, or burn them away. She had enough fire in her to burn them. Her daughter, so uncommunicative, so cold, so distant. A lesbian. And so young. It was unthinkable. But it was undeniably true. The proof was there in black and white. All she could do now was kneel there, in the middle of her daughter's room, a room she had just searched, and weep.

Rika, meanwhile, had run to the park on instinct. She always went there when she had a problem. And she certainly had one now. Her internal voice had stopped yelling at her. All was quiet within her mind. But throughout her entire body she felt heavy, cold, and sick. Everything was wrong. She'd planned so carefully, and ended up failing anyway. She just froze a moment before she was to speak. Her own body had betrayed her.

"Heartbreaker?" As usual, Renamon appeared beside her, never too far away no matter what happened. "What happened? You looked like you were so close."

"I-I couldn't. I just couldn't. It seemed so simple when I thought about it. But when I actually went to do it... I got so afraid." Rika lowered her head a bit and lifted a hand to her face to lightly touch at her tears.

Before the hand even got there Renamon had stepped up to her and wrapped Rika with her arms and tail, what she always did to comfort and console Rika. "Why were you afraid? You know I'm always there for you."

Rika shook her head, still crying. "It wouldn't have helped. This time you wouldn't have been able to protect me."

"Heartbreaker, what were you so afraid of? You know I'm strong enough to protect you from anything..."

"No! No!" Rika started to thrash about and Renamon let her go, stepping away from the girl. "This is different. Digimon are one matter. You're strong and skilled. You can destroy a thousand and still be fine. But you can't do anything about my family. They can't just be destroyed and swept away. They'll always be there, and as much as I hate to say it, they will always affect me. And telling them about you... It scares me. Because they might... panic, might try to get rid of you. Call some shelter to take you away, or some exterminator to have you killed. I can't lose you. I've given you my heart, fragile as glass. If they were to hurt you, my heart would break. If I lost you, I'd never have any hope again. Without you, there would be no happiness..." Rika slumped down into a sitting position, crying into her hands. Renamon padded over and wrapped her arms around the robbing girl. "Without you, I'd have no reason to live..."

"So all of this... is about me?" Renamon brought her head down to the level of Rika's face, softly removing her hands from the Girl's face and seeing the shimmer of tears. "These tears are for me? Not for you and what it might do to you?"

"Don't you know? It's always about you. I can take care of myself. But I worry about you all the time."

Renamon smiled, leaning in to kiss Rika's cheek. "And in my mind, it's always about you. I admit it. I've been scared too. I thought of all the terrible things that could happen to you. And simply because of the danger I'd have to watch from the shadows as usual, see you hurt, physically and emotionally. There are so many things that could happen. But heartbreaker, you have to take the risk. I've never known you to be afraid of anything. You faced down everything you've ever come across, you stood up to Harpymon for my sake, you've always been strong. You have to be strong now. For me. I swear to you that I will be alright. You just have to do this, Heartbreaker. I believe that you can. And don't worry about your heart. You can be certain it is safe with me. Just as I am certain that mine is safe with you."

Rika smiled a tiny smile at Renamon, giving her a kiss on her cheek in return. "I will, Renamon. I'll go back to the house, and I'll do it. Just don't leave me."

"I'll be right there behind you. I'll introduce myself, answer everything, and make sure it all works out."

"That's why I love you, Renamon. You're so willing to do anything for me."

"That's funny, Heartbreaker. That's the same reason that I love you..."

"Grandma, I have something I need to tell you. It might be hard to hear, but believe me, it's harder to tell." Rika was kneeling in her Grandmother's room, feeling Renamon's eyes on her face, encouraging her to go on.

"Go ahead Rika. You know you can always tell me anything."

"For the past few months, I have been in love with someone. Someone very special. This person has meant the world to me, but I never introduced them to you or mother, because I was afraid. Afraid of many, many things."

Rika's grandmother looked down at the ground for a moment. "It's a girl, isn't it?"

Not a flinch, nor a look of shock. "Yes. It is. How did you know?"

"Your mother's been convinced that she heard a girl saying that she loved you. I tried to convince her that she was hearing things, but I wondered if it was true. I thought, though, that if it was true, there was nothing wrong with it."

"There's another reason I've never introduced her to you and mother. It's a very strange reason, and it's somewhat difficult to even talk about, because there's so many things to explain."

"Just do your best, Rika. I might be old, but I can understand a lot of things."

"I think she should explain everything herself. Please, try not to be shocked. Renamon, it's time."

Renamon slowly walked into the room, bowing deeply to Rika's grandmother as soon as she entered. "Greetings. My name is Renamon. I am a Digimon. I came here from a place called the Digital world, a world that exists in the data stream. I chose Rika as a human partner because she was strong. Her strength drew me here. As I lived and experienced life in the human world, I cam to admire, and then love Rika, though I simply could not tell her. Until Rika proved her love for me, even thought she could not express it with words.

"Right now we are both very afraid that something bad will happen from this admission. I am afraid that Rika will be hurt, and Rika is afraid that I will be destroyed. I truly hope that everything will be fine, but if it isn't, please don't hurt her. Her fear is bad enough."

Rika's grandmother looked down again, for a long time. She had her eyes closed but Rika could see she was breathing. When she looked up again she stared straight into Renamon's eyes. "Do you love my granddaughter?"

Renamon nodded, eyes never leaving Rika's grandmother's. "I do indeed. Very much."

"Would you ever hurt her?"

"I have sworn many times that I never will. I have her heart, and she has mine. Without each other we would be worthless."

"Would you die for her?"

"Many times I almost have. It is my duty to protect her from dangers that emerge from the Digital world. But it's not important that I would die for her. What I think is most important is that I live for her."

"Rika? How do you feel?"

"I feel the same as Renamon. I love her with all my heart. I would never do anything to harm her. I was willing to die for her once. And I too live for her. There's nothing that could pull us apart."

Rika's grandmother looked at the two of them, sweeping her gaze over one and then the other. "I've been around for a good amount of time. I've seen a lot of things in my time, good and bad. I don't know much about this new world and this Digital world, or anything like that. But I do know about love. I know about honest, genuine, sweet love. And what I see here, is the most honest love I've seen in a long, long time. You might both be women, and you might be some creature from another world, but what there is between you is a beautiful thing. Don't ever lose whatever it is that keeps you like this. Freeze this moment in time and never let it go. Ever."

That moment, Rika's mother decided to come in with her discovery. "Look what I found in Rika's bag! Love notes from a... girl..." She looked around at the assembled group, her eyes lingering on Renamon. "What's going on here?"

"I was just meeting the most important person in your daughter's life. The one who loves her, and will love her for all her life. This is... Renamon, I believe."

"That's right. My name is Renamon. I am a Digimon from the..." but Renamon didn't need to say any more. Rika's mother fainted right where she stood.

"That girl never could take to new ideas very well." Rika's grandmother observed.

~Owari