Please, Let the Stars Shine

"Taichi?" A quiet, gentle, yet meaningful voice whispered in the chilly night. The girl tilted her head to see her brother, his eyes gazing up at the stars.

He then shifted in his dark blue sleeping bag to turn to the girl, "Yes, Hikari?"

"Are all the digimon… who left us… still with us?"

He chuckled, "Of course."

Hikari smiled faintly. "How do you know?"

Being the older brother, he had to make up something up to have the girl satisfied. He lifted his hand and pointed to a big, bright, twinkling star.

"I bet that's Wizardmon's way of saying hello." Added Taichi. She knew he made it up, but kept quiet.

"Taichi?"

"Huh?"

"You're the greatest," young Hikari announced and closed her eyes to get some rest. It didn't take long for her to drift into a peaceful slumber.

Taichi pulled his little sister's blanket to her cheek and kissed her on the forehead, "You're okay yourself, kiddo."

~ Five years later, Hikari is 13. ~

"La,la,la," a dull voice came from the television screen in Hikari's homeroom.

"What?"

"La,la,la."

"What… is that?"

"A… musical pitch."

Hikari sighed, sure she loved music… But, every year they watched the boring movie of "How to recognize a music note." Boredom. Absolute and total boredom.

"Psst!" A voice called. She turned to see Daisuke holding out a note, Takeru right beside him, trying to "pay attention" to the video.

Surprised and flattered, she opened the folded paper. It read:

Dear Hikari,

A poem to you, yep from me

I hope they-

Skip the poem. Kari? Will you go out with me? I'll be forever greatful.

Daisuke

Another note was tossed:

Hikari,

Don't listen to the absurd words Daisuke tells ya. He doesn't know what he's doin'. Just… don't pay attention to his words. (Especially when half of 'em are misspelled!)

Takeru ^_^

Yet another:

PLEASE HIKARI?!

DM

Yes… one more:

'Kari, please don't jump into things.

Takeru ^_^

She giggled wildly. It was fun getting attention. The bell rang. Finally, it was time to go.

Being outside was refreshing. Blue skies with a white puff here and there. Birds chirping as if it were being strangled… And a group of kids running out of the school grounds. It was a Friday, the day when Hikari, Taichi, Yamato, and Takeru got out together just to do things in the park or around town.

"Hey, 'Kari!" Takeru called and ran to her side. They always walked together. In fact, it was one of their favorite times, just walking together, talking about meaningless things. They seemed to enjoy it a lot. Soon, the two arrived at a bench and rested.

"Well, we're young, happy, and full of sugar!" Takeru chuckled, "what shall we do now?"

Hikari giggled. She glanced at her watch. Taichi was late. He always showed up before Hikari did. But, she didn't worry too much, Takeru was with her now.

Minutes passed by… nearly a whole hour did. Still no sign of Taichi. Nor Yamato.

"Say," Takeru blinked, "it's awfully late…"

Just as the blond had said that, his brother came running up, his face pale, his hair unusually flattened and wet.

"Yama-" Hikari started.

"No time to talk, follow me," he gasped air into his lungs, then sprinted away, the two teens following after. Hikari had to run twice as fast as the other two just to keep up. Her heart practically froze when they turned the corner to go to the hospital.

"Taichi!!" She screamed, breathlessly and sprinted ahead of the boys. Diving into the door, she struggled to open it, her eyes now filled with tears. Eventually, the three of them were standing near Taichi. Hikari's eyes trailed all the tubes, all the bruises, all the pain her brother was being put under. She couldn't choke out the words "what happened?". She couldn't even think them. All the girl was able to do, was to kneel down beside the bed and enclose one of his hands in hers.

"Please," she whispered, "I know you are strong, dear brother. I know you are courageous. Why does such a thing happen to people who are kind?" Her words were now broken into mumbles as tears fell onto her hands.

The doctor came in and whispered lowly into Yamato's ear, "I seriously doubt if he can recover. I believe we might've lost 'im."

"No, " Yamato hung his head in hurtful shame. "This was my fault."

Takeru sat down beside Hikari and rested his hands atop the bed. He said nothing, he only looked at the siblings, then up to his own big brother. No words were spoken as the doctor exited, Yamato joined the other two, only on the opposite side.

"Taichi," Hikari began again, "please don't leave me. I don't want you to. It isn't fair. You can't! Okay! You can't!!"

The wounded boy opened his eyes only a little and his hand twitched. Hikari looked up and gasped. Holding a finger to his lips, Taichi motioned the girl to give him a hug. And she did. Yamato and Takeru finally noticed he was awake and a small grin appeared on their faces.

Taichi said to his sister in a calm tone, despite his pain, "No matter what happens… Always let the stars shine."

She was confused. What was that supposed to mean?

"And," he continued, "I'll be okay either way. Trust me. I'm your big bro'."

Hikari nodded softly and hugged him again. "I will always let the stars shine. Whatever that means."

Taichi closed his eyes and sighed. Again, the doctor came into the room, wanting to check Taichi. Meaning, the others had to leave. Hikari stood up and talked to the doctor, as did Takeru.

Yamato leaned close to his friend, kissed him on the forehead, and added, "Tai', you're gonna be just fine. Right?"

"Right…" he whispered lowly.

The blond nodded and took his turn to exit the room. Hikari was the last to go, her eyes still set on Taichi.

~ Three nights later ~

Takeru and Hikari were outside at night, tucked up into sleeping bags with blankets on top of them. They were star gazing… Taichi was still in the hospital for his slight accident in the Digital World. Hikari, nor Takeru, knew what exactly happened. But they were still worried for his well-being.

"Did you ever stop to think…" Hikari whispered as small puffs of air came out of her mouth, visible to the eye, "what stars are?"

"Not really," he admitted. Then he stopped and thought about it, "It kind of fools your mind though. You don't know, and you want to know."

She nodded.

There was silence. She soon watched a star; her star… The one Taichi pointed out to her a long time ago. A cloud drifted over it to hide it from her.

She closed her eyes and imagined her brother. So bright and vivid, so wild and funny, so lost in the moment. Young Hikari rested her head on Takeru and started to weep silently.

"Please," she said, thinking about her brother, "let the stars shine."

Eh? What do you think? Too cheesy? Too weak? Too blah? Well… It was my first. I'm thinking about making a sequel to it. But I dunno. What do you think? Hehe, I must admit, this is kinda fun. Anyway, read… review… and all that jazz. Thankies.

Hikari Takaishi. ::snicker, snicker:: (By the way, thanks for readin' it. ^_^)