Disclaimer: I state no claim to the popular anime Digimon. I'm merely writing a fan fictional story using the characters. I do, however, claim the plot and ask that no one write a sequel or story dealing with this particular piece of work without my consent. Thank you-

Sins of the Innocent

By: Ssj_hotaru

Shadow on the Shore

A young girl in a pink cowgirl styled dress walked leisurely through the strange forest with her Digimon friend, her pink hat hung from a string around her neck down to the middle of her back. She looked around and saw a beautiful lake with trees that seemed unsettlingly familiar and the weird feeling that she'd been to this place before crept into her.

"Palmon, have we been here before?" Mimi asked, trying to gouge out what made everything seem so memorable and receiving the sense that it was dancing just on the edge of her thoughts. Palmon looked up at her in a mixture of confused disbelief.

"You mean you don't remember?" Mimi looked around once more, trying to pick out every minute detail and saw an old, rusty and half crushed trolley car. It triggered something but it was gone before she could grasp it and after probing her mind and drawing a blank, she turned back to Palmon.

"No" She sighed and shook her head, "I don't remember anything."

"Oh Mimi!" Palmon said with affectionate exasperation, "This is the place where Gabumon first digivolved to Garurumon."

Images came flooding through her mind of the trolley car and Seadramon, she could vividly remember Matt risking his life for his little brother and how frightened she'd been. Shaking her head to get rid of the past memories, she looked down at Palmon.

"I remember now, It's getting kinda late, I think we should get back before the group starts to worry." Palmon nodded and they both started back to camp.

*****

Mimi sat staring into the flames of the groups campfire, absently listening to the conversation around her. Her friends seemed at the moment to be engrossed in reasoning why they were still stuck in the Digiworld and she wanted nothing of their theories. She didn't want to fight anymore, what was the point, there were no more really evil Digimon, they had no reason to be here and yet they were. She didn't think she could go through another battle knowing that she could lose a friend at any moment.

A few hours later everyone but Mimi was asleep. She'd taken first watch because she had to much on her mind to even think of sleep. Their camp wasn't very far from the lake, she could see the full moon shining down onto the glassy surface from her seat by the fire and it looked inviting although she knew she couldn't leave.

Unexpectedly, the sound of a harmonica reached through the silence to whisper seductively in her ear. She came to her feet with a start and gazed wide eyed toward the lake where the music was coming from, imagining that she could see a shadowy silhouette sitting on the sandy shore. "Matt?" She murmured breathlessly to herself. She moved a foot tentatively in the direction of the music then stopped and looked back at Palmon and her friends sleeping in total confidence of her. "They'll be fine" She said to herself, "I'll only be a few minutes." She ran the rest of the way.

She was out of breath by the time she broke the line of trees and collapsed to her knees on the sandy shore. The music was louder here and she raised her head to look around. At first she didn't see anything, but then, a little off to the right, she saw a dark figure propped against a piece of twisted driftwood with hands raised to his face, playing solemnly on his harmonica. She saw that his eyes were closed and the sound was a little more soulful than what she'd grown used to hearing as she drifted off to sleep during their first nights in the Digiworld.

She didn't know how long she'd knelt on the shore just watching him, but when she finally stood, her legs tingled and felt as though a thousand needles were pricking her from her hips to her toes and she almost crumpled back to the ground; but she ignored the feeling and took a few stumbling steps forward. I can't believe he's really here! She thought numbly, still moving towards him like a moth to a flame. I have to be dreaming, this can't be real. The thought was not exactly a groundless one since she had been having rather strange dreams that involved him since he'd left the group.

Well here's a thought genius She told herself sarcastically, maybe you should just go over there and see instead of worrying at it! She slowly walked towards him, her eyes glued to his back in disbelief.

Mimi stopped when she was close enough to touch him. Amazed that he hadn't noticed her yet, she lifted her hand and gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Matt?"

He jumped in surprise, the music coming to an abrupt halt as he turned around glaring, one hand clenched into a fist while the other held his harmonica in a death grip. His eyebrows rose quickly and his angry look faded into one of shock when he saw it was Mimi.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curtly, turning back to look out across the lake.

"I was on watch and heard you playing." She said, choosing to overlook the rudeness in his tone and sat down next to him.

"If you're on watch don't you think you should be getting back." He commented, hesitantly looking in her direction out of the corner of his eyes.

"Nah, they'll be fine, Palmon's still there." She said. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she looked around and for the first time noticed something amiss. "Where's Gabumon?"

Matt looked over at Mimi and then back at the lake. "MetalGarurumon is watching over the camp." He let out an irritated sigh and stood quickly. "Look, I really need to be going." Mimi stood up next to him.

"Maybe I could come with you and-"

"No!" He cut her off sharply, then gentled his tone. "No, you need to just… go back to your watch and pretend none of this ever happened okay? I just need to be alone for awhile can you understand that?" When she nodded mutely, feeling somehow rejected. He smiled. "Thanks, and Mimi?" He looked her in the eyes.

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone we've been watching over you guys."

"Okay." She answered, looking at the ground. Matt walked a few feet away from her before she heard him stop. She looked up, curious as to why he had and she saw him looking at her thoughtfully.

"I'll see you around Mimi." Then he took the last few steps and vanished into the foliage of the forest.

She stood a few minutes later staring intently at the spot where he'd disappeared, not knowing what she was expecting. When it was obvious what ever it was wasn't going to happen, she turned and walked back towards the camp solemnly, glancing back over her shoulder to the lake every so often to see the moon reflecting in the water.

*****

The next day they continued their walk around the lake until they reached the opposite side and, finding the site satisfactory, decided to camp there. It was getting dark and it seemed as though everyone was exhausted from the trek since they were nodding off while eating. After the light supper of strange fish and fruits, they began to look for comfortable places to sleep and soon there was only Sora and Tai who were having an in depth discussion on the current situation down by the lake and Jyou who was sitting beside Mimi carrying on a one sided conversation with her while she stared up at the night sky, completely oblivious of the confession he was trying to make.

"-We've been friends for a long time and we do seem to have grown closer to each other in that time we spent alone together and I was just wondering if you had… well, if you felt anything towards… You know like… Mimi are you okay?" He broke off to asked as her eyes quivered slightly and grew bright with unshed tears. She didn't answer and he looked at her worriedly. "Mimi?" She blinked as if coming out of a daze and glanced at him.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something Jyou?" Jyou looked at the ground sadly and sighed.

"No, I wasn't saying anything." He stood up from the rock they'd been sitting on by the fire and looked away. "Well, goodnight Mimi." He walked over and stretched out beside Koushiro.

"What was that about?" She asked, looking down at Palmon who was fast asleep by her feet. Sliding down to the ground beside her friend, Mimi smiled and put an arm around her while she snuggled up "Sweet dreams Palmon."