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

A Dip in Lavender

"What do you mean she left!!!" Taichi barely refrain from yelling.

"Just that." Sora replied, keeping her own temper under strict control.

"You just let her walk away?" He half asked, half stated, clenching his hands into fists.

"What did you want me to do, physically restrain her!" She said, finding it harder and harder to stay calm and reasonable.

"I would have." He said sullenly, "Someone like Mimi has no chance out there alone." Sora softened when she realized that his intentions weren't entirely selfish.

"Don't worry Taichi," She said, wrapping her fingers around his upper arm reassuringly. "She's with Matt." Taichi's eyes widened.

"With Matt…" He muttered, anger evident in his voice. He glared at the tree infront of him as if it were the reason for him being upset; suddenly, his whole body jerked forward and he hit the tree as hard a he could with his tightly closed fist. Sora watched sadly, This is why I can't tell him. Sighing, she held back long built up tears through sheer force of will.

"We have to find them!" He said, turning so that he was glaring at Sora. "We have to bring them back." My Matt is all alone with Mimi! He clenched his fists even tighter. How could she! He thought bitterly, his gaze sliding over to lock with Sora's. She knew how I felt about him! I thought she was my friend. Taichi turned away, filling the prick of tears behind his eyes. Sora turned to walk back to the camp, stopping to look at her shoes.

"Do what you want Taichi." She said, emotion causing the words to sound choked, then she ran, leaving him aloe on the lake's edge.

Taichi, thinking nothing of what Sora had just said, stood looking out across the water, letting the flames of fury burn him alive. Angry tears of helplessness fell from his eyes as he silently cursed Mimi and Sora to the deepest, darkest corners of hell and back.

A pair of light, forest green eyes watched Taichi and Sora as the parted with something akin to sorrow. :Love is dying and Courage is loosing it's innocents, these Children will be mine.:

*****

"Matt, where are we going?" Mimi asked, trailing a few paces behind and slowing down.

"I don't know." Matt replied, walking at a steady pace with his hands stuffed casually in his pockets, remembering why he'd always thought Mimi was annoying.

"I'm tired, and hungry, and my feet hurt!" She whined. "Can we please take a rest now?" Matt rolled his eyes and turned to look at her where she'd stopped dead.

"We just stopped thirty minutes ago!" Her eyes became large, tears filled brown orbs and her bottom lip trembled in the classic puppy dog look. Matt caved. "All right then, but only for a few minutes."

"Yeah!" Mimi cheered weakly, smiling as she sank gratefully to her knees beneath a tree. Matt stood looking around for a minutes, then shrugged and sat down beside her, still happy she'd volunteered to come along, even if she wasn't the perfect companion to have along on a hike.

Ten minutes in silence and they were walking again, they climbed a hill to get a better direction of which way they were headed, then started down and followed a river until they came to a valley at sunset; with breaks in between of course.

"Wow! How pretty, it looks like something from a dream." Mimi squealed in delight.

"This place never ceases to amaze me." Matt said, looking around. The river ended in a long water fall that fell steaming into a large lake, a mountain of jagged rocks rising up from the middle, all the water turned a deep lavender from the remaining light. The valley was framed by rocky, gray mountains that imprisoned the lush green meadows blanketed by a rainbow of wild flowers and the trees that broke the valley floor in small clusters scattered about.

"Last one to reach the lake's a rotten digi-egg!" Mimi yelled cheerfully, laughing as she ran carefully down the rocky side towards the lake. Matt smiled at her enthusiasm and ran after her, Gabumon and Palmon close behind.

Mimi made it to the lake first, followed immediately by Matt. "It's even more beautiful from here." She said, letting her gaze wander over the purple water.

"And it feels like the perfect time for a swim too." Matt said longingly, speaking his thoughts aloud. Mimi smiled over her shoulder at him and knelt impulsively at the lakes edge to undo her shoes.

"Mimi! What are you doing?" Matt asked with a laugh, walking up next to her.

"Taking of my shoes of course, I can't swim with them on." She answered, tugging off one shoe.

"Are you serious?"

"No, I'm striping because I want to run around half naked just for fun." She snapped sarcastically, tugging off the other shoe and starting on the belt around her waist. Matt felt his face grow hot and he looked the other way. "Now are you going to swim or do I get to do this on my own?" Matt hesitantly gripped his shirt and pulled it over his head, then knelt down to remove his own shoes.

In a few minutes Matt and Mimi were in the water in nothing but their underwear. "This water is warm." Mimi observed, splashing around experimentally.

"Must be a hot spring somewhere nearby." Matt said, dunking his head beneath the water and smoothing his hair back with a sigh of contentment. "It feels good."

"Talk about it, I'm so happy I finally get to wash all this dirt out of my hair, I can't believe I let it get like this, it's all greasy and yucky!" Mimi said, her hair down out of it's usual ponytail and her fingers gently scrubbing her scalp as she leaned her head back to wash it.

Matt laughed. "Same old Mimi." She lifted an eyebrow elegantly, raising her head from the water and slicking her hair straight with one last stroke of her long fingers through it's chestnut waves.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, swimming towards him in one sure move.

"Nothing." Matt replied, an innocent smile on his face.

"Really…?" She returned skeptically, and with a flick of her delicate wrist, sent a splash of water full in his face.

"Hey!" Matt exclaimed laughing and splashed her back. They mock glared at each other for a few silent seconds before they both succumbed to helpless giggles.

*****

The sun had set and a full moon graced the sky and shown silvery light down on the rock which Matt and Mimi were laying on.

"Hey look up there! That group of stars look like two people kissing!" Mimi giggled, pointing up at a group of stars. Matt looked around the sky in confusion for a minute before seeing the cluster she was talking about. An impish smile stretched his mouth.

"I don't know, it looks more like two guys duking in out to me." Mimi threw him a weird look before turning onto her side to look him in the eyes.

"You must be kidding, do you even have one romantic bone in your body?"

"I could be romantic if I wanted to." Matt replied, also turning over onto his side. Their eyes locked, their faces inches apart and Matt slowly closed the distance until they were nose to nose.

"Prove it." She whispered, her hot breath causing the lower half of his face to tingle. Matt tilted his head to the side and moved his lips next to her ear.

"I don't want to." He whispered, then pushed her off the rock. She screeched in surprise and clawed desperately at his arms until she had a good grip just as she hit the water, dragging him down with her. They were interrupted by Gabumon informing them that dinner was done.

"All right Gabumon, be there in a sec." Matt answered, turning his head so that he was looking over at the fire by the shore. Mimi splashed him one more time before they both swam back towards the campsite that Palmon and Gabumon had setup while they were playing in the water.

After dinner Matt decided that he would take first watch, telling Gabumon to go ahead and get some sleep since the day had been long. As he thought about how much he'd walked around since they'd come to the digiworld, he thought it might do the four of them some good to stay in one place for awhile. Mimi was fast asleep, Palmon curled comfortably beside her in the soft grass, her back against a rock softened by the weather. Gabumon was resting peacefully beneath the tree beside him as he contemplated what he was feeling.

You're the only one awake now, He told himself silently. maybe you can finally figure all this out. He glanced over at Mimi and felt his stomach twist, he stared at her angelic face with an emotion that bordered on obsessive, feeling at the moment that he could look at her for a lifetime and need no more nourishment than the privilege. He smiled at the direction his thoughts were taking. I think I'm attracted to her. He thought, amused and disturbed at the same time. She is pretty and sweet and annoying and fun to be around, practically perfect, why shouldn't I be attracted. Matt let out a sigh from deep inside and looked out towards the black abyss that had been a lake earlier that day and continued to try and puzzle out what he was feeling.