"He wasn't my kind of pretty, but he was prettier than anything I've ever seen in other ways."
As our protagonist and his allies left Ranamon to recover with the Bukamon tending to her, said frog princess giggled as she rested on a small piece of land in the middle of her lake. Happy thoughts of the boy whose strong arms kept her close widened her smile while her fans/servants had gone to get her food and medicine. She sat on the miniature island, kicking the water and making waves at the memory.
"Ranamon..." In reality, Haruto's hair was a mess, his face had some bruises and dirt from his battles with Kuwagamon and the frog Digimon. In Ranamon's mind, though, he was dashing.
"Let's go." BlackGatomon's voice made the princess-like Digimon jolt up.
"Wait, why!? You must be tired! Stay, Bukamon can help us recover!" she cried, tears threatening to fall down her face.
"No, she's right." the odd Digimon said, "We've exhausted our energies, we have fish for the way ahead, and we don't want Devimon to stay too close to us."
Pouting, she looked at Haruto, but his mind was made up, "Stay and rest, okay?" he said as he walked to the water and set her down with the Bukamon, "I promise, I'll kick Devimon's teeth in for you. The way things are, I'm sure it won't be easy." As the tiny Digimon carried their idol, he blushed when noting Ranamon didn't want to let go, her hand on his t-shirt.
BlackGatomon growled, holding up a claw, "That little..." her face twisted in anger, worrying Kitmon who slowly inched away from her.
"Then rest at my place. You can recover your energies easier." She was basically pleading, batting her eyelashes at him.
Sweating slightly, he fought back a blush and failed miserably, "Even if you say that, we've seen the guy target another Digimon. If he uses you again, I really don't want to fight you." He scratched his cheek, and bluntly said what was on his mind, "It'd be a real kick to the butt. You're too strong. Sure, I can become a strong Digimon, but I'm not ready to fight you again... It'd be such a pain."
"He is right, fighting her again would be a pain." Kitmon said.
BlackGatomon hummed, "Does she know that's what he means, though?"
He meant that saying he saw fighting the surprisingly strong frog girl as troublesome, and didn't want that kind of burden. For Ranamon, though, it meant he cared too much and didn't want her hurt. Her mind had taken what he said and took it in a different light. Even if he didn't look concerned, worried, or at the very least attempting to be tactful, which he wasn't. One would think he'd get slapped, as did the other Digimon.
However, she smiled and nodded, "Then I'll rest if you want me to. But if you ever need help, I'll be sending my fans to tell me. Just to make up for all I did and show you I can be your equal."
Rubbing the back of his head, he chuckled, "Heh, I'd like to see that." He said so good-naturedly, but he said, "I plan to stand tall and above all shinobi, so don't think it'd be easy."
Kitmon knew what he meant, "He thinks Ranamon wants to be as strong as him."
BlackGatomon closed her eyes, "I'm finding it worryingly easier to accept this side of his."
Giddy, Ranamon nodded, "Just you wait, I'll make sure to help you lots and be strong as well!"
And now, the frog princess was drawing pictures of the boy's head in cartoonish ways with a happy look in her eyes. She worried and wondered about her obvious crush, but also had some things to consider. What he said and how he said it gave her something to think about. Princess, idol, beauty, those things were titles given to her, but she finally wanted more. All thanks to someone who put her in her place.
"Ranamon-sama is really happy, like more so than usual." Said Bukamon 1 thoughtfully.
"Could she be in love with that Haruto thing?" asked Bukamon 2 worriedly.
"Seems so. Our beautiful princess' heart has been stolen." Answered a saddened Bukamon 3.
"But we should be happy, right? She is, after all." Replied Bukamon 1 with a sagely look in his eyes.
"Yeah, she's never smiled like that before, and it's cute!" cheered Bukamon 2 full of energy.
"Then let's make sure that Haruto thing makes her happy better than we did!" Exclaimed Bukamon 3 after drying his tears.
"Yeah!" hollered Bukamon 1 with a fin up.
"Aye, aye!" agreed Bukamon 2 with joyful clapping.
"But how?" Bukamon 3 finally brought out.
After a pause of serious thinking in which none of the three came up with anything, their idol spoke, "It's getting late." She looked at the night sky with a sigh, "Is he eating well, resting well? Has he found a proper place to stay the night? Or has he encountered dangerous Digimon and is currently chased by that dastardly Devimon?"
"We can check on him!" Bukamon 1 declared. "We'll bring him food if he needs it!" Bukamon 2 continued. "And we'll bring any message he has for you quickly!" exclaimed Bukamon 3.
An authentic grin from the frog girl made the three melt, "Oh, you are so good to me! Thank you!"
At once and as one, the trio screamed in utter disbelief, "R-Ranamon-sama thanked us! And did so with a smile!" they started to cheer not a second later. "That was the best!" Bukamon 1 sang. "Truly a goddess of all Digimon!" Bukamon 2 danced in the water. "Alright, let's make sure that Haruto thing keeps making her this happy!" Bukamon 3 told his comrades and they went to work.
Ranamon giggled, "I've never seen them so pumped up. Maybe I did something good like he wants me to." She beamed at the idea.