I am just going to warn you... this isn't paragraphed very well.

Sweat dripped down his face and neck. There were cuts and scratches all down his legs and arms, and a couple on his face. He no longer cared anymore. He didn't care about himself anymore, the only thing he cared about was finding his friend and his brother. To himself, the only thing that mattered were finding TK and Sora. I guess that's what the Digital World did to people. It all started with Sora running off one night, crying. Nobody had seen her since then. It had hurt him so much to see one of his friends in so much pain, and he only wished he could get her to come back and make her pain stop. But he couldn't, and that made him feel even worse yet. TK was extreamly worried about her, and ran out to find her and ended up getting lost himself. Matt was exausted and about ready to fall over, but he kept going. For all he knew, they could both be dead. He hadn't seen Gabumon since he himself left at night to go off to look for them, not thinking how the others might feel to l! ose yet another. He pushed on for about another ten minutes, until he fell over, out of breath. His muscles ached and his head hurt. Not to mention he was really thirsty. But he passed out before he could think of any of these things...

***

The next thing he knew, Matt was warm and his head was on something, like a pillow. He relized someone had their hand on his shoulder, so he figured he must be laying in somebody's lap. This imedeatly freaked him out, and he jumped up and backed away, causing whoever it had been to jump back themself, and yelp. He was breathing heavily, and he looked up to see Sora. "Yama-chan? Are you okay?" she asked softly, but her eyes showed that she was afraid. Afraid of him being crazy from lack of water or something. "Sora?? Oh my god... I am so glad I found you!" he said, running up to her and hugging her. She was a little surprised by this, but she no longer looked so scared. He hugged her and didn't let go for a few seconds. But then he remembered something, and released her. "Sora? What happened that night that you left?" he asked. She hung her head. "Matt? You promise not to tell anybody this?" she asked. "Well, of course! What are friends for?" he replied. "Well you can't tell an! y of our other friends... even though Mimi already knows." Matt raised his eyebrow, but nodded. "Of course. I won't tell a soul." She took a deep breath. "Okay. That night, I'd been talking with... uhh... somebody... and that person told me that... uh... the person I love hated me... It was more than I could stand... Even though now I think maybe they were lying." 'I wonder who told Sora that Tai hated her?' he wondered, but said, "Now, who told you that? Can you please tell me? And who do you love so much? I promise you, Sora, I won't tell anybody." Sora nervously bit her fingernails. "Well... I guess I could tell you that the person who was talking to me was Tai," she stated. 'Wow! Either he said he didn't like her, or she likes somebody else. Maybe Izzy,' Matt thought. "But," Sora continuted, "I can't tell you the rest. I'm sorry... but I just can't. The only person who knows is Mimi, besides Biyomon." Matt touched her shoulder. "It's okay Sora, you don't have to tell me. And Biyomon was very worried about you... so was Takeru. He left, and I still don't know where he is..." Matt kept his stone face, but you could still tell how worried he was by the way his hand was twitching. "Oh, TK?" Sora asked, "I saw him already, but he left. He went back with Tai and the rest of them... I hid because I didn't want to go, and TK said he wouldn't tell that he'd seen me, or that he knew where I was. Don't worry, Matt, TK is safe." Matt sighed heavily. "I know what it's like to care for somebody as much as you care for TK," Sora said, "But in a way, it's different. Like for someone you're not related to..." Matt looked up at her. "Like someone you love?" he asked. Sora nodded. "Yeah... like that." It was silent for a while. I'd already gotten dark, and they stared up at the night sky, looking at the stars. Sora decided to break the ice. "Matt, do you love somebody? I mean not like TK or your parents... but... like... you know what I mean... Do you?" she asked. Matt thought for a few seconds, his eyes still on the sky. "Yeah... I guess, maybe... I don't know. What is it like?" he asked. He looked at Sora and waited for an answer. "Well... It's kinda hard to explain... It's like, everytime you're around that person, you get strange feelings, and your heart feels like it starts beating faster. Some people get sweaty or nervous, or both. It depends." He looked down at the ground, and started to draw figures in the dirt with the end of a small stick. He thought a moment. "Nah. I'm probably not, then," he replied flatly, not making eye contact. Sora noticed. "I know you, Matt. You hardly ever show emotion, but when you try so hard not to make eye contact, I know something's up. You're lying, Yamato... I know it. You *have* to be in love with Mimi or something," she said. He gasped when she said this and looked right at her. "ME??? Like Mimi? I mean sure as a friend, but gosh, do you think I would refuse to make eye contact with you if this was about Mimi?" He ment this, and she knew it. But she didn't know how to answer. After he relized what he said, and what it sounded like, he quickly said, "Just forget about that. Forget I even said a word." She looked at him strangely. "You're acting suspicious, Matt. Now, tell me... Who exactly do you like?" Sora asked. He gritted his teeth, and the look on his face made it seem like he was in pain. "No... This is just too much... I can't, Sora... I... I... I can't stay here!" he spluttered, and got up and ran. "MATT," Sora yelled, "MATT!!! WAIT!"

***

Matt ran, but not very far. He figured Sora wouldn't go after him. He stopped and fell against a tree, panting heavily. He buried his head in his hands, but still held back the urge to cry. Now he knew EXACTLY why Sora had left. He was too busy trying to keep himself from crying that he didn't hear the footsteps. There was something running towards him. "Matt? MATT!" He looked up to see Sora. He was about to run, but she acted quicker and grabbed onto his arms. "Matt? Listen to me," she waited a second or two. "Matt, will you listen? Answer me." He didn't speak, he only nodded. "Okay... Is this about me?" she asked. He didn't answer, so she pried his hands off his face and looked him straight in his ice-blue eyes. "It is, isn't it?" she asked. He shut his eyes so she couldn't look into them for an answer, but she already had one. She still didn't know what to say though, so she looked up at the sky. It was clouded over now, and the stars weren't visible. After a minute, Sora sat down too. Once in awhile, a star managed to peek out, but it was rare. They sat there for at least ten minutes, and eventually Matt looked up. The silence was nice, but it was eating away at him. He looked over to Sora, who was looking at the ground. "Sora? Do you hate me now?" he asked. She looked up, and he was shocked to see her face was tear-streaked. "Matt... of course I don't hate you! I mean... I... I think... I think I love you too..."

Bunch of sap? E-mail me at SoraIshida@jessnjames.zzn.com and let me know what you think!