Yet more author-y type notes — Here I am again, sitting at Wordperfect with "Butterfly" on repeat on my Winamp, typing away...This is the last part of "Nightmares and Realities" Yippee...My only big note on this is that a section in this part alludes that Matt's father may be somewhat--abusive. I've read a couple fics with this particular situation and thought it was interesting. Now, obviously, I've heard that Matt's dad really is a nice guy who works at a news station (; So my story implies that the nice, reporter guy is Matt's step-dad and it was Matt's *real* dad who was abusive...Get it? Got it? Good. If not, just look at it as an alternate universe fic *g* This is fic that explains the black brace that Tai always wears...This fic has also taken quite a turn for the weird and is now officially a fantasy fic! It's very dark, overly dramatic and incredibly CORNY. So if cheezy ain't you thing, walk away now (; Anyway. Enjoy!

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Darkness fell like a swooping bird of prey that had just discovered it's target. It was unrelenting, and completely inexorable. It wrapped itself around the mind and soaked into the crevices that it found there. It snaked into the heart and tied itself into a compact knot of guilt and sorrow.

Taichi Kamiya opened his eyes to that world of dark.

Almost automatically, Tai wrapped his arms around his small body for warmth and pulled the thin blanket he found on top of himself up to his chin. Something wasn't right. Sure, it was cold, but this wasn't a cold you would feel on a brisk winter's day. This cold was more like a biting chill that rang through him on the *inside*, and no blanket could ever dispel it. It felt as though someone had taken a large part of his heart and left only the darkness and hatred behind. There was no warmth in his soul and all he could feel was deep emptiness.

Turning his head slightly to the left, his brown eyes found the sleeping form of Matt Ishida. Rubbing his freezing hands together, he lifted an arm to nudge the other boy, "Matt," Tai's exhausted whisper asked, "Wake up."

Matt groaned in reply and turned over away from Tai. Tai was never one to give up though, "Matt, c'mon..."

"Hmm, whaaa?" Matt wondered sleepily, his voice a barely audible murmur.

"We gotta get up, Matt. C'mon, something's wrong." Tai answered flatly, sitting up and looping his arms around himself again in an unsuccessful attempt to close the gaping hole that had formed inside him.

"Like what?" Matt asked angrily, obviously not wanting to move.

"Can't you feel it?" Tai muttered, gazing around with paranoid eyes and watching his breath come out in frosty white puffs.

Matt finally sat up and stretched, moaned at his stiff muscles, and then took a cursory look around, "It's so cold in here."

Tai nodded numbly, "The fire's almost out."

"What a weird night," Matt said, rising slowly to his feet and walking around to wake his sleeping legs, "I had the strangest dream."

Tai shook his head once more, "Me too."

"Yeah, well, I don't know about you but I think I want to leave this party," Matt said, looking dubiously at the door on the right side of the room that hadn't been there the night before, "How ‘bout we find the Digimon and get the heck out of here?"

Tai gazed with hollow eyes at the door, "Yeah." Was the boy's only reply.

Matt tilted his head in worry, "You alright Tai?"

"Fine Matt," Tai answered, pulling open the newly discovered door and peeking through, "I just didn't sleep very well."

Matt frowned in agreement, then surveyed the hallway they had just stepped into. It was massively long mostly due to the darkness looming through it and it seemed as if it had no end. A howling wind wound along, filling the room with a blatant chill and the silence seemed almost deadly.

Beside him, Tai shivered slightly, "It's pitch black in here. How are we going to see?"

Matt's eyes narrowed in thought as he found an unlit torch on the wall. Snatching it out of it's holder, Matt returned to the room where they had previously spent their night and stuck the burning end into the nearly dissipated fire. When he rejoined Tai in the hallway, he had a small flame going that lit up the tunnel a few meters ahead of them.

Tai lifted an eyebrow at their surroundings, "What do you think is at the end of this tunnel?" He wondered.

"The Caramilk Secret?" Matt answered sarcastically, taking a step forward. Then he stopped and turned to the doorway, "And a one, a two, and one, two..."

SLAM!

The door slammed shut and the thunderous lock latched on. Matt gazed at it grimly, an ironic smile plaguing his face, "Right on schedule."

Tai was already continuing up the hallway with a strange sense of purpose, "I guess we get to find out what's at the end of the yellow brick road."

"Lucky us."

The two began their trek through the darkness silently, as if they knew that disturbing the resounding quiet would condemn them. The hallway seemed to go on forever and after a few hours both boys were feeling like they were lost in a never ending maze and any novelty of their situation had worn into desperation.

Tai instinctively took a step closer to Matt and their only solace in the blackness; the torch, "Something's not right, Matt."

"You keep saying that! Would ya cut it out already? What happened? Did you suddenly become psychic over the last twenty-four hours?" Matt muttered in annoyance.

Tai shot at angered look at his companion , "Just maybe I *did*! You don't have to be such a jerk about it!"

Matt rolled his eyes in the darkness, "Just shut up Tai. I don't want to have to listen to you whenever you get these ‘premonitions' They are SERIOUSLY getting old."

Tai snorted loudly, then nodded, "Fine."

" So YOU are the digi-destined..."

The voice broke the silence like a sharp bladed sword. It was soft and feminine and it mixed with the air around them as if the gentle wind was saying it. It gave warmth to the room, like a soft light splitting the night. Still, the sudden speech made the two children cry out in surprise.

"Who...Who's out there?" Tai called.

"A friend, little one. You have nothing to fear from me."

"What do you want from us?" Matt asked, looking around for the person...or thing...that the floating words belonged to.

"I simply want to give you a warning. A warning that you are walking into the very heart of Darkness."

"What is the Darkness?" Tai questioned, feeling a familiar chill nagging at him.

"Time will show you, young ones. There is no way to avoid it. This day you will battle the darkness. You must win, or in losing you, this world and yours will be forever doomed. "

Matt frowned, clutching the torch tighter. He hated all these ominous prophesies. They were way too cliche and over-dramatic. It was best to cut to the chase. "How do we defeat it?"

"Courage and Friendship together can defeat any enemy. It is the purest of light and only light can destroy the Darkness. Two must become one, only then will the power be yours to use."

"I...I don't understand." Tai said.

"You will. It is your destiny to understand. Stay strong, little ones, and never give up. Your sacrifice will give peace to this land."

Tai and Matt could almost feel it when their eerie visitor left them once again. The cold wind seeped back into them, the warmth that had flooded through them moments before disappeared in a single breath.

"No wait!!" Tai cried, "Don't go! Don't leave us here!"

But she was gone...and they were once again alone. With the words of the stranger fresh in their heads, the torch light blew out in wisp of smoke and left the boys standing in the depths of the dark.

"Tai?" Matt whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Now what do we do?"

"I dunno."

Another voice filled the room, this one contrasting strongly with the first. It was icy and hard, speaking with the hatred that came from a deep, bitter soul. It shook the walls and sent Tai and Matt reeling blindly to the floor in silent mental agony.

"NOW," It hissed, "YOU DIE."

The two small Digi-Destined children didn't even have time to scream as their consciousness was taken from them.

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So cold...He was so cold...

The memories...The dreams...The fear.

Home? Was he home? There was his mom and Kari sat watching T.V...

He *WAS* home.

"Mom?" He asked tentatively, as if to make sure that she was real.

"Tai, honey," She muttered, looking up her meal preparations to give him a long frown, "I told you to set that table twenty minutes ago."

"But I..."

"Mom!" Kari cried, jumping to her feet, "It's them again!! It's the monsters on the T.V again!"

Tai's mother rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Hikari Kamiya! What did I tell you about that? There's no monsters on the television. You're just imagining things. You're beginning to sound like your brother when we lived in Heighton."

"But I did see monsters on that bridge!" Tai put in.

"Tai!" His mom said, "Don't provoke your sister! Terrorists bombed that bridge, you know that. Besides, I thought you had forgotten."

The door knob of their front door began to turn and Tai's mother smiled happily, "Thank God your father's home. I was starting to worry."

Tai began to tremble. Something wasn't right. Shut the door!! His mind screamed. A picture of Myotismon ripped through his head and Tai cried out, running to the door and slamming it shut, pushing his full weight against it.

"TAI!" He heard his mom cry, "What on earth are you doing?! Let your father in!"

Tai shook his head desperately, "It's not dad! IT'S NOT DAD!!"

"Yes, it is. No one else has a key, now stop acting like..."

"IT'S NOT HIM!!"

"Tai! Open that door right now!" His mother's voice had taken an authoritative tone that meant she was getting angry. Tai gazed at her, begging with his eyes. Undaunted, she approached him and used her superior weight to pry her son off the door. In the process, she felt the tremble in Tai's shoulders and frowned.

"Tai, you're shaking. What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, pulling the boy gently into her arms.

"Please, mom...Don't open the door...Please..." He whispered.

"Honey, it's just your father...Look." She separated from him and stood up to pull at the door.

"NO!" Tai screamed. He bolted up and grabbed Kari by the arm, who had been watching the whole episode with wide eyes, and pulled them into his room. Pushing his little sister under the bed, he crawled under and wrapped his arms protectively around her.

"Tai?" She whispered, clutching him tightly, "What's going on?"

"Sh, Kari," Tai muttered back, "Don't make a sound."

From the kitchen, his mother's voice floated to his ears, "Who are you? What do you want? NO! STOP! NO!"

At their parent's cries of death, Kari whimpered and Tai squeezed his eyes shut and tried to close out the nightmare. Hot tears ran down his face and it took all his self- control not to let loose the sob collecting in his throat.

The bedroom door blasted open and almost flew off it's hinges in the process. The menacing form of Myotismon stepped almost gracefully into the room. A wicked smile crossed his face as his red eyes fell on the bed, "It's alright Tai," Myotismon said, "I'm not going hurt you. Come out."

Tai hugged Kari tighter, fear running rapid through him. Mom was dead, his mind cried, mom was dead and it was all his fault! Why was he a Digi-Destined? Why him? All it had done was cost him everything he loved.

The bed was suddenly flung up from around him and smashed into the nearby wall in a rain of splinters. Tai blinked in horror as he looked up to see Myotismon standing over him with a look of victory climbing his evil face. Bending down, he snatched the boy up by the collar in one massive hand and held him suspended in front of him.

"How does it feel to be the last?" The evil Digimon asked.

"The last?" Tai gasped, fighting to breathe.

Myotismon smiled and images filled Tai's pain-filled mind. He saw... Blood, so much blood. Agony swirled and manifested itself as Tai watched one by one, the Digi- Destined fall to tragic fates. Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Matt, T.K, Joe...were dead. All dead. Tears sprung once again to the young boy's eyes and the world spun into darkness. "You killed them," Tai said in soft disbelief, "You killed them all."

Myotismon nodded, "All but one. You. But don't cry, little Tai. I made their deaths as painful as possible. Just like dear old mother's and father's."

"NO! Leave me alone!" Tai cried.

"Oh, but have a special end for you, Guardian of Courage. I'm not even going to kill you at all. No, I'm going to leave you here to live with the fact that it's your fault that all this happened. You couldn't save any of them. You failed as a leader, a friend and a son," Then the large Digimon gazed with hungry eyes at Kari, who stood staring at Myotismon with fright, "And of course, I get to leave with a lovely little partying gift."

Throwing Tai with all the force in his arm against the wall with a sickening thump, he seized Kari, who screamed in fear and leapt through the window in a single bound. Tai fought to get to his feet and limped weakly to the window just in time to see the two disappear from sight, "KARI! NO!"

His faint legs gave out from under him and he fell to the ground. Tai was completely alone. There was no one. Myotismon was right, he was failure. Tai closed his eyes and willed the darkness to take him. If it ended the pain, if it ended the loneliness, let it take him. Just let it end.

Somewhere in the ocean of black that Tai was drowning in, spirals of darkness wrapped around him, seizing his arms and legs, pulling him down into the whirlpool of night and gently leading him into the arms of death. Tai's mind was too full of the memories and dreams that haunted him to notice or care.

The Darkness reached for his hand. And he took it. For what was there left to live for?

Much later...More dreams? No. No, this one was a memory...

An eight year old boy with rebellious brown eyes stood face to face to his father, fists clenched and anger written on his face. The father looked equally as agitated, gazing down at the boy with unrelenting eyes.

"Tai, I don't care," The father said, voice low and even, "I told you I couldn't."

Tai looked annoyed, "But you promised!"

"Tai, you know how busy I get with work..."

"Dad, you promised me you'd come! It was my biggest game! Is that stupid job more important then your own family!?" Tai cried.

"STUPID JOB?" The father grabbed the boy's arm and whipped him into the sitting room. With his free arm he gestured to the Kamiya's cozy apartment. "Do you think my STUPID job got you a roof over your head and food on the table? Would you rather live on the streets? I'd hate to think I raised a spoiled little brat for a son!"

"Dad, it was one game! The league championship! You knew how much it meant to me and you still let me down! You always let me down." Tai snapped. "Couldn't you have called someone else in? Or rescheduled the interview?"

"Taichi. I don't want to hear anymore of this. I couldn't make it. You're going to have to get over this sooner or later. Now please...Just go. I don't want to talk about this right now." Tai's father said, lifting a large hand in abrupt dismissal.

Tai blinked, "But I..."

His father whirled to face him, fire in his eyes, "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID SOCCER GAME! I said GO!"

Tai stood frozen in utter shock at the turn of events. His brown eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as the paralyzing and painful effects of his parent's words began to sink in. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet propelled him to the door. Somewhere behind him, realization and horror had seeped into his father's mind and his apologetic cries filled the room.

"Tai...Oh, God...Tai! I'm sorry! Tai, don't go! TAI!"

Not even sparring a look back, Tai screamed the only words his heart was feeling as he made his mad dash to the apartment stairs, "I HATE YOU!"

"Tai! No! Where are you going?" His father's anguished voice called.

Blinded by his own tears and the unmatched urge to get as far away from his home and all that lie there, Tai continued to run wildly through the halls and out the front door of their looming apartment building.

Unfortunately, because of the emotions raging inside him Tai wasn't looking where he was going. Stepping out into the street, he barely had enough time to look up out his reverie to see the twin beams of light that were glaring at him. Before his head had time to process the event, he heard the blare of a horn, the squeal of uncontrolled tires and then a flash of pain running up his side. Finally, the world seemed to fade away into darkness and all the pain disappeared with it.

One week later, a young boy lie motionless in a hospital bed. His soft brown hair lay splayed out on the pillow and his face was strikingly pale. A little girl held the boy's limp right hand for the left was contained in a stiff, white cast. The parents stood at the end of the bed with a staunch doctor, their conversation in whispers as if not to disturb the comatose boy.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Kamiya, I just don't think that you're son has much of a chance of living." The doctor said solemnly.

His mother's voice sounded worn and tired, "Are you saying that I'm going to lose Taichi?"

"If he doesn't wake up soon, I don't think it's likely he ever will. Being hit by a car isn't something you just bounce back from." The doctor answered.

"This is all my fault...God, I should've went to his game. I should be spending more time with the kids...If only I hadn't yelled at him." Tai's father said, burying his face in his hands.

"This is not the time to be blaming yourself, Mr.Kamiya," Doctor replied. "You need to be here for Tai."

The Kamiya's nodded and turned to their sleeping eight year old. Kari looked up her parents, "What's wrong with Tai, mommy?"

"He's sleeping honey." Her mother answered quietly, wiping at the tears in her eyes.

"Will he ever wake up?" The young girl asked, gazing at her brother through desperate eyes.

Tai's mother leaned over and kissed Kari on the head, "We hope so, honey, we hope so."

Scars. That was all that was left from that day. A few scars left winding up his left arm. Even after he had risen from the coma and completely healed, his left arm had still been weak. It was why from that moment on he had worn the black brace. Half to support the wrist that had been horribly mangled and half to hide the memories of that night long years ago.

Tai blinked through the darkness, where he sat shivering. He let the images that were flooding through his mind assail him, for he had no way to stop them. Memories turned to nightmares...Dreams turned to realities. He watched them float by as if they leaves in a torrent wind.

Greymon digivolving into SkullGreymon and staring down at him with blank blue eyes, no sign of his old friend in the cold bones...Tai standing frozen in front of the electric fence, unable to move or speak. He could hear Sora's cries for help but he was so scared. Vaguely, he remembered Matt picking him and pulling him up to Garurumon where they were carried to safety. Tai couldn't live with himself then. He hadn't been able to save Sora. He COULD have...but he was too scared.

Tai closed his eyes. The crest of Courage would never shine again. How he'd gotten it to shine in the first place was still a mystery to him.

Small arms suddenly wrapped around him and Tai, unsure of his visitor but not at all caring, let the arms hold him. He needed a shoulder to cry on.

"Tai."

Tai frowned and tilted his head upwards. He found himself looking into two very familiar brown eyes. They were familiar because they looked a whole lot like his own, "Kari?" He whispered in surprise, "Wha...What are you doing here?"

"You're afraid." She said quietly.

Tai nodded. Even talking to his little sister he felt childish and helpless, as if he'd fallen into a well never to find his way out again.

She smiled. "Why?"

"I don't want to lose you and mom and dad...and my friends. I don't want to be left alone." He answered, somewhat embarrassed having to share his feelings with someone half his own age.

"You shouldn't be afraid of that, Tai," She replied, "We love you. They love you. We will always be here. No matter what mistakes you make."

"But Myotismon..."

"If you are afraid Tai, then yes, you will lose!" She said, heatedly, "But you are the bravest big brother in the world...You have no reason to be scared."

"What if they die because of me?"

"Your friends?"

"Yeah."

"You may be surprised at how much they care about you, they are willing to look past your mistakes. It's you who carries them with you wherever you go."

He smiled and the darkness seemed to lift just a little, "Really?"

"Tai, fight back," Kari muttered, "I need my big brother back home. Don't let the darkness take you. We all need you."

"Thank you." Tai whispered.

Then the little girl faded from his view and the darkness once again took it's place. It began again with renewed sense to drag the young Digi-Destined towards death but this time Tai was ready to battle back. He closed his eyes and focused on the good things that he carried in his heart.

His parents and sister sitting down to watch a movie together. A game of soccer on a warm summer day. He and his DigiWorld friends sitting watching the sunset and laughing despite the fact an evil Digimon could be right around the corner.

He kicked wildly as if to swim out of his dark prison and pushed up towards the surface— Towards the light. With one more desperate gasp, Tai broke out of his own sorrow and lay shaking and unmoving on the floor of the unknown cave once again.

That's where he remained for a very long time.

He lie staring at the roof in the dim torch lights that had mysteriously turned on, contemplating the events that had just transpired. *WHAT* exactly had just happened? It was if he was trapped in his own mind. Tai frowned. And from what he had just seen, it wasn't a very nice place either.

He could vaguely remember the cold voice that had pushed him into it, but the particulars of it--Had it been real? Had it been a dream?-- were still a mystery. It was probably better not to think about it. All it would do is succeed in confusing him. He should just be thankful that he escaped...whatever it was.

"No...no...Why are you doing this...no..." Tai whipped his head upwards at an awkward angle to view the source of the senseless voice. It was Yamato. The other boy sat crouched against the tunnel wall. His hands were clasped in front of him and he was shaking his head in vehement denial. Despite the fact Tai was watching, Matt continued to talk incoherently to the invisible people he seemed to be seeing.

Tai rolled to his feet, fighting the emotional and physical fatigue that was running through him and sighed loudly. Approaching Matt, he frowned and reached down to shake the other's shoulder. To his surprise, Matt's head jerked up before Tai's fingers even reached their destination.

" YOU! " Matt hissed, whipping to his feet and violently shoving Tai to the ground. Matt's eyes were wild and unpredictable. He didn't even look like he recognized Tai.

"Matt...What?"

"SHUT UP!" He screamed before Tai could say another word. "I don't want to hear it, you lazy, good for nothing coward! You're a disgrace to this family and to me!"

"Matt what are doing...?" Tai stammered, pulling himself backwards from the hysterical boy.

"I hate you!" Matt said, reaching down with a hand and seizing Tai by the arm, pulling him violently to his feet, "I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you for hurting me!"

"I..I..." Tai whispered, genuinely frightened of Matt. It seemed as though the other had completely lost his mind. Blue eyes filled with so much anger and hatred bore into Tai's and the grip tightened painfully.

Matt slammed the smaller boy into the concrete tunnel wall, grinning wildly and lifting a fist high over his head, ready to let it plummet down on his friend.

Tai squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the blow to come, but as one last resort he whispered a soft plea to Yamato, "Yama, don't...please!"

And at those words, something inside Matt stirred and whirled to life.

"Don't...please." The pleas of a six year old boy. A six year old with blond hair and bright blue eyes who stared up his father's raised fist with absolute fear. The child knew what was coming...He knew it the moment he'd smelt the odor of alcohol in the air.

Matt blinked and found him staring into two very scared brown eyes. Tai's eyes. Blinking again, realization hit him like a moving freight train. He had become the very man he despised. Matt had promised that he would never give into his anger...but here he was.

One hand gripped Tai's left arm. Matt vaguely noticed the material of the black brace under his fingers...He remembered that Tai had hurt the arm somehow. That's why he wore the brace...but here he was gripping the weak wrist with a hold that could twist scrap metal. It would definitely explain why the younger boy's face was contorted into a look of pain.

Matt's other hand was squeezed in an angry fist and raised above Tai's head. Yamato stared at it in horror as understanding ripped around him. What had he almost done? Closing his eyes and blinking away the tears that had formed there, he released Tai and whirled away.

Distantly, he heard the younger boy slip to the ground and sigh in relief. After a few seconds Matt gathered his wits and turned back, "Did I hurt you?"

Tai, although he was clutching his left arm protectively, shook his head, "No."

"I'm sorry."

Tai stood up and frowned, "What for? It wasn't you. Someone's playing with our heads and quite frankly, I'm tired of it. It's time to fight back."

Matt ran his fingers through his blonde hair, still shaken by the earlier events, "Fight what, Tai? We don't even know what we're dealing with!"

"I'll bet you anything that it's at the end of this hallway." Tai answered matter ‘o' factly.

Matt lifted an eyebrow, "Another premonition, Wonder Boy?"

"No," Tai replied, "I just get the idea that we weren't supposed to survive that little trip through our subconscious."

Matt started to walk away, "My mind is one whacked-out place. Remind me not to visit there again anytime soon."

"Matt?"

"Yep?"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tai's voice asked meekly. At first Matt was confused. What did he want to talk about? Slowly though, the answer came to him. He wanted to talk about the...abuse. He hated that word. "Abuse" . To him it was always "That thing he didn't want to think about". Matt wanted to forget it ever happened. It wasn't like it was still happening or anything. That was in the past. This was the present. He'd never meant for anyone to find out in the first place but to his surprise once again, Tai was less dense than Matt had first suspected.

"No." Matt replied harshly... But it didn't mean the offer wasn't tempting. No one knew about it. Not his mom or step dad or even T.K. To have someone actually know his darkest secret was *almost* a relief. He was getting sick and tired of always hiding.

"But Matt..."

"Just forget that anything happened okay?" Matt said flatly, continuing his trek down the hallway.

"So I'm just going to have to forget the fact that you were going to kill me back there?!" Tai cried. "I don't know about you, Yamato, but that isn't exactly something I can *FORGET*"

Matt's eyes closed, "Listen Taichi, please. Not now. Not today. Alright?"

Tai gave him a long, meaningful look, "But someday right?"

"Yeah, maybe. Someday."

Tai smiled, then lifted an arm to the hall ahead of them, "Looky what we got here."

Matt raised his eyes to the large ordinate doorway now in front of them and felt a strange war of fear and joy flicker through him. Fear for what lay next and joy to finally escape this tunnel of bad memories. Gathering the energy that was left in him, he took a step up to the door. He was tired of being scared. Tai was right (for once), it was definitely time to fight back.

Matt shot a look at Tai, who nodded and clutched his Crest Of Courage in his hand. Then the two pushed open the door and entered the room beyond.

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Matt stepped into the grand hall and felt his breath catch in his throat. It couldn't be! That had been a dream...Hadn't it?

Beside him, he vaguely heard Tai whisper, "The hall from my dream." And Matt turned to face him.

"What did you say?" Matt demanded.

Tai shrugged, "You know how you asked me about the dream I had? Well, this hall," He gestured with an arm to the long, black room with it's torches and dim lights, "Was in it. Man, this is weird."

Matt nodded, he'd been here before too. The night that Tai went off into the forest, a dream of this hall and the monster within it had woken him up. Matt just hoped that he wasn't having one of Tai's premonitions, because that dream was something Matt wasn't too keen on having turned into a reality.

Tai frowned at him, looking as though he was trying to figure the other boy out, "You recognize this place too." He said simply after awhile.

"Again Leader-boy gets three points," Matt answered, then seeing that Tai wasn't in the mood for a joke, decided to explain himself, "When you went scampering off into the forest two days ago and hadn't come back yet, I had a nightmare about this place. Some big black Digimon was trying to kill us and he was just about to finish me off when..." Swallowing his pride, he continued, "When you pushed me out of the way. You took the entire attack and died. That's why I came into the forest looking for you...I was...worried."

Unbeknownst to Matt, during the older boy's entire commentary, Tai's eyes had been growing wider and wider. Finally, he spoke, "I had the same dream!" He stuttered, "Well, not the *exact* same dream, cuz it was you who died and not me but well, I suppose that's not the point..."

Matt laughed, "And what makes you so sure I'd save your sorry butt, Kamiya?"

"Well," Tai answered, "You *did* come into the forest for me."

"Point taken," Matt replied, "But don't be thinking this is going to be happening all the time. I think my Crest Of Friendship is malfunctioning or something."

"Gee thanks Matt."

"No problem, cactus head."

"I suppose I did not practice what I preach," Came a voice from the end of the long hall. The two boys recognized it immediately as the voice that had shoved them into their own dark memories. "I have underestimated you."

As their opponent stepped into view the whole world seemed to freeze. He was tall and jet black. His two red eyes gazed upon the two Digi-Destined with heavy levels of contempt. Matt and Tai gasped silently, "It's *him*" They muttered in unison.

*Him* being the thing from their seemingly joint dream. Matt gazed up to Tai who had acquired that look he always got when he was about to do something really stupid. Matt sighed. Sometimes Tai's courage was misplaced. Especially now. How Tai was going to single-handedly take down big, mean and ugly was beyond Matt. Whipping out a restraining hand to catch the younger boy, he shook his head, "No heroic stuff, Tai. If we go down, we go down together. Do you hear me?" Tai looked unsure for a minute, then as if he feared a repeat of his earlier dream, nodded in agreement.

Taking a step towards the two boys, the evil Digimon smiled in infinite malice, "I suppose you are wondering who I am, aren't you?"

"Not really." Tai spat.

"They call me Fieromon. Welcome to my humble abode." He said, sitting down in a massive chair at the end of the hall and clasping his long, clawlike hands together.

"Nice place," Matt answered sarcastically, "Do you always try and kill your guests or is that just a weekend thing?"

"Not usually," Fieromon replied, "But it's not very often that I get two of the children who are in charge of bringing ‘peace' to our world visiting. But I must admit, I am impressed that you escaped the Hall Of Memories."

Tai grinned ironically, "Child's stuff."

"For someone so young, Taichi Kamiya, you sure are full of yourself." The Evil Digimon said, laughing in a hard, cold manner.

Tai shrugged, "Well, I'm sure if Devimon and Etemon were actually still *alive* they would tell you why."

"Etemon and Devimon were FOOLS!" Fieromon roared, "They were nowhere near the level of genius that I have obtained. You see, they tried to destroy all of the Digi- Destined at once. That's where they went wrong. You are at your strongest when you are all together. All I must do is destroy the two of you and then the rest will fall apart."

"The others can take care of themselves, even if we're gone." Matt said.

"I'm afraid that would be incorrect, Mr.Ishida," Fieromon said in a low voice, "You do not know your importance to your group. Unless you are together, there is no way to beat Myotismon or save this world."

"And how exactly do you know all this?" Tai snapped.

Fieromon laughed, "I know everything. I've been watching your group since you entered my forest and I've manipulated your entire journey through my home. Everything you have done and seen has been what I've shown you."

"What can you possibly gain from killing us anyway?" Matt asked, "You think Myotismon is going to reward you? Because if that's it, I think you may want to rethink your strategy."

"I want nothing from that idiot!" Fieromon snarled, "He can't even comprehend the power you can possess. He looks at your group as a nuisance. I see opportunity. Through you I can channel all the domination of this world that I could possibly want."

Matt's eyebrow shot up, "Oh really?"

"You believe that the power you have is through the crests you wear. But you are mistaken. The crests are a channel for the power through *you*. In this world you are human manifestations of the emotions which you carry. If I possess this emotion, this power you seemingly have inside you, I will not only be able to destroy that imbecile Myotismon but take ruling over this world. Are you understanding?" Fieromon said in an almost hospitable voice. It was like he was discussing the meal's wine and not world domination.

"If we're dead, how are you going to channel our ‘powers'??" Tai wondered, rolling his eyes.

"All I will need is your souls. The rest may be permanently...discarded."

Tai frowned, "Oh."

Fieromon shot the boy another icy grin and then rose to his massive feet, "As enlightening as this conversation is, my young friends, I must admit I've become somewhat bored of telling you my grand master plan and although I'm going to be pleasant enough to allow your last minutes on this world to be in the presence of pure genius..."

Matt snorted, "How very thoughtful of you..."

"I suppose it's time for our main event. You see I've come the conclusion that there is probably some very icky consequence to whomever finally knocks one of you little Destined brats off so, once again, I've devised yet another brilliant plan to get rid of you without having to break a fingernail." Fieromon explained, throwing large arms in the air in an overly dramatic fashion.

"We're overjoyed." Tai said sarcastically, eyes meanwhile searching for an exit. Unfortunately, the DigiWorld seemed to lack many convenient passages.

Two doors began to rise up from the nearby wall and Tai's first instinct was to run to them. But that plan was cut immediately short as two massive figures stepped out of the outlets. The boys let out sighs of relief and joy.

"Greymon!" Tai called happily, running towards his friend, who stood beside the sleek form of Garurumon. The Greymon grunted, it's strangely red eyes gleamed down at the boy approaching him hungrily. Frightened by his Digimon's reaction, Tai stopped in his tracks. "Uhhh, Greymon?"

Fieromon laughed. "So you recognize your Guardian friends, do you? Well, I wouldn't exactly call them ‘friends' anymore. They've had a bit of a change of heart, with my help of course."

Matt looked at Garurumon with wary eyes, "What did you do to them?!" He demanded.

"Just scrambled with their heads a little. They seem to believe they're supposed to kill you...Ironic eh? The Digi-Destined killed by their own Guardian Digimon."

Tai backed up to Matt as the red eyed Digimon began to approach them. The two boys edgy escape was quickly stopped by the wall behind them and the realization that they were trapped sunk in. "Greymon would never hurt me!" Tai called.

Matt gazed from the Greymon now towering over them to his small friend, "Don't be so sure Tai. They look like something out of a ‘Children Of The Corn' movie."

Fieromon gazed on the happenings with malevolence, "Finish them!" He ordered the two Digimon under his control. Greymon and Garurumon grunted in understanding and turned their attention to the two tiny children huddled against the wall.

"Whadda we do, Matt?" Tai hissed, clutching the older boy's arm.

"How should I know! *You're* the leader!" Matt replied.

Tai gritted his teeth, "Thanks for reminding me."

Greymon growled and Tai's eyes snapped up to his friend. Something deep inside him stirred and the next thing anyone knew Greymon began to glow with the distinct light of an evolution.

"GREYMON DIGIVOLVED INTO...."

Tai squeezed his eyes shut, "No, no, no, no..." He whispered desperately. "This can't happen..."

"SKULLGREYMON..."

"NO!" Tai cried, eyes glued on the huge bony figure of one of his worst nightmares.

Matt shook his head in vehement denial, "Oh, man...You have GOT to be kidding me!"

Tai felt the tears spring to eyes before he could stop them. This was something he wanted to forget. This was something that just haunted his darkest dreams. Despite the fact the large creature's usually dead blue eyes now shone red, it was the same SkullGreymon who had trampled them back at the Colosseum. Poor Agumon...How was he ever going to get over this...AGAIN?

"Tai," Matt said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "This isn't your fault."

Tai whirled around, "Then who's fault is it, Matt? We're the only ones who can make our Digimon Digivolve. This monster is my fault! That monster is ME!"

"I don't know what you're talking about Tai, that thing has nothing to do with you." Matt reassured him.

"Then how do explain him? Why hasn't Garurumon turned into some psychotic Digi-freak? Maybe I'm not even supposed to even have this stupid crest! I keep screwing up my Digimon's evolutions!" Tai yanked off his Crest Of Courage and threw it to the ground. Matt blinked. Man, Tai was over-reacting. Matt hadn't known how much this SkullGreymon thing had freaked the young leader out. Not thinking twice, Matt bent down and picked up the crest and handed it back to Tai, who gazed at it as though it had turned into a snake.

"Keep it," Matt said, slowly, "It suits you." Then his eyes widened.

"Tai! Look out!" Matt cried, as he glimpsed a large bony hand flying towards the brown haired boy. Tai turned back just in time to see the blow coming but was unable to move in time. The hit sent him flying into the nearby wall and knocked senseless, he slid limply to the ground like a broken toy. By the time the boy had regained the power to move, Tai opened his eyes in horror to see the hand that had swiped him two seconds earlier reach out and close around him.

"TAI!" Matt cried, watching in shock as Tai was lifted upwards towards the giant face of the skeletal Digimon. He was attempting to make a step to help his friend when Garurumon blocked his path and growled at him. Standing back, he resigned to watching helplessly from the floor.

From his vantage point on SkullGreymon's open palm, Tai looked into the blank red eyes with a mixture of fear and guilt, "Agumon, I know you're in there somewhere..." He whispered, "Whatever happens, this isn't your fault."

If there was a reaction from SkullGreymon he didn't show it. His face remained impassive and uncaring. Tai's eyes locked with the gleaming red ones and the boy knew he would receive no mercy from his friend. At the silent signal of Fieromon the giant Digimon lifted his other clawed hand high above Tai's head and prepared to send it flying down towards the boy lying on his other bony palm.

Tai closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. He was going to die here! He was ten years old! He had his whole life ahead of him, why did he have to die now? But then, his mind drifted to other things. How was Agumon going to live with the fact that he had killed Tai? And what about the others? When he was done with him and Matt was Fieromon going to go after the rest of his friends? Tai thought about Sora and her caring brown eyes, and Mimi, who, though her mind was not always where it should be, was always ready with support, Izzy who was always ready with a theory on everything, Joe who like his crest was reliable as a rock...and T.K...How was T.K going to survive without Matt? And then there was Myotismon...If Fieromon killed them all who would stop Myotismon from crossing over into their realm and destroying their homes? Their families?

Kari popped into Tai's head and something twisted deep inside of him. How was he going to protect her from the evil Digimon? He loved his family and his friends too much to leave them alone in a world with creatures like Devimon, Etemon and Myotismon. If he was going to die today, he wasn't going without a fight.

Tai opened his eyes and prepared to face his worst nightmare.

"Kill him!" Fieromon commanded.

Matt watched with a horrified expression as SkullGreymon prepared to flatten Tai. Trying to get past his possessed Garurumon only succeeded in having it growl angrily at him and as much as the boy hated to admit it, he was almost afraid that provoking Garurumon might make him digivolve into one of the monstrosities that Greymon had.

He had never felt more helpless though. There was a general wrongness about having to stand and watch Tai be turned into a human pancake. But Fieromon seemed to be relishing in the idea. Matt knew the plan. Tai was going to die by his worst fear, a fitting end for the Guardian Of Courage. It didn't seem fair because for the first time since the two boys met, they had actually been working together instead of against one another. It almost seemed as though this experience had found mutual respect between them.

Blinking slightly, he returned his gaze to his doomed friend and fought down the warring emotions inside him. Then, to his surprise, Tai began to move. Fists clenched and face grim, Tai stood up and stared into the eyes of SkullGreymon.

*********************

Tai gazed into the evil Digimon's eyes with renewed sense of purpose. He looked into the mass of glowing red and tried to find the caring, protective heart of Agumon. All the time, Tai was conscious of the claw plummeting towards him but it didn't matter. Nothing did. Tai just stood staring into the blank eyes and attempted to find meaning amongst all the hatred. In another 10 seconds the huge palm would crush him.

Blink.

"Taiiiiiiii! Wake up Tai!"

"What are you? Have you had your rabies shots?"

"Koromon? Is that short for talking head?"

"That means ‘Brave Little Warrior' and don't you forget it, Tai!"

Blink.

"I've done some horrible, horrible things. I savagely attacked two of my fellow Digimon..."

"No it's all my fault. If I hadn't become so obsessed with your Digivolving none of this would have happened. Can you all forgive me?"

Blink.

"I'll go wherever you go Tai! Just pick the direction!"

Blink.

Tai didn't break the gaze of his longtime friend. He just waited and hoped he knew what he was doing. The boy didn't even feel the tear fall down his face. But his heart seemed to count down the seconds. He was no longer afraid of dying. He wasn't afraid of SkullGreymon either. SkullGreymon was a part of Agumon. Part of Koromon. Part of MetalGreymon. Part of Tai. SkullGreymon just symbolized all his imperfections, and no living being was perfect.

3...2...

1...

Then Tai's Digivice began to glow...

******************

Matt watched as the familiar unearthly glow of Tai's Digivice as it spurred to life. It quickly engulfed the boy and suddenly SkullGreymon's hand stopped it's descent. The huge Digimon seemed to stare at Tai for a few agonizing seconds, his claw hanging precariously just above Tai's small body.

Then slowly, the red of the Digimon's eyes seemed to flicker to blue and Matt blanched in utter shock as one word echoed through the hall like a single cry in the night.

"TAI?"

The Digivice began to glow brighter, this time taking in the whole form of SkullGreymon. The distinct blur of light started to rapidly shrink back to it's normal size, which strangely was Agumon and not Koromon. Tai cried out slightly as he plummeted to the ground and Matt ran to reinforce his landing.

Garurumon seemed to watch the whole goings-ons with confused eyes. His confusion led to him devolving and both boys watched as their Digimon shrunk back into Agumon and Gabumon.

Fieromon looked furious.

"FOOLS!" He cried. Lifting his arms, the evil Digimon sent fiery balls of dark light at the two bewildered Digimon, who on impact, were sent careening into the nearby wall with twin thuds. They fell limp and unconscious to the ground.

Matt and Tai watched as Fieromon smiled wickedly at them and began to approach, "Never send weaklings to do a *real* Digimon's job," He said, lightly, "I guess I'll just have to finish you myself after all."

Biting his lip and gazing from the unconscious Agumon and back, Tai shook his head, "Don't feel obliged. We wouldn't want to get your...uh, fur!... dirty or anything..."

"Yeah," Matt agreed heatedly, "Actually, I wouldn't be too disappointed if you just let us be on our merry little way..."

"And then the Darkness took the Courage and Friendship from this world and all was lost..." Fieromon recited gleefully, slowly taking deliberate steps towards the trapped Digi-Destined.

"What's he talking about?" Tai hissed to Matt, "He's crazy!"

"You're telling me!" Matt whispered back, "Any last minute ideas Oh Mighty Leader?"

Tai shook his head, his eyes never leaving Fieromon, "None whatsoever."

Fieromon lifted himself suddenly to his massive ten foot height and laughed down at them, "You don't understand...That's the problem. You don't understand that *I* am the Darkness."

Tai blinked and watched as Fieromon seemed to split into two long oceans of black, that encircled them like a giant snake. Matt and Tai stood back to back, looking desperately for an exit and the place where their enemy would attack. Unfortunately all they could see was the giant walls of darkness surrounding them.

"This...doesn't look good." Matt muttered over his shoulder to Tai, "How come no one told us that Digimon can do *this*??"

"I think they like making us find out the hard way." Tai answered, then realized the black walls of Fieromon were slowly closing in on them.

"Uh, when he finally closes in on us, whaddya think is going to happen?" Matt asked quietly.

Tai turned to face Matt, a strange mix of fear and courage in one gaze that disoriented the older boy. "I think it's game over, Yamato."

"Oh...ahhhhh."

The walls became arching waves that seem to stand still over top of them before coming to crash down. Matt and Tai exchanged a long glance. This was it. Matt reached out and grasped Tai's wrist and Tai did the same for Matt. "Whatever happens, we don't let go alright?" Matt said. Tai just nodded and bit his lip, eyes glued on the darkness plummeting at them.

Yamato swallowed heavily as Fieromon came flying at them. Vaguely, he saw Tai squeeze his eyes shut and brace himself for the impact. And that impact came. The black flooded around him like water and swallowed him whole. Matt tightened his grip on Tai's wrist and watched as the darkness pulled him under. It was cold. Colder than the freezing forests of File Island and he floated suspended inside as he was violently thrown in every direction until he came to an abrupt stop somewhere in the murk. It was then that he realized that the arm he had in his grasp was no longer there.

Tai was gone.

**********************

Tai opened his eyes and realized he could see nothing, not even his fingers in front of him...His empty fingers...Where was Matt?! Looking left and right only revealed that this lake of black seemed to go on forever and ever, Yamato was nowhere in sight.

Tai shivered, the true feelings of the situation becoming a reality. It was like being trapped in his mind once again. Only this time he could feel no escape, only the loneliness and bitterness that was around him.

The boy steeled himself. He hadn't given up last time. So he wouldn't give up now. All he had to do was find Matt...somehow. How was he even going to be able to SEE Matt?? He couldn't even see his own feet!

*A little help would be great...* He thought desperately to anyone who could hear him, *C'mon...Just give me a sign. Show me he's alive...ANYTHING.*

To Tai's surprise his crest blinked to life. It cut the blackness like a lone lighthouse in the middle of the fog, revealing the path in front of him. Tai began to make his way through the night following some unexplainable direction inside him. His premonitions thus far had been correct, why should he stop listening to them now?

Making his way further and further into the abyss, Tai began to lose hope. He'd been walking for what felt like a lifetime, only to find more dark tunnels and never ending shadow. What if Matt was already dead?...If he wasn't, then where was he?...Then another thought hit Tai. What if *he* was dead?! Was this the place you go after you die? If it was, Tai must be in hell.

The Crest lighting his way began to flicker and Tai cried out in horror at the thought of losing his last bit of sanity in the dark hole. *ALRIGHT!* He cried, *What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go? I don't understand!*

Somewhere in his desperation a voice filled his mind, "Courage and Friendship must work together...Two must become one...only the light can destroy the Dark." Tai blinked. The voice from the tunnel!

Blinking again, his mind filled with understanding. He understood! He didn't know how he did, but he did! It all made sense! Tai could've started to turn cartwheels. All he needed to do was find Matt.

Whirling off, he spin through the darkness and towards his friend.

**************************

Matt cringed in the gloom. He couldn't see a thing and had lost all hope of ever finding Tai. Actually, he'd lost all hope at all. His mind wandered to T.K, the boy he'd let down once again. Couldn't he keep track of his own sibling for more than five minutes? Fieromon was probably going after T.K right now and Matt was stuck here...wherever here was. For all Matt knew, he was dead and this was some twisted apparition of an afterlife.

The dark seemed to pull at him, yanking him down deeper and deeper. Matt was too tired and too depressed to even fight it back. Give up, his heart told him. Just let go and give up.

Closing his eyes, his receded into his own darkness and let the world around fade into oblivion.

*MATT!* A voice cried, ripping suddenly through the silence in Matt's mind. Matt's eyes flew open once more and he scanned the shadows around him. Had he just been imagining it? No, no he hadn't! There, in the distance, a tiny light was visible slicing through the blanket of darkness.

*MATT!* The voice cried again, this time revealing it's owner. Tai! It was Tai!

Matt opened his mouth to reply and realized no words would come out. Then he determined that the voice he had heard was in his head...In his head??!! Since when was Tai telepathic?! Shrugging in the darkness, Matt tried yelling through his mind, *Tai?*

The light got bigger and Tai appeared, his features glowing strangely in the shining light of his crest. Then to the shock of Matt, he smiled, *Who were you expecting? The Easter Bunny?*

*Um, wild question here but why are we talking in our heads?...no, no, better yet... Why can I talk in my head and you can hear me?* Matt wondered, as Tai stepped closer.

*We're inside Fieromon.* He answered soberly.

*You're kidding right?

Tai shook his head, brown eyes flickering, *Unfortunately, no.*

*Is that why it's so dark! And I just thought ol'Fiero hadn't paid his hydro bill.* Matt replied sarcastically. Then the true seriousness of his situation sunk in, *Oh, man, how do we get out of here?*

*I know.* Tai said flatly, his voice wavering eerily.

Matt lifted a questioning eyebrow, *You do?*

Tai nodded and looked down at the crest hanging from his neck, *Matt, do you trust me?*

Matt blinked. That was a good question. *Did* he trust Tai? The kid had gotten their group in trouble dozens of times and he was always looking for the easy ways to do things instead of the sensible ones. Not to mention the fact he seemed to LOOK for a fight wherever he could get one. Trusting Tai was one thing he could not do. Not yet, at least. Tai hadn't proven himself worthy of that trust yet.

*Matt!* Tai called, derailing his train of thought. Matt's eyes opened to see that Tai was now further away. It was if the darkness they were trapped in was pulling them apart.

Tai gazed at Matt, *Listen to me, Matt. You have to answer the question. Do you trust me?*

Trust? Trust was one of those things in a friendship. You needed to trust your friends...But there were so many people who had abused his trust. His father...his mother...his friends from the old world...How did he know whether Tai would do the same thing?

*Matt...I can get us out of here...But you have to trust me,* Tai said, his voice growing fainter, *If we don't do this now, we'll never get out of here. DO YOU TRUST ME?*

*You have all the courage, Tai,* Matt answered, *Why would you need my trust?*

Tai's huge brown eyes blurred, *Because I'm scared Matt. I can't do this alone. I can't do any of this alone. I'm only as courageous as you guys make me.* He whispered.

Matt's mind spun. He heard the truth in Tai's voice. He thought of the time when he put all of his faith in Tai to pick the right card to get them home. Tai HAD brought them all back together, and when he was gone everything felt wrong. The leader tried to do what was best for the group but he was young, and made mistakes. Mistakes Matt was always quick to point out.

Matt felt his head droop and his feet propel forward, before he knew what happened, he was standing with Tai once more. Raising his eyes, he nodded, *I trust you, Tai.*

Tai smiled and pointed to Matt's crest that was now shining, *Thank you...*

Matt returned the smile and held out an arm, *Friends?*

Tai reached out and shook the offered hand, *Friends.* He affirmed.

************

"Courage and Friendship must work together..."

************

The two crests whirled to life and huge representations of the symbols, one golden orange sun and one light blue winged-circle appeared in front of them. They flew in the air, lighting up the darkness and spinning around one another above the heads of the two children.

Tai closed his eyes and bathed in light. Memories filtered through his head like a movie left on fast forward. Him and his family playing in the park when he was a toddler...The night in Heighton when the huge Greymon had destroyed the bridge...The arrival of his sister Kari...The car accident...One of his grandparent's funerals...Him and his friends playing soccer at school...Some bully trying to beat him up...yet another argument with his parents...then the day at camp where they'd all been sucked up into the DigiWorld. But these weren't the only images he saw. There, somewhere peppered between his life story were someone else's pictures. Matt...They were Matt's memories. Memories of T.K and Heighton and an ugly divorce.

***********

"Then two will become one..."

***********

The two floating signs above them crashed together in a shower of sparks and light. In the distance Fieromon cried out in agony and the boys watched the darkness dissipate around them. The light surrounding them shone blinding their eyes and making them glow like something holy.

************

"Only then can light destroy the darkness..."

************

Fieromon's red eyes seemed to appear in the sky, "Impossible! This can't happen!"

Tai smiled through the glare around him, "You just don't understand...That's the problem," He said, quoting the evil Digimon, "The good guys always win."

"In destroying me, you will destroy yourself, you do realize that? Are you willing to sacrifice your own lives?" Fieromon hissed, backing away from the blazing light.

"If it's the way it's gotta be." Matt replied.

"You may win this battle but you will not win the war," Fieromon hissed, "You do not know your future...But, if I must die this day, I would be glad to show it to you."

Matt stiffened slightly as suddenly his mind was violently ripped open. Faintly through the odd connection he had achieved at that moment with Tai, he felt the younger boy register the shock of the images that were forming in their heads. Matt abruptly found himself facing a mirror, Tai's image floated within it's depths and something in Matt stirred and deep, undirected anger rang inside him.

"You must defeat your rival to become the person you really want to be." An unfamiliar voice told him, and he understood. He had to kill Tai.

Before he could think of what the image told him, another one took it's place. In this one, WereGarurumon stood beside him, face to face with Agumon and Tai who were looking at them with denial. Tai's huge brown eyes grew impossibly huger as Matt ordered the huge wolf Digimon to attack. Fearing the safety of Tai, Agumon digivolved quickly and before anyone else had time to react the Guardian of Friendship and Guardian of Courage were at war with one another.

Yamato felt horror seep up into him. Could this be possible? Was this really their future? The last picture died away only to be replaced by yet one more. Matt ran through a castle somewhere, the other Digi-Destined trailing behind him. His chest held a sense of urgency that needed to be answered to. He knew he needed to get somewhere and he needed to get there fast. Turning a final corner, he found himself in a huge hall. There lying in the middle was the unmoving mass of MetalGreymon. The horribly beaten Digimon made Matt's mind scream and that's when he saw the other occupant of the room...

Motionless and helpless in the center was the small crumpled heap of brown hair, blue goggles and Adidas sneakers that made up Taichi Kamiya. Not thinking, Matt ran to him, falling to his knees beside the injured boy. "Tai?" He asked.

Tai's brown eyes opened slowly and a tiny, weak smile found it's way across his face, "Matt...I knew you'd come back."

Something inside Matt twisted like a knife, "You were fighting all alone because you knew I'd be back?"

Unable to do anything else, Tai nodded and whispered, "Hai."

Matt felt tears form in his eyes. The friendship was there, he just hadn't realized until now how deep it truly was. Yamato's eyes floated over the dying form of MetalGreymon and Tai and the world spun. "NO!" He screamed in dread...and suddenly the Crest Of Friendship began to glow.

The last feeling that ran fleetingly through Matt was that of appending death. The feeling you have when you could feel life slipping like sand through your fingers and no matter what you did to try and stop it, it kept going still. He could sense the guilt and disappointment around him, winding into failure and seeming to ascend to one final thought: We lost. It's over.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Tai's voice shattered the memories around them like glass. He stood glaring at the withering form of Fieromon, his Crest Of Courage still illuminating his small form.

Fieromon laughed, "You may be able to change fate, DigiDestined. But you can not change the future."

"You're lying." Matt said, his tone low and harsh.

"Perhaps, you are right," Fieromon admitted, "But only because you are going to die TODAY!"

Before either boy could react, Fieromon leapt at them, his large black mass flying in their direction like a huge blanket of darkness coming to smother them. Matt turned to look at Tai and blue eyes met brown. They knew how to beat Fieromon. It was as simple as willing it to all end. But to do that would in turn destroy them...WERE they ready to make that sacrifice? Were they ready to die for their friends, their families and their world?

The boys grinned almost in unison. That decision, they found, had been made long ago...They closed their eyes and wished the dark away. Distantly, the Digidestined heard the desperate death cries filling the air, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Then there was complete silence.

**************************************************************************************************

The quake rocked the tiny campsite and jolted Izzy Izumi off the boulder he had been sitting on, depositing him unceremoniously on the ground with a *THUD*. The laptop in his hands went flying and landed unharmed a foot away. The tremors continued to throw the boy around for a few more seconds before the calm quietness of moments before finally returned.

"WHAT was THAT?" Joe asked as he picked himself up from the ground.

Izzy frowned as he snatched up the laptop and dusted himself off, "Earthquake? It may be likely that we've situated our campsite on a fault line or between two geological plates."

"Likely? You call what just happened ‘likely'??" Joe muttered, amazed.

"Well, I'm not exactly positive. A vibration such as that could have been caused by many number of things..."

"How about a really big explosion?" Gomamon asked, gazing aimlessly at the sky.

"That is a definite possibility, Gomamon." Izzy answered, "But I didn't think you Digimon knew how to use explosive devices."

The water Digimon shrugged, "I only say that because there's a huge cloud of smoke coming from behind those trees."

The two boys and their Digimon gazed through the trees where a thin line of smoke was growing more and more visible. Izzy hadn't remembered seeing it before the quake and he'd come to the conclusion that nothing in the DigiWorld was simply coincidence. Which probably meant it wasn't some Digimon family out for a weekend barbeque.

Sora, Mimi and T.K came rushing up from their side of the camp, "What happened?" Sora wondered breathlessly.

Joe almost smiled, "I don't think even Izzy knows."

"Don't say that so soon Joe..." Izzy muttered, tapping insistently at his computer. A look of apprehension filled his face the longer he worked, "Just what I thought..."

"What?" Tentomon asked, hovering over his Digidestined's shoulder.

"The location of that pillar of smoke and Tai and Matt's digivices match. Whatever happened there, I'm sure those two are right in the middle of it." Izzy answered.

"Then that's where we need to go!" Sora said, already heading into the forest.

Joe sent a look at Izzy, "I think I want Tai back."

Izzy laughed, "At least she doesn't want to whack my computer."

"Now that you mention it, things have been a lot quieter without those two always here arguing." Joe muttered.

Izzy lowered his eyes, "I hope they're okay."

"Me too."

"What the...?" Sora's voice asked suddenly from the clearing in the trees ahead. "Minna! Over here, quick!"

Izzy and Joe picked up their pace and stepped into the opening with Sora. Their eyes were automatically drawn to the disaster in front of them. It looked like it HAD been a house at one point. But the whole place appeared to be imploded from the inside. Walls lay crumbled and windows shattered. The "smoke" they had thought they had seen was in reality dust and debris rising into the sky.

Mimi gasped, "What do you think caused this?"

Joe blinked at the house in horror, "I'll give you two guesses but I think you're only going to need one."

"There's no way Matt and Tai could be in there...right?" Sora asked worriedly.

Izzy shook his head sadly, "According to my computer...they are."

"But no one could have survived THAT!" Mimi cried.

"We've gotta have faith, Mimi," Sora said slowly, "Maybe they got out..."

"You'd all better get over here!" Palmon yelled from the far side of the pile of debris. Her and the other Digimon seemed to be digging desperately at something and it didn't take long for the others to realize what. A small orange claw was barely visible under the concrete. Agumon.

It didn't take long for the entire group to free Agumon and then Gabumon behind him. The two Digimon seemed to be fine, discounting a few bruises but their appearance left an unsettling feeling in the others. If Agumon and Gabumon were in the building then it stood to reason that Matt and Tai were not far behind.

It was Agumon who came back to consciousness first. His reaction shocked everyone, "What have I done?" He moaned, "Tai..."

"What happened?" Joe asked, seeing the anguish in the Digimon's eyes.

"We ran into Fieromon..."

"FIEROMON?!" Gomamon asked, absolute surprise reigning his features, "Isn't he dead...YET?"

"Uh, who's Fieromon?" Mimi asked.

"Fieromon is one of the most feared Digimon in history. He calls himself the "King Of Shadows" His attacks consist mostly of mind games. He likes to use his opponents memories against them." Gabumon explained, sitting up to join Agumon. "It's been rumored that he was dead. I think perhaps those rumors were slightly exaggerated."

"He got to Matt and Tai...He...somehow turned us against them. I...almost killed TAI!" Agumon cried, slumping his large head forward.

"It wasn't your fault," Sora said reassuringly, "This Fieromon guy made you do it...I'm sure Tai understands."

"If they're even alive..." Joe said darkly, eyes glued on the exploded home.

"We should start searching..." Sora suggested, taking T.K's arm. The little boy had been strangely quiet all night and Sora was getting worried. Maybe he was taking his brother's disappearance harder then she first suspected. "Izzy, can your laptop narrow down the area any?"

Izzy swallowed and suddenly looked uncomfortable, "Yes, it WOULD. But you see, Matt and Tai's digivice signals have completely disappeared..."

Mimi blinked, "That's a good thing right? It means they're not here...right?!"

The DigiDestined looked at one another remembering Izzy's theory from two days before. He thought the Digivices were attached to their life energy and the only way they would disappear as suddenly as they did was if...Matt and Tai no longer HAD that life energy.

Sora sighed heavily, "Let's not give up so easily. It may just be a malfunction or something..."

"SORA!" Biyomon cried, from her perch high up on the mountain of rubble.

"What is it Biyomon?" Sora asked, raising her eyes to the descending bird Digimon. Biyomon flapped down furiously, something clasped in her feet. As she got closer, she dropped the object into Sora's hands.

Tai's goggles.

They were dirty and scratched and looked as if they'd been through hell. No one was sure whether this was a good sign or a bad one but Sora whirled to her Digimon, "Where'd you find these?"

Lifting a wing Biyomon pointed up the pile, "Right up there. I'll show you."

Sora turned to Joe, "Joe, you're the tallest, will you climb up with me?"

Joe nodded dubiously, "Sure."

The two began their ascent of what had been the mansion of Fieromon and ended up near the top somewhere close to an hour later. Biyomon landed on top of a large, jagged edge of a wall and pointed with a pink wing to ground below her. "I found them right here, Sora."

Joe looked at the rubble, "Guess we should start digging hunh?"

"I don't think we have to go far Joe," Sora said, her voice shaking slightly, "Look."

Joe's eyes traced their way down the rock to where Sora was gesturing. There, half hidden was what could only be a human hand. Jyou couldn't help but feel that there was something seriously wrong with the picture, but not questioning, he began to clear the debris away. Unfortunately, merely him and Sora could not move the large rocks and they were quickly hampered.

"BIYOMON DIGIVOLVED TO...BIRDRAMON"

"Birdramon!" Sora said, "Can you help us move these rocks?"

The huge, fiery bird was fast to acquiesce and the boulders moved away in no time. Pulling the two beat up boys from the rocks, Joe and Sora carried them up onto the back of Birdramon who carried all four of them back to the safety of the ground. Once they reached their destination, they hopped off and lay Matt and Tai gently on the grass.

"You found them!" Izzy said, happily.

Sora wasn't sharing Izzy's enthusiasm yet . She was bent over Tai, her fingers on his wrist, desperately probing for a pulse...and not finding one. Recollecting her first aid training, she placed her hand over his heart, listening intently for a heartbeat. Horror began to creep into her mind when that test turned up with nothing also. Leaning back, she looked for the familiar rise and fall of Tai's chest and saw no movement.

"Tai?" She whispered, shaking him. Then, she gasped in surprise as she felt the strange feeling of shattered bone under her touch. Tai's ribs were broken...all of them. They were caved awkwardly inward, digging towards his lungs. Hand covering her mouth, the truth hit Sora like a MACK truck.

Tears filled her eyes and she looked up at Joe who was doing the same examination on Matt nearby. Blinking, she realized Joe was looking straight back at her with the same horrified gaze. The other shook his head in a deliberately slow manner. Matt, too, was lifeless. Uncontrolled, her sob filled the air.

She wiped furiously at the tears and turned back to the others, gathering strength to say the words she was still denying, "They're...gone." She managed to whisper.

Everyone's reaction to the news was different. T.K automatically burst into tears, Mimi following not far behind...Izzy just blinked in shock and then dropped his computer to the ground. A few seconds later, he joined it and buried his face in his hands. Agumon stood over Tai, his green eyes deeply haunted. Sora could see the guilt in him. He was blaming himself for Tai's death...and she knew that the little Digimon would carry it with him for the rest of his life. Gabumon did not look much better off.

"This can't be happening..." Sora whispered. Matt and Tai couldn't be dead. It was impossible. They needed them. It always seemed as if the two were invincible. Agumon and Gabumon had been there to protect them if an evil Digimon had even lifted a hand to either of them. What had went wrong this time?

She let out a long breath. If they ever got home what would they tell the boy's parents?! Sora's mind floated to Tai's little sister Kari. How would she deal with the fact her Oniichan was dead? The tears continued unbidden and she barely felt the hand squeeze her shoulder. Raising shining eyes, she managed to look at Jyou. He carried a look of undeniable sadness as he gazed down at his deceased friends. The disbelief Sora had ringing in her soul was gleaming clearly on his face.

There was no sound in the clearing except the soft crying of the children and T.K's small voice still weeping his older brother's name over and over and over...It was as if the whole world had stopped for that one moment in time. Two of it's destined had died. It went against fate...against destiny. It was as if the planet knew that this was not the way it was supposed to be and mourned for the boys also.

No one moved. No one wanted to move. Their mission in this realm had now taken a step into the serious. They hadn't thought that this could happen. They had taken their safety for granted. How could they go on without Tai's leadership? He always seemed to have a smile on his face that could light up a room and make you feel better no matter what the circumstance and he would never give up, even in the face of unbearable odds. Despite his faults, they needed his guidance...just as they needed Matt's strength. Things wouldn't be the same without Matt's sarcastic comments and his voice of reason and caring.

The remaining Digidestined sat quietly, each harbouring their own thoughts and memories of the two children that had been lost in the war. It seemed almost too impossible and surreal to imagine life without them in it.

But that's when the voice, soft and gentle as a breeze filled the air...

" Then the darkness will take the courage and the friendship from this world and all will be lost...In the sadness, two will make the sacrifice, heart and soul and the love of five will let the sun rise once more..."

*********************************************************************************************

Tai opened his eyes to blinding white light and warm sun rays shining around him. His gaze laced among his surroundings and he found with mild surprise that he didn't even seem to be on earth. His feet floated below him, not touching any type of ground. The landscape seemed to go on forever in a mesh of fluffy clouds and peaceful breezes. He wasn't even dressed in his normal clothes. What he wore at that instant was a long, soft blue robe that fell down past his feet.

Frowning, he looked down at his hands to ascertain whether or not he was even real. "Am I dead?" He wondered quietly, his voice being carried away by the sky around him.

"If you are, I guess that makes me as much a goner as you." Came a voice from behind him. Tai whirled and found himself face to face with Matt. The other boy seemed to be hanging suspended just as he was and Matt also wore the same blue robe.

"Matt!" Tai said happily in greeting, then he let his eyes wander, "Where are we?"

Matt shrugged, then blushed slightly, "Heaven maybe..."

Tai laughed lightly, "I don't feel very angelic, do you?"

Matt turned away and smiled wistfully, an awkward war to find the right words fluttering inside him, "I feel...strange."

"You have every right to feel that way, Yamato Ishida, You have taken a great step towards your futures." Both boys recognized the voice immediately as the one that had warned them in Fieromon's Hall Of Memories. Just as it had in the hall, it seemed to come from a million places at once as if it was the sky that was speaking to them.

"You!" Tai cried, looking around, "Just who are you?"

"Who I am does not matter, Taichi Kamiya, nor will it ever. I am something, and yet I am nothing. I am someone, yet I am no one. Some people call me fate. Others, destiny. To you, I am nothing more than a guide..."

Matt's eyes narrowed, "So it's your fault that we're all in the Digiworld?"

"No, that is the doing of powers even greater than I. They bring you here because they saw the abilities and love in each of you and knew that only you could bring peace to this world and your own. I am here because I must give you one more warning..."

"About what?" Tai wondered, "Fieromon's dead...isn't he?"

"Fieromon may be dead, but darkness still remains in this world and this darkness will come after you again. Because of what you learned today you now have the knowledge of how you must defeat it. Do you understand? Can you feel it?"

Matt shook his head, "What exactly are we trying to ‘feel'?"

"The connection. At the moment that you defeated Fieromon, it was there. And is there still, if you both look for it. This connection is very important to the future, that is why this battle with Fieromon was necessary."

"Are you saying that this fight with Fieromon was set up?" Tai asked, somewhat angrily.

"No, it was just foretold. This prophesy was destined to come true. The animosity between the two of you could not exist. If it did, it would ruin the future. You needed to understand one another or the entire world would have been doomed. Your lives are extremely important to the events that you will face soon...your friendship even more so. For if the two of you we're able to do what you did with Fieromon, just think of what all the DigiDestined united can do?"

Tai felt a smile break his face, "We can beat Myotismon!"

"Myotismon may not be your only enemy, young one."

Matt frowned and looked at the clouds floating by, deep in thought. He couldn't get Fieromon's last images out of his head. Their supposed "future". "What Fieromon showed us right before he died...are they true? Is that what's really going to happen?"

"The future can always change...but yes, some of things he showed you are very much true. One day you will face Taichi as an enemy again. That is why you had to see the value of your friendship today."

Matt shook his head violently in denial, "I could never hurt Tai like that. Sure, we never used to get along but I would NEVER try and kill him. That can't be right!"

"Time is your oldest enemy, little ones, it will be up to you to decide your fate. All I can tell you is that you must never forget the bond you have forged this day. Do see this?"

The two boys looked at each other, still haunted by the earlier events that transpired but feeling the strange mental connection that had come from it never-the- less. "We see it," Tai affirmed.

"Then you will survive and so will your world and mine."

"But where are we now?" Matt asked, "Are we even alive?"

"You are not dead yet. You sacrificed your lives for your friends, your families and your world and for that you are here. This is a rift between death and life."

"Kind of like Purgatory right?" Matt said.

"Much like Purgatory, yes. What you see now as your body is in reality your soul."

"So how do we go back to our bodies?" Tai questioned.

"That is not your choice."

Matt and Tai's brown and blue eyes met once more, confusion greeting one another, "Then WHOSE choice IS it?" Tai asked.

**************************************************************************************************

" Then the darkness will take the courage and the friendship from this world and all will be lost...In the sadness, two will make the sacrifice, heart and soul and the love of five will let the sun rise once more..."

Sniffling, Izzy lifted his eyes to the lifeless forms of Yamato and Taichi in absolute shock, "What's happening?!"

Somewhere in his tears, Izzy had realized that the two boy's crests had begun to glow. They now shone like two sun beams cutting into the sky.

"Hey!" Jyou said, in a shaky tone, "My crest's glowing!"

"Ah!" Sora said, seconds later, "Mine too!"

Reaching down, Izzy realized that the Crest Of Knowledge was too, shining. The young computer genius almost fell back when suddenly a line of pure white light flew from the crest and joined the other beams now coming from the four other activated crests and forming a huge column of light that collected itself around the two bodies lying in the center of the circle. With a shower of color and brilliant radiance, it shimmered up to the sky as if the heavens wanted to touch the earth.

Gomamon blanched, "They're...digivolving?"

Two huge symbols rose from Matt and Tai's motionless chests and rose spinning into the sky. Courage and Friendship rotated around each other before exploding into sparks of orange and blue. The light seemed to intensify, engulfing the two boys and taking them completely out of view. The other Digidestined, who were still to amazed to even move, let alone speak watched with vivid fascination as the drama played out in front of their eyes.

************

This time when Tai opened his eyes he was greeted once again by the blinding light that he had almost grown accustom to. After a few seconds though, the brilliance began to fade and he found himself back on earth beside the huge pile of rubble that had once been Fieromon's home. Catching sight of his hands once more, he realized he was again glowing with the ethereal light. Turning to look beside him, he saw Matt and smiled, "We sure get to glow a lot. I'm beginning to feel kind of special."

Matt laughed, his blue eyes looking odd in the glimmer. "Don't let it go to your head, leader-boy."

"Oh...my God." Came a whisper of complete shock from behind the two boys. Matt and Tai rotated to find themselves eye to eye with the other five digidestined. Their friend's faces held a look of wonder. Their eyes shone with tears and their mouths were wide, they all gazed at them as if they had turned into ghosts.

Matt tilted his head, "Hey, how come everyone looks as if their dog just died?"

No one seemed to answer them, they just stood and stared. Finally, T.K approached Matt cautiously and held out a finger to his brother's glowing form as if the little boy thought his hand would go right through Matt. When T.K met flesh and bone, he raised his eyes to Matt, "Oniichan? Are you an angel?"

Matt laughed, "No squirt. Tai and I already proved ourselves pretty lousy angels."

"No," Sora cut in, finding her voice, "You don't understand! You were both dead! Joe and I found your bodies ourselves. Tai, all your ribs were broken...You can't be alive...There's no possible way."

Tai smiled warmly as the unearthly glow that hummed around him finally faded slowly away, "I'm not dead, Sora. Neither of us are. Matt and I were just temporarily...misplaced."

"Misplaced?!" Joe said, "Is that what you call that? We were worried sick!"

Matt looked at Joe, "Didn't know you cared, Jyou."

Tai reached out a hand to Izzy who was still sitting on the ground with a dazed expression. Izzy regarded the hand for a few seconds as if to decide whether he was hallucinating it or not but then shrugged and slowly took the invitation up. Realizing that Tai was very much human, he blinked. "Uh, prodigious?...I can't figure out what just happened here..." He muttered.

Matt shook his head, "Don't try to, Izzy. I don't think we need to understand."

It was at his point that Agumon, Gabumon and T.K had decided that the two boys in front of them were indeed Matt and Tai and happily tackled their friends to the ground. Tai laughed and hugged Agumon back as his Digimon embraced him, "I missed you too Agumon but I can't breathe!"

T.K wrapped his arms around Matt's neck, "You're not going to die on me again, right Matt?!"

Matt nodded, "Next time I die, I'll give you at least two weeks notice okay?"

Mimi, Joe, Izzy, Sora and their Digimon came and joined the others and Izzy grinned, happy to be group once again. Something inside him felt whole once more. This was right. He smirked at Matt and Tai, who were laughing together, "Glad to have you back guys."

"Glad to be back, but if no one minds too much, I'd really like to get as far away from this place as possible." Tai told his friends. The others seemed to agree and the whole group of kids headed off into the forest, reunited at last.

**************************************************************************************************

Later that night...

Matt sat at the edge of a rock bluff overlooking the forest and the mountainous range of the Digital World. Night had fallen a few hours earlier and he had left their little campsite to have a some time to himself to recollect the happenings of the last few days. Now he sat playing a song on his beloved harmonica and listening to it echo in the empty night. It was a perfectly peaceful setting.

But his mind whirled of thoughts of the day before. It hadn't been the easiest day of his life and he could imagine he'd be having nightmares of Fieromon and his ability to make his worst memories a reality. But something had come out of that whole experience. Something he wouldn't give up for the world. He'd relive that ordeal over and over again if he meant keeping what he had gained.

He never thought Tai would ever understand him. Tai was too different, he had thought. How could he possibly know that things he went through? Matt had been wrong. Tai was more like him than he thought was humanly possible and in that one moment when they had destroyed Fieromon a mutual respect had formed. One that he now valued immensely. Him and Tai would probably still disagree from time to time but that would no longer stand in the way of trusting one another. Something had happened in that second and he saw everything there was to know about Taichi Kamiya. All his fears, his hopes, his dreams, his memories. And it was equally as likely that Tai had seen into him. Surprisingly, he didn't feel taken advantage of. He felt safe, as if all the walls he'd put up were finally down.

He closed his eyes, oblivious to the world and his surroundings and that's why when he opened them again, he was almost shocked to see that Tai had come to sit beside him. The younger boy was stretched casually on the ground, his arms behind his head, brown eyes directed at the stars above. Matt's song faded abruptly off.

After a few seconds, Tai spoke, "You didn't need to stop playing."

"I thought you hated my harmonica." Matt replied.

"When did I say that?"

"I...Uh...Um...Can I get back to you on that?"

"I think that was our problem Matt, we were too quick to assume things about one another." Tai said, eyes never leaving the sky.

"Oh really? So what DO you think of my harmonica then?" Matt queried.

"I'm so used to hearing it when I'm falling asleep. It helps me feel better...and hey, you're *almost* good at it!" Tai said, smiling.

"Thanks Cactus Head, that means a lot, really." Matt replied, rolling his eyes.

After that, silence fell. They sat there in each other's company with a whole lot to say but no where to start.

"So, you really meant what you said back at Fieromon's place? About me being a good friend?" Matt said finally, unsure of whether he wanted an answer.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. We just have to try and not kill each other from now on. You want to try?" Tai asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Matt smiled mock skeptically and held out a hand, "Try? I think I can do that." He said as Tai clasped his hand into the older boy's and they sealed their agreement.

Matt went back to his harmonica and Tai watched with infinite interest. He had always wanted to know how the older boy played that thing. It looked complicated, not like a guitar or piano with distinct strings and chords. Tai's curiosity was obviously picked up by Matt's mind because before the younger boy had a chance to ask anything, Yamato held out the harmonica to Tai.

"You want me to teach you a little something on it, Tai?" He asked.

Tai's eyes almost popped out of his head as he took the harmonica in his hands. He was holding the all blessed harmonica! Matt never let anyone touch this EVER, not even T.K....and Matt wanted to teach him how to PLAY it?!

Matt laughed, "Well, you going to sit there all night staring at it, Cactus head, or are you going to play it?"

"I would," Tai said sheepishly, "If I knew how..."

"Oh! See, it's simple..." Yamato said, leaning over and took Tai's hands and positioned them awkwardly around the small silver instrument. Then he pointed to two of the holes, "Okay, try putting your mouth up to there and breath out..."

Tai did what he was told and the note that came out was less than wonderful. It sounded like a dying animal, in fact. Matt fell over laughing and Tai gave him a withering glance, "Oh c'mon it was my first try!"

Matt managed to stop laughing and then pointed again, "Okay, okay, try again here and this time don't breathe so hard...Just let it come naturally."

Tai attempted the note once more and this time, it came out crisp and clean, breaking the night with a resounding hum. Tai grinned triumphantly.

"Good...But now try this..."

*************************************************************************************************

"Unexplained phenomenon." Izzy said in amazement.

"More like an act of God." Joe suggested.

"Miracle?" Mimi put in.

"Maybe it's not really Matt and Tai." Joe said, watching the two boys from the distance and listening to them talk and laugh together as if they were the best of friends, even though before their little misadventure they had wanted to murder one another.

"Maybe they're really aliens." Izzy said.

Mimi rolled her eyes, "Haven't you given up on that alien thingy YET? It was SO ten minutes ago!"

"I'm just saying that it's a distinct possibility..."

"I really don't think they're aliens Izzy." Joe answered.

"Then who wants to ask them what happened with Fieromon?" Sora asked.

"I think they'll tell us when the time comes." Gabumon replied.

Gomamon opened his mouth, when Joe cut him off with a look, "Yeah, yeah, I know, don't try and fix what's not broken."

Gomamon shrugged, "What? It's good advice!"

Sora laughed and gestured to the camp with an arm, "Let's let them be, we should get some sleep anyway, we've got a long way to go."

With more glance at the two friends, the rest of them nodded in agreement and slowly trudged back to their sleeping grounds. Matt looked over his shoulder as he noticed the others backing away. "I think they're wondering why we're suddenly getting along."

Tai flipped an arm, "Let'em wonder. What they don't know won't hurt them. Besides, they'll understand someday."

Matt lifted an eyebrow, "Will they?"

"Hey, if we can learn, they'll have no problem." Tai answered.

"Tai?"

"Hai?"

"Can we make a promise right here and right now that no matter what happens we won't let the future that Fieromon showed us come true?" Matt said quietly.

"Yes. I promise."

Silence fell again, but was short lived when they listened to Joe and Mimi arguing in the distance over sleeping arrangements. Sora's voice of reason danced into the conversation settling the dispute quickly. Tentomon was nagging Izzy to get off his laptop and come to bed and T.K and Patamon were playing tag, neither of them wanting to sit down and sleep.

"MINNA!" Sora finally cried in desperation, "Can we all just go to sleep? Kudasai?!"

Tai smiled and closed his eyes as Sora's voice broke the night and everything fell into to distinct quiet at her order. Matt began to play his harmonica once again and Tai hummed along softly to the now familiar tune.

The two relished in the feeling of mental completeness that came with the group being all together...and even though they were millions of miles from their families. They had never felt more at home.

All the sounds in the world seemed to dip into stillness at that moment so that the only thing you could hear in the entire universe were the gentle noise of a soulful harmonica and a young boy humming faintly along...

OWARI! The End!

End notes: Phew :P That pretty much says it all and a bag o'chips! Okay, the entire Nightmares and Realities story is 50 pages long! Man, I have NO LIFE. (; Oh, well, I had fun writing this and you all we're very supportive. Notes...Um, as you might know Matt and Tai's supposed "futures" are very much real...at least in the Japanese version of the show. They span three episodes called something along the lines of "Matt And The Forest Of...ur something or other (I'll find out)" & "WereGarurumon Vs. MetalGreymon" and finally, "Into The Darkness" *jumps up and down* Can't wait! Can't wait! Anyway, PLEASE send feedback...It's a cheezy fic I know, but after 30 pages of writing I CRAVE feedback. Now that this is done, I'll get cracking on "When Darkness Falls"...*sigh* A fanfic writer's life is never over (it's time like these that I wish I was a fan artist) Thanks for reading and I hoped you liked it! Peace&luv; ~*ash*~