Title: Please no

Disclaimer: Don't own them. Real bummed.

Summary: A moment. A dream. A mission gone wrong. Sadness. Tai Matt closeness/affection. Taito hints.

I run my fingers gently over his face, tracing the curve of his jaw, the edge of his ear, his hairline, his eyebrows and down the bridge of his nose. He has a really cute nose. It's small and delicate; more so than the rest of his features. I lay a kiss on the end of it and brush his fringe away from eyes, waiting for them to open."Taichi." I whisper, resting my palm against his cheek and brushing my thumb along his cheekbone. "Taichi." He doesn't wake up, so I sit back and slip my arms around his middle, pulling him off the ground and into my lap. I remove the leaves clinging to his shirt and run my fingers through his hair, dislodging some of the soil and mud clinging to the wild mess. I swear he has half a garden in there and I vaguely wonder how long it's been since we'd had a place to bathe. I think I'm so used to the smell that it doesn't bother me anymore; it's not like we're anywhere near civilized society and they're the only ones who would object.
"Tai." I try again, tugging his hair playfully. "Wake up." I can't help grinning at his lack of response. He is so totally dead to the world. It must've been one hell of a fight if it's exhausted him that much. Normally he'd make at least some sleepy mumbling response, or sometimes this fascinatingly gorgeous little crinkle appears at the corner of his eye and he releases this gravelly little groan that basically says 'Piss off Ishida, removal of body parts is imminent.' His arm is splayed out to the side and I reach over to pull it across his chest, tugging his jacket up at the same time. His hand is freezing so I wrap my fingers around his, tucking them up next to my stomach.
I smile down at him again and blow gently on his eyes, then when that produces no response, up his nose. He doesn't even twitch so I lay my forehead against his and curl my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck.
I sit back up again as I notice feet thumping through the underbrush not far off and turn to look in the direction it's coming from. A couple of seconds later TK bursts through the trees, Patomon flying right behind him.
"There you are, Matt." He smiles, relieved for a second before his eyes fell on Taichi and the colour drains from his face. I glance quickly at Tai to see what's wrong but he's still sleeping peacefully so I turn back to TK, looking at him curiously.
"What are you doing?" His voice comes out softly and slightly strained. His eyes are wide, shock clearly evident on his features.
"I'm just waking him." I smile reassuringly and shift Taichi slightly so my knee isn't digging into his back so much. TK looks away for a second, standing very still before he turns towards me again, blinking furiously. He steps closer and kneels down in the dirt, slipping an arm around my middle.
"Come on Matt. Leave him be now. We'll..." His voice catches in his throat and his remaining words are lost in a whisper as his hand tugs gently at my waist, urging me to move.
I run my fingers through Taichi's hair again, trailing them down the side of his face and tracing the lines of his smooth expression. "Yeah, maybe we should just let him rest for now."
TK's arm tenses across my back and he pulls at my sleeve. "Come on Matt." He tugs again. "Matt?"
"He'll wake up by himself."
"He's not going to, Matt. Just come away."
"He's only sleeping."
"No, Matt."
"He is. He's just sleeping. He'll wake up soon."
"Matt."

End: Please No

I'm not going to explain to you my reason's for not labeling this as a deathfic. Let's just say poor old Matt...or TK for that matter, is having some horrible dream.

Those of you who were wondering whether any of my other fics are going to be continued, the answer is yes, a definite yes, they will not leave me alone. I'm currently slogging through No Reason if you cared to know...