Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

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Minor, possible spoilers for Digimon Adventure Tri.

Takes place after the end of the first movie.

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There was a knock at the door and I limped over to answer it. I knew it would be Taichi - I had invited him over to talk. Sure enough, when I opened the door I was greeted with a sour-looking Taichi. I stepped back, opening the door further.

"Thanks for coming."

"Yeah, well..." He stepped in and removed his shoes as I closed the door. I then proceeded to lead him towards the kitchen. We had decided to meet at noon, so I had insisted on making him lunch.

His eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw the kitchen; in hindsight, I may have cooked a bit too much..

"Yamato," he started, "who else is joining us? Japan's armed forces?"

I had the decency to look sheepish as I pulled out plates and set the table. "No one else is coming - it's just you and me."

"How long exactly are you planning on talking for?" He asked a bit humorously.

I gave a small chuckle and gently pushed him to sit at the table. "You know me..."

He turned to regard me with a surprisingly gentle look, "Cooking to calm your nerves, huh?"

I gave a noncommittal shrug, setting the last of the dishes onto the table between us. I sat down opposite him and gave him a smile, "Tuck in."

He returned my smile. "Thanks for the food!" He announced, grabbing his chopsticks and diving in.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, before he cleared his throat. I looked up at him, questioning.

"I noticed that you were limping earlier."

"Oh." Was all I could think of to say.

"Was it something that happened during the fight?"

"I think so." I said carefully, "I mean, I didn't actually notice my ankle hurting until I got home. Guess it was the adrenaline..." I broke off, observing his reaction. He wasn't looking at me; his attention was on his plate, but he wasn't eating.

I was about to say something - though what, I'm not sure - but he beat me to it, surprising me completely. "I'm sorry."

I blinked at him.

"Wha..?"

He looked me square in the eyes and his own held such determination that I was frozen. "I'm sorry."

I stared at him, eventually managing to find my voice. "For...?"

"Not being there for you. For making you do it alone. For being the reason you were hurt. For hesitating." I was too stunned to speak, but apparently ge wasn't done. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, especially about what you said. About what I know to be true." He paused again. "We're the only ones that can stop this destruction. I know that. But at the same time we're the ones causing a lot of damage by fighting back."

I decided to find my voice at this point and force it out. I knew why he had hesitated; he was scared. Scared of hurting people. Scared of killing someone. Of destroying people's lives. I understood this. But it didn't mean that I had to accept it and let him drown in his thoughts.

"Taichi, I know you might not want to hear this, but.." I paused. He had gone back to staring at his plate. "If we don't fight back, then even more people and places will get destroyed. If we don't do anything, then the bad Digimon will win and destroy the world. I know that we'll probably end up wrecking havoc ourselves, but, in the end, it'll be less damage than if we did nothing." I took a breath and continued, needing Taichi to understand. "If we fight and hold off bad Digimon, it'll give people a chance to evacuate buildings and run. We may not be able to stop the destruction of buildings or things, but as long as we buy everyone time, their lives can be saved." I stopped there, hoping that I had been able to convey my thoughts to Taichi.

A silence reigned, which made me feel like throwing up the food I had just eaten.
Finally Taichi spoke, "I understand what you're saying and I do agree with you." The determination was back in his eyes as he looked at me again. "I actually came here to tell you that I've made up my mind – I'm going to fight alongside you." I sucked in a breath at the intensity of his gaze. "I will fight these infected Digimon off in order to protect people. To protect you."

That last one caught me off guard. "Me?"

Taichi's face turned a bit sheepish, "Well, yeah. I don't want you to get hurt anymore and the only way I can think of to prevent that from happening is to fight alongside you and kick ass."

I had to smile at that.

We both resumed our eating and it seemed, to me at least, that the food tasted better. Clearing things up with Taichi had taken such a load off my shoulders and I was glad we weren't fighting anymore.

There was still a lot of food left over after we had had our fill. I insisted that Taichi take most of it home for his family.

"But what will you and your dad eat?"

"Oh, I'm keeping a bit for myself, but, as you know, I'm not a huge fan of leftovers... And dad's gone for the next two weeks, covering a story in Nagasaki."

Taichi froze and gave me a sad look, "So you're stuck here alone?"

I shrugged, not pausing in my packing of the leftovers, "I'm pretty much used to it. I did have Gabumon keeping me company for a bit."

"But now he's at Koushirou's office with the other Digimon. You're lonely."

I threw him a look, "No I'm not; like I said, I'm used to it."

Suddenly he adopted a mischievous look, "I could always stay and keep you company." He waggled his eyebrows, "Very good company."

This time I actually stopped what I was doing and turned to regard him incredulously, "What?"

He moved closer, so that there was less than a foot of space between us. "I'm very good company, you know. I could even carry you around, since you shouldn't be putting any strain on that foot.

I could feel my face turning red at his proximity and insinuations. "I've managed just fine, thanks." I got out, moving back a bit, just to get a bit more space between us. I have no idea why he was making me so nervous. Well, ok, maybe I do have a slight idea: I'd realised quite a while ago that I had developed a crush on my best friend.

Taichi, either not taking the hint or blatantly ignoring it as usual, moved with me, not letting the space between us grow any. In fact, he was making it smaller by continuing to advance. I backed up and right into the adjacent kitchen counter. He stopped less than half a foot away.

Suddenly the atmosphere changed.

"Why did you ask Sora to come to your gig before asking me?" He looked annoyed.

I blinked at him for almost a minute. "Wha-? Why do you ask?"

"Just answer the question."

I studied his face for a bit longer. Was he jealous? Wait, no, he couldn't be. Could he?

I shook my head slightly and answered him, "I just happened to run into her first. To be fair, though, I did ask Takeru first, first. He asked Hikari and I ran into Koushirou before school, so I asked him before Sora, too." I shrugged, "It's not like I had a specific order to ask people in... I just asked whomever I ran into."

"Oh." Was all he said.

He was frowning at the minimal space between us, and I was trying to look anywhere, but at him. Then his head shot up and the intensity was back. "Yama," I noted the new nickname, though didn't have a chance to comment on it. "Do you like me?"

I stared at him in shock. How had he figured it out?

"Why –"

"Just answer the question." He repeated, before I could repeat my earlier question.

I stuck on my trademark smirk, even though I wasn't feeling it at all. "Why do I have to answer your questions, but you don't have to answer mine?"

He pulled back an inch, studying my face with an almost predatory look in his eyes. "Fine." He huffed, "You ask me something, then."

I leaned towards him, regaining that lost inch, continuing to smirk, even if my heart was trying to beat out of my chest, "Do you like me?"

His brown eyes flashed, but he didn't respond. At least not verbally; he dived in and kissed me.

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