Connected

Part 1: Divine Flame

The Yagamis

The first thing Tai noticed when he woke up was the familiar smell of cooking rice. The second thing was the delicious sound of sizzling butter and eggs. The third thing was the ray of sunshine that shot through the shutters on his window, beaming directly into his eyes and forcibly pulling him awake even faster. The fourth—and final—thing was Kari, standing at his bedside and staring intently into his face. It was the last observation that made him fall out of bed with something akin to a spasm. There he lay, looking like a crumpled heap of bedsheets and assorted limbs.

"You're awake," said Kari.

"Well now I am," Tai grunted, struggling to pull the covers off of his legs. What'd she do that for? It was bad enough his six-year-old sister could sneak up on him like that, but then she had the nerve to be all innocent about it. And authentically, too. "Why, waddaya want?"

He popped his head out of the blanket just in time to catch her little casual shrug as she turned out toward the door.

"Nothin. Just thought I'd watch you dreaming."

Tai groaned and stuffed his face into his only free palm. Why'd she have to be so cute like that? If that'd been a younger brother he would've probably given him a good swat or something.

Actually, if it had been just about any other younger sister, he would've been pretty darn sour about the whole thing.

"Oh, by the way, mom says breakfast's ready," she called from the kitchen. Tai could see from his room that Kari was already seated at the table, poking at her omelette. His mother was seated as well, chewing thoughtfully on steamed rice as she stared out through the sliding glass doors. His dad shuffled slowly out of the master bedroom, carefully tucking in his freshly-ironed dress shirt into his khakis. He walked up by the doorway of Tai's room and glanced over, pausing for a moment before breaking into a hearty giggle.

"I'm guessing somebody got a little too fired up before he even got out of bed, huh?" his father grinned. Tai growled a little, and with no small amount of indignation finally threw the covers back onto his bed, smacking his hands together in victory. His father laughed once more, settling down to dive into a steaming bowl of miso soup.

Tai stood there on his own for a few moments, letting the annoyance seep out of his system. He wanted to enjoy his breakfast, at least. And besides, today was Friday, if he remembered correctly; he would have football practice later and that was a good reason as any to be pumped up for the rest of the day.

"Tai? Come join us, honey." His mom had momentarily taken her gaze off of whatever was outside to throw him a quizzical look. Tai nodded obediently and made his way to his chair, plopping down heavily. Kari still hadn't taken a bite. Tai began to shovel the warm rice into his mouth, savoring how filling it felt. Mom's gotten better at cooking, he mused to himself. He could've sworn the last time she'd even burnt anything was two weeks ago; three, tops. His mother smiled approvingly at him before she resumed her uncharacteristic interest in the glass doors.

What was her deal? Tai took a chance to look out himself, but saw practically nothing besides Miko sitting on the balcony. Whatever had her attention, Tai simply couldn't figure it out; he gulped down another scoop of rice and lowered his chopsticks after a long five minutes of relative silence amongst his family.

"...Mom? What're you lookin at?"

She blinked twice and began to rub her left eye. "I'm sorry honey, I've been a little out of sorts today. I keep thinking I see a small pink puffball on the balcony with Miko." Tai's mother shook her head, smiling bashfully. "How kooky is that?"

Tai's father chuckled lightly and nodded his head. "But you were snoring so loud last night though, hun. I don't think you can blame it on sleep deprivation."

Laughing, Tai's mom began to nod her head as well. "I just don't know what's wrong with me. I think I'll have to take a nap in the afternoon. Oh, speaking of this afternoon, Tai, don't forget your—"

"Was it Koromon again?"

The ticking of the clock became very loud. For Tai, though, it was quickly replaced by the deafening beat of his heart echoing in his eardrums. Not this again, Kari.

"Kari," his father began. There was tired sort of edge to his voice. This was an old conversation. "How many times do we have to—"

"Daddy, it's not just my imagination, I told you. Tai saw him too. You remember Koromon, dontcha Tai?"

A rush of heat crept up Tai's neck and into his ears. He shut his eyes. He'd just wanted to enjoy his breakfast and head off to school. Not this again. Not the same old routine.

Small relief though it was, Tai did at least get a little respite from his mom, of all people.

"Kari, you can't put your brother on the spot like that, do you understand? It's not fair to drag him into a discussion between you and us."

Kari frowned. It wasn't out of anger, but what seemed more to Tai like a legitimate lack of understanding. It just didn't compute with her that their parents would never take the idea of an egg floating out of the computer screen and hatching up a monster who'd been half the reason why they moved from the old apartments seriously. Tai didn't either.

Well… most of the time. Sometimes, when it was late at night, he sort of almost believed her. It was like he could almost remember her imaginary friend for her, if he thought about it hard enough. But right now, it was broad daylight, and there was no way Tai could support her fantasy, even if a part of him really wanted to stand by his baby sister.

"But he was here, mom. He saved me and Tai from the big parrot—"

"Kari! Again with the par—" their mother interjected.

"—and they fought and destroyed everything—"

"Kari, stop it, please," their father said, almost pleading.

"—and they went away but I know any day Koromon'll come back and turn back into the big orange guy again—"

Tai's heart jumped into his throat. Big orange guy? Why did that sound more familiar than anything? Why was he suddenly thinking about dinosaurs and fire?

"Kari," their mother seethed through clenched teeth. "You're upsetting us all, please stop this nonsense. We have talked about this several times, you were very sick when you were younger and you must've dreamed up this Korman—"

"—Koromon, mom—" Kari piped.

"—and mistaken it for some sort of memory but I am telling you honey, there are no digital monsters running around. Now. If you would go back to eating your breakfast…"

"But mom—" she started.

"Hikari."

Tai gulped nervously. Oh no, he thought. Full name. Kari had recognized the gravity of the situation as well, clamming up instantly and staring desperately into her rapidly chilling soup bowl. When mom pulled out full names, it just was not a smart idea to bug her anymore.

"Eat. Your. Breakfast. And no more. All right?"

Kari sat completely still for a moment, staring down intently at her knees, before finally mumbling a defeated yes.

"...Thank you," their father said quietly.

And that was the end of that.

Left with a room full of air and unspoken words, Tai watched as his dad sipped his tea a final time and stood up to head off for work. Leaving now, he would actually be fairly early. But of course, Tai knew what he was escaping from. The rub was that Tai couldn't do the same until mom took them to school. And that seemed like it would be an eternity to wait for.

Before his dad put on his shoes, however, Tai was sure he wasn't the only who noticed his father pause behind Kari for a moment and tenderly pat her on the head.

As the apartment door swung shut behind him with a curious kind of firmness, all three of them began to focus wholeheartedly on finishing their food, waiting for the unbearable awkwardness to fade away.

Tai peeled off the last shinguard, breathing a sigh of relief as the soft wind cooled the sweat on his skin. Late spring was more like early summer, and he'd been roasting out on the field, but boy, how good did it feel to get out all that energy?! He didn't feel so rowdy when he was running around and kicking the ball with his friends: that was why football practice was one of his favorite parts of the week.

"Wow. That was a good scrimmage, huh?" Peeking over his shoulder, Tai caught a glimpse of Sora tossing back a refreshing squirt from her water bottle.

"You bet! They really gave us a run for our money. You watch Sora, our team's just gonna keep getting better and better."

Sora wiped the back of her hand against her brow and grinned broadly. "Tai, you always make it sound like we have it in the bag already, ya goof."

Tai shrugged and smiled back. "I mean not that I'm tooting my own horn or anything, but, yaknow."

At this, Sora put her hands on her hips in mock offense. "Tai Yagami, you're not trying to say that you're gonna be the one who carries us to first place?"

"Well…"

"Pfft. Typical boy. Who scored three points today?"

"Who assisted in at least two of those?" Tai shot back. Sora stuck her tongue out playfully at him. "Exactly."

"Hah! Still better than you," she declared resolutely, blowing a raspberry for emphasis. Tai just shook his head and smiled to himself. Even though some of the other guys at school made a big deal about how annoying they thought girls were—and every now and then Tai was liable to actually agree with them—Sora just wasn't like that. Of course, it helped that she didn't really act too girly-girly or anything, but Tai was pretty sure they would've been friends anyway.

Sora stood for a little while, carefully stretching out her legs and cracking her back, before finally sitting down beside Tai on the bench. Tai had to wait at the school field because his mom would pick him up eventually; Sora stayed because she didn't want him to be alone in the meanwhile. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but Tai got a little jealous of Sora because of that sometimes. The way he looked at it, both of them were nine years old, but only her mom trusted her enough to walk back home all by herself. He was a boy! And not only that, he was an older brother. If he knew how take care of his little sister, Tai sure knew how to take care of himself.

As the wind lightly ruffled his bushy hair, Tai felt his lungs freeze mid-breath. Nothing had actually happened to him, but that memory had come back. The one that made him feel absolutely horrible.

"Now watch me!" he said loudly, passing the ball across the playground to her. "Just like that." She was so small, so pale, but he wasn't paying attention to that. All he cared about was that she bent down to stop the ball. Maybe she wasn't the best football partner to pick, but there was no way he was going to leave her alone in the apartment, right? Besides, someone had to teach her how to play sports eventually; why not her cool older brother? When she tried to pass it back, Kari feebly kicked it off to the side. Tai, frustrated, watched the ball roll by almost in slow motion. He didn't get it. Why didn't she know how to pass the stupid ball? She wasn't that sick. Maybe she was just too little. Her skinny legs couldn't handle it or something. What a bummer, he thought, never noticing how she started to wobble on her feet.

"No, that's not right," he began to explain, picking up the dirty ball. Tai turned around, expecting to go through a thorough detailing of the mechanics of football and having to spell it all out for his baby sister; he realized this was why the icy clutch of pure shock ran through his body so quickly, and the words that had been resting on the tip of his tongue came out like a strangled gasp. She'd been standing not two seconds before, but Kari had somehow collapsed. She lay on the ground, paler than ever. In fact, she looked like a ghost.

And she wasn't moving.

"Kari?"

Nothing. Her face was down in the dirt, hidden from view. Tai didn't know if he could even see her breathing. His shock became a terrible, terrible panic. His heart was practically bursting through his chest, and he was sure later that he actually dropped the ball unconsciously.

"KARI!"

After that was a blur. Did he start screaming, yelling bloody murder, to get someone's attention? He must've. There was no way he could've even thought to have picked up a phone and call 911. In fact, he wasn't too sure he was even able to move on his own. It was all just a whirlwind of sirens and red lights and the waiting room and finally coming to face his parents and all the shame and dread of having to wait there so long without knowing what was happening to Kari or where his parents were and the awful moment when his mom came bursting in breathing heavy and her hair all crazy and the piercing look in her eyes as she screamed his name and asked him if he had any idea what he'd done and the burning sting on his cheek after she slapped him so hard and the ungodly guilt that made him sink lower and lower and how accusing she was when she asked him what he'd been thinking he knew she was sick and the horrible sound of his mother sobbing as his father stood by her side speechless and the sickening realization that his parents were even more scared than he was and the waiting and the waiting and the constant waiting and the bad news and the close call and then even when it was all said and done and she finally finally came back home the first thing out of her sweet little mouth was "Tai… I'm sorry I can't kick the ball very good. You'll probably never want to play with me again." and oh GOD he could stop crying because the guilt was so bad the shame the devouring shame because it was all his fault she almost died and it was all his fault all his fault all his fault all his faULT ALL HIS FAULT ALL HIS FAULT ALL HIS FAULT ALL

"TAI!"

Tai fell backwards over the bench, his head smashing hard against the earth waiting below. The pain was a flash, nothing more; it was gone almost as soon as it came.

In any case, he was hurting more in a different way.

Sora jumped up immediately and kneeled down by his side, brushing back her bangs anxiously. "Tai? Oh jeez. Tai? Tai, are you okay?"

Tai hoisted himself up as fast as possible and brushed himself off nonchalantly, putting on a big fat smile to go with it. "Oh, who, me? Yeah, I'm totally fine! I was just, uh, trying to remember grammar rules, heheh. Must've dozed off on you. Sorry!"

For what seemed like a very long and tense moment, Sora stared very hard into Tai's eyes. It was difficult to even make eye contact. She was making him feel squeamish. Eventually she looked away, giving Tai no small amount of relief, but even so, he felt sick, heavy, with the weight of the monkey digging its claws into his back.

Sora just shook her head, almost as if she was disappointed. "Tai, sometimes I can't tell if you're an enigma or just a goofball."

"Eh… both?" In all honesty, Tai wasn't too sure what the word "enigma" meant.

Sora just rolled her eyes.

They sat down together once more, although with a considerably uncomfortable barrier now planted between them. Sighing, Tai pulled his knees up to his chest. This was the second time that day that he'd been caught in one of these situations, and this one couldn't be blamed on Kari. Not rightfully, anyway.

Eugh. The word blame made his skin crawl.

"...Sorry for startling you, anyway," Sora said gently.

"It's okay, Sora."

"Promise?"

In spite of himself, Tai smiled—if only a smidge. "Promise."

"Good."

Tai had been wary of looking at anything other than his cleats, but he chanced a glance toward Sora. Thankfully, she wasn't staring at him again: Sora was simply leaning back on the palms of her hands, basking in the breeze. Looking at her enjoying the wind reminded him how the sun was still beating down on the back of his neck, and especially how even though it had seemed unbearably hot a few moments ago, really all it was doing was keeping him nice and warm.

Admiring the grass below once more, Tai finally spotted the shiny sliver of orange that would have been by his feet had they been resting on the ground.

"Hey, Sora." She turned to him expectantly. He pointed downward. "Look at that!"

She leaned forward, squinting slightly. "Is that a…"

"...lizard?" he offered. Sure enough, the little sliver crawled forward an inch or so, and before he recognized what he was doing, Tai was already scooping up the little guy in his hands. His mother would probably have thought that was kind of gross, but it was pure impulse. Much to Tai's surprise, the lizard was practically docile in his grasp.

"...I think it might be a salamander, Tai," said Sora, moving in closer for a better look. Tai didn't really know the difference between reptiles or amphibians, but whatever he was holding was just about the coolest little guy he'd ever come across. Its skin was a vibrant orange, almost like a carrot's, and its round, sky blue eyes stared out blankly into nothing. Tai was sure it was his imagination, but he could've sworn it seemed like it was smiling.

"Neat, huh?" he said, almost to himself.

"No kidding. That little guy really seems to like you, Tai."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah! I mean, look at him. He seems pretty content to me."

Tai nodded dumbly. He was captivated. "Just looking at him makes me think of… he makes me think of fire, for some reason. Is that weird, or what?"

Sora contemplated this and promptly shrugged. "Eh. I mean he does kind of look like a little flame. I think salamanders were associated with fire historically, too, so, I mean, it makes sense… right?"

"Yeah, what you said." But it wasn't just that. There was more on Tai's on mind. The salamander made him think of something else. Something big, and orange, and with a brown skull mask…

Tai swallowed heavily before he dared to open his mouth. He wasn't too sure he wanted to ask Sora what he was about to say, but for some reason, he felt like she would have an answer. The right answer.

"Sora?"

"Yeah, Tai?"

"...Um… this is, uh, gonna sound kinda weird, I guess, but… do… do you remember, about a year ago? There was this, uh, dinosa—"

"TAI! Honey, I'm here!"

Tai and Sora jumped in their seats simultaneously. Regrettably, Tai's tiny jolt had been great enough to eject their newfound salamander friend clean from the safety of Tai's hand, and as to where he may have landed, they would never find out.

"MOM! You scared the bejeezus out of us!" Tai normally would've laughed it off, but he was all too aware that he'd had his finger on something important and his mom had ripped it away too soon, if purely by accident.

She just chuckled and scratched his head the way moms are wont to do. At least that meant she'd gotten over the morning incident.

"Hello Sora, nice to see you were keeping Tai company again."

Sora bowed modestly. "It was no problem Mrs. Yagami, Tai's not too bad." The two of them laughed together as Tai scowled silently to himself. What a day this had turned out to be.

"Well, we both appreciate it. Are you sure you wouldn't like me to walk you home first, Sora? It would be no trouble, I assure you."

Sora waved her off politely. "No, no, I'm okay Mrs. Yagami, really. I've walked home by myself dozens of times. Anyway, I really do have to fly, though; I'm sure my mom's got some chores waiting for me at home. Bye Mrs. Yagami! And bye Tai! You can ask me whatever you were gonna ask at the game Sunday, okay?" Quick as a whip, Sora had already sprinted off. They watched together as she dodged behind around a corner, instantly lost from sight.

"What question was she talking about, Tai?" His mother turned to face him.

Tai kicked at the dirt. "Oh, nothing, really. Kid stuff, yaknow. Let's head back home now, okay?"

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Oh?"

Tai could only shrug and hope she would drop it.

After a few seconds, his mother shrugged in return. "Okay. Whatever you say. C'mon, let's head home."

From the view of his window, Tai could see the deep navy blue sky was turning rapidly into black. The glow of his computer screen was bright enough to make up for the lack of a moon. He knew he would have to go to bed soon. Any moment, his mom or dad would come strolling through the door and force him to turn off the monitor.

But he didn't want to.

Computers were cool. It seemed like everyday, there were more and more websites popping up for him to look at. And that Yahoo! thing, he could use it to look up anything he wanted. People called it the World Wide Web; Tai thought that kind of made sense, since it apparently let people from all over the world connect with each other and talk and things like that, although he didn't like thinking about spiders too much, to be honest.

"Whatcha lookin at, Tai?" Kari peered down over the top of the bunk bed, her eyes illuminated with the reflection of the screen.

"Oh, nothin really. Just silly stuff, I guess." In reality, he was looking up dinosaurs and trying to find one that stood on two legs and could breathe fire, but so far his dedicated research had turned up nothing.

"Oh, okay. Could you look something up for me?"

That was a little bit of an odd request. "Uhh, sure, Kari. What's on your mind?"

"What's a guardian angel?"

His fingers were poised over the keyboard like a pianist ready to strike a chord. Tai put them down slowly. "I could've told ya that myself, Kari! It's just a person with wings."

"Oh no, I know what angels are, Tai. I mean guardian angels."

"Well, I mean, what's there to know? They're just angels that guard us regular people so bad things don't happen."

"But don't bad things still happen to people, Tai?" Kari gripped the sides of the bed as she stuck her head as far out as possible, focusing on Tai with relentless curiosity.

"Well, yeah, I mean, of course they do. I-I dunno Kari, I guess guardian angels don't do their jobs sometimes or forget to show up or something like that. What's up with you and angels today anyway?"

Kari scratched her cheek lazily. "I dunno. This kid in my class was talking about how he didn't think they were real."

"Oh. Uh… what'd you say?"

"Mm, nothin. He wasn't talking to me, actually. I just heard him."

"Oh."

"But then I started thinking about Koromon again—"

"Kari! Come on!"

"—and how he turned into Greymon, Tai! You have to remember it too. You have to. Dontcha remember the fight Tai?"

Did he? "...I dunno Kari."

"He was our guardian angel that night, Tai. He saved us from the big green parrot. And I know I wasn't dreaming or making it up, I swear."

Tai was old enough to know that the very idea of a talking, evolving monster just wasn't possible, and he was sure his parents had explained that to Kari about a thousand times or so (in many different ways too), but even though all of his common sense told him she couldn't be right, there was that part of him that kept tugging and tugging away, never fully convincing him to tell her she was wrong.

So he didn't.

"Kari… I… I really don't know, okay? I want to back you up, believe me. I really do. But mom and dad… well, you know, parents don't believe in the same stuff that kids do. And-and even if you're telling the truth, even if it really did happen, dontcha think they would flip out? Adults can't handle stuff like we can. They get scared, yaknow? They think everything's out to hurt us. I think… that's why mom and dad don't like it when you bring up Koromon. It's not that they don't want to believe you, they just… they can't understand it like us kids can. Got it?"

Kari drew back slightly from her perch; she seemed to be really turning over what Tai had said in her head.

"Kari?"

An extra moment of contemplation.

"Okay, Tai. I get it."

An alleviated smile spread wide across his face. "You won't bring it up anymore?"

Kari shook her head accordingly. "Nope. No more scarin mom and dad."

"Awesome." Words couldn't actually describe how happy Tai was at that moment. It had been a kind of stressful and weird Friday, but finally, finally, he'd gotten Kari to stop talking about the monster fight. That was an accomplishment all right.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed now, Tai."

"Oh, okay! Do you want me to turn off the lights?"

"Mmmnah. I'll be okay."

"Are you sure Kari?"

"I'm sure. Thanks though Tai."

"No problem." Tai watched as his sister snuggled underneath her blankets and turned to face the wall, taking extra care to brush her hair down so it would lay against the pillow the right way. Tai had watched her do this many times before.

On a night like this, it reminded him of how much he loved her.

"Good night, Tai," she half-yawned.

"Good night, Kari. Sweet dreams." Tai had already turned back to the monitor and was fully prepared to delve back into his digital paradise, but he paused when he heard Kari's light voice floating down from the top bunk once more.

"Tai?"

"Yeah?"

"You know who I thought of besides Greymon?"

An inward groan. Not this again.

"Who, Kari?"

"I thought of you."

Tai wasn't sure if she went to sleep or just stopped talking, but he was glad either way she couldn't see him from where she lay. It would've been embarrassing to explain why he'd suddenly started to cry.

Author's Note/Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. This is a fan work, I claim no copyright.