Hi everyone, my name's Ty. This new story of mine I am aiming to be able to complete over the next few years because it has no interference with the canon storyline, so there won't be any reason for discontinuation (like what happened with my other story when Tri was announced). This story is going to be quite dark and likely very unlike your typical fanfiction story =). It's really going to dive into topics regarding mental illness, growing up, and the tests of friendship.

Just as a heads up, there will be many mature themes in this story; I debated whether or not to rate it M but I don't think it's gonna be anything too over the top.

Also, there's likely going to be a lot of romantic connections and interactions going on between the characters throughout the story. However, though romance does play a major role, it is not the main point of this story. This is just a heads up for certain content that may be ahead since I know everyone loves some good old romantic drama.

Last note, when a character is thinking I write it as '...' as opposed to normal quotations "..." when a character is speaking.

Final Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

With that said, please enjoy!

He's Gone

Chapter 1

Just Tai

March 21st, 2006

"You know what Tai? You've really grown up!"

He remembered that day vividly, the day of Matt's winter concert. Painful memories bled their way to the surface of his thoughts; memories he'd tried to repress for ages now. He never expected Sora to fall for Matt; he never thought he would get rejected after she liked him for such a long time; he never thought things would be the way they were now.

Tai scrunched up his face in agony while recalling what Agumon had said to him. What a fucking joke. It couldn't have been any further from the truth. If anything, he'd only regressed since that time. Nothing was at all like it used to be.

Aside from him, everyone else had grown up. Matt had become practically famous with his band; Sora was Captain of the Tennis team and Class President; Izzy was probably the most intelligent kid in their school (or district for that matter); Joe was preparing to do Pre-Med at one of many prestigious universities in Japan; Mimi was modeling all over the country; and then there was him.

He'd accomplished nothing, absolutely nothing in the past few years. He was stagnant now, trapped in the past. Lost, without much of a purpose for even existing. Things just weren't like they used to be, back in the day, when he lead the team of kids who saved the world.

Life was really hard back then, especially in the beginning, where every day was a battle and a struggle just to survive. But moreover, it was such an incredible journey, being out in a treacherous, unknown world where the outcome was completely reliant on the actions of eight kids way over their heads. Experiences like that forge lifelong bonds, friendships that last lifetimes... Or so he thought.

Everyone had depended on him back then. They had actually needed him. Now, he was just... Tai.

Matt and Sora, two of the closest people to him on the planet, seemed to have forgotten about his existence in the blink of an eye. They were still his best friends, but... it just wasn't like it used to be. Everyone was moving onto bigger and better things, while he had just become just utterly average. Average was not OK with him. There was no way he could ever be content with that. And yet, that's exactly what he'd let himself become.

A cool March breeze blew across the concrete sidewalks as he walked to school alone, moving at a constant, tedious pace. He didn't think about where he was going or what he was doing, rather simply allowing his legs and body to respond on their own, knowing that they'd take him to where he needed to be. He really didn't want to think anyway; every time he did, it only furthered his frustrations.

This wasn't the first time he'd dwelled on the sad truth of things. It was on his mind too often; slowly eating away at him while he idly did nothing about it. These were supposed to be the best years of his life, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd done anything even the least bit eventful. High School had just been a series of repeated failures and disappointments. Where was the excitement in his life? Where were the people and the experiences that he was always told he would remember for decades to come? He was almost 18 now, legally an adult but still mentally a kid. It was a unique time; not quite a child yet still not an adult, and he was sitting around doing nothing with his life.

He constantly told himself that he wanted to change, but never took the initiative to do anything about it. Maybe he continued to do nothing about it because he was afraid of what he'd find on the other side. Maybe, in all honesty, he was afraid of who or what he'd become if he actually took those first steps to become his own person... He'd lived in the past for such a long time, maybe it was time to let the past stay in the past. Those days weren't coming back and neither was the person he used to be. If he wanted to rid himself of this stagnation, he'd have to finally, after all of these years, give up the old self that had kept him chained to the ground.

Youth was too short for him to just go through the motions. If something was missing from his life he always was the type of person to go out and fix it himself. That's who he was; a leader; someone who follows his own path, despite what anyone else thinks. Someone who doesn't wait for change, someone who makes change happen. He didn't want to be just Tai any longer.

This will by far be the shortest chapter- I'm expecting future chapters to be well over 5x this length.

Thank you for reading and please Fav/Follow/R! It really gets me writing quickly. Also, please PM me if you want to discuss the story or anything involving Digimon! I'd love to chat anytime!

Finally, I will update my profile bio constantly to let you guys know how soon future chapters will be up. Thanks!