Authors Note: This is a story that myself and my partner in crime Kurosaki girl 0890 started about a year ago and are just revisiting. Digimon was one of the first anime we ever were exposed to as children. We watched in on Fox Kids every single day! Kurosaki girl remembers running home from school so that she wouldn't miss the episode on TV. Digimon has been close to our hearts ever since and is fodder for many, many fan fictions (just look at my account). We wanted to share this story with you to see what a wider audience would think of it.

Warning: This story will be quite angsty and dark. You will see why very shortly. Please keep that in mind as you read.

In this story, Matt is basically the main character and it is focused around his struggles and angst. But, everyone will have a role to play in the story. Please Read and Review! It is what keeps myself and Kurosaki girl 0890 writing!

Chapter 1- Crashed Dream

The wind blew harshly against the seven of them as two Mega Digimon went at it against each other. Sora Takenouchi watched as Matt Ishida and Tai Kamiya fought each other. She was so helpless, their leader and the second in command were at each other throats. Sora had never felt more torn in her life as she stood on the sidelines watching.

T.K. Takaishi gripped onto her hand.

"Why is my brother acting like this? Why can't he get along with Tai?"

"I don't know T.K., I just don't know." What else could she say to him? He was watching his older brother fight with one of his best friends. There wasn't much one could say to a seven year old to explain the situation.

A flash of light appeared and the two digimon were thrown apart. Sora couldn't explain why her legs propelled her towards the blonde haired boy as he slowly began to get back to his feet. Nor could she explain the moisture that was slipping out of her eyes.

"Matt...you really aren't leaving us are you?" She tripped on a rock she couldn't see because of the tears that were falling.

Matt barely looked at her before turning around, "Yeah, I am leaving. I don't want to be a part of this group anymore. I'm going to take care of myself."

"And what about T.K.? You're just going to leave him like your father did?!" she knew it wasn't fair to say these things but she couldn't stand the thought of him leaving. Sora got to her feet and ran, her hand clasping around his arm. 'Why do I feel like this? Matt's a big boy, he can go off on his own if it's what he wants.' She couldn't understand all feelings that were swirling inside of her.

"He'll understand when he's old enough. Sometimes you have to go on a path that no one else can follow. I have to go on this path alone."

Sora shook her head. "You don't have to go, you just think you do. We all care about you Matt..." she paused not sure why she had the feeling to say this, "I care..."

It was almost unrecognizable, but his eyes softened for a moment before he turned back around, "It's over. I'm out."

"Look at me!" She cried as she yanked on his arm again.

"I looked at you Sora. You're not going to stop me so stop trying." he replied coldly.

Sora moved so she was in front of him. "I know deep down you don't really want to do this. So why are you?"

"I do want it. I want to be more powerful than any of you. Today proved I need to work even harder to be stronger so that next time we meet...I can beat Tai to a living pulp."

Sora reached under his shirt and pulled out his crest, "You're one of us, please don't turn away from us! You and Tai are equal in strength! Why would you want to be stronger than him?"

"Because...that's what I need to grow. I need to be stronger." he gently pushed past her, keeping his eyes on MetalGarurumon who was waiting for him.

She stood still for a second longer and then ran after him once again. "Do you remember the time by the lake? When I wanted to do nothing more than give up on my stupid crest? When everyone was asleep you came and got me and took me there, and told me that love was the strongest one...because once you have love in your life...it's always there in some shape or form. You told me that Matt! You also said that you'd be here..." she paused as she choked on her words, "for me."

"I lied. At least about the second part. The only one I truly trust and am there for is myself." he kept walking, not stopping to witness her hysterics.

Something soared through the air and hit the back of Matt's head. Sora stood, panting, her crest now on his shoulder.

"Take me with you then."

"Not happening. Stay here with the others." he brushed her crest off, letting it fall on the ground.

"Why won't you let me come? I swear I won't get in the way."

"What part of I want to be alone doesn't make sense Sora?! I don't want you around! It's that simple!" he exploded.

She stomped over and picked up her crest. She glared at him, "Well I don't care! I'm going to come with you whether you like it or not!"

Matt got on MetalGarurumon's back easily, "No, you won't or you will wish you hadn't Sora. Do you want to lose Biyomon forever? Are you really willing to put her in danger for your own pride? Because if I see you coming after me...I will make sure MetalGarurumon turns her into little pieces of data."

Sora slumped her shoulders but never took her eyes off Matt. She walked to MetalGarurumon and touched his metal face, "Please watch after him for me."

"I will take care of Matt. Don't you worry."

Sora kissed his muzzle, "I know you will...and...when he softens up around you...remember to tell him that I care about him a lot...so much that I don't even understand it. Boys are supposed to be stupid." she whispered all this so Matt wouldn't be able to hear it but she know MetalGarurumon could.

"Remember Matt as he was before. Not as he is now. He's...a good boy underneath. He's just lost."

Sora swallowed, trying to get her emotions in check. "I'll come find you guys...I promise."

Matt looked at everyone else and then both of them disappeared into the forest. Shock rippled across the group as they stared at the space Matt had been in.

"He's really gone..." Joe whispered.

T.K. burst into tears and tried to run after Matt. Sora caught him before he could run into the forest and wrapped her arms around him. "It's going to be okay T.K." she tried to soothe. T.K. turned and cried into her chest, wanting nothing more than for his brother to come back.

"Do you think it's really safe to let him go off like that? What if he gets lost or gets hungry or doesn't have enough hair gel?" Mimi asked, turning to Tai for an answer.

"I say let him go, he'll come around to his senses soon enough." Tai answered as he touched his tender cheek.

"Do you really think it's smart to let him go? Shouldn't we stick together?" Joe inquired.

"He'll be okay, won't he Tai?" Kari asked quietly as she looked up at her older brother. Tai looked down at her and laid his hand on her head.

"Of course he'll be okay. And he'll meet up with us soon, I guarantee it."

"In the meantime we should look for Puppetmon and the Dark Masters. I'm sure Matt will find us if we keep going in the trajectory we were going in." Izzy suggested.

"Right, so let's do that, okay team?" Tai asked as he took Kari's hand in his.

Sora slowly got to her feet, T.K. in her arms as he still cried.

"It'll be okay T.K, I'll look after you." Patamon promised as he flew beside Sora.

"We're ready Tai."

The group journeyed on. They eventually met Piedmon and destroyed him, but they could never find Puppetmon or his gang. Matt seemed to completely disappear, never rejoining the group as the others had hoped.

Once the Ultimate Dark Master was destroyed, they tried to search for him before they were sent home, but there was no such luck. It was like he had vanished into thin air after leaving the fight. All 7 of them hoped someday they would be able to find their lost friend and bring him back into their group. But only time would tell if this dream would be achieved.