This is my first attempt at a story here. Reviews are always welcome.
Disclaimer: All characters in this fanfic are the property of Bandai and Toei Entertainment. I do not own nor claim to own any of the characters in this story.
Never Too Late
*bzz bzz*
*bzz bzz*
Tai was off in dreamland, and he would have thought this buzzing was just something in his dreams, but it was slowly lifting him out of his slumber.
*bzz bzz*
*bzz bzz*
Tai's eyes suddenly shot open as he realized what that incessant buzzing sound was. He reached for his vibrating cell phone and flipped it open.
"Hey, Matt," Tai said groggily, having already recognized the name on the caller id.
"Hey Tai, what's up," the voice on the phone said.
"Ugh, what's up? It's..." Tai quickly checked his bedside clock, "3 in the morning Matt. Nothing's up. Everybody's asleep. What's going on?" Tai said, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
All he could hear was a loud sigh from his phone.
"Hey, Matt, what's going on?" Tai said, with a softer tone in his voice. He could tell that something was bothering Matt, and that would explain the late call.
"I'm sorry, it's too late. I'll just talk to you in the morning."
"It's never too late if something's bothering you," Tai quickly replied. "Besides, It's already morning, technically."
"Heh, yeah..."
"So, what's wrong," Tai said, this time feeling a bit more awake.
"I feel like I'm doing the wrong thing."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't think this is what I want to do with my life, this band thing."
"Why? What's going on?" Any normal person would have criticized Matt for wanting to quit something he was so good at, but Tai knew that there had to be something deeper if Matt was coming to him for advice.
"I just don't fit in here. All these people that come to my concerts aren't really the people I want to be around. I..." Matt paused, "I just feel out of place."
"How so?" Tai already had an idea what Matt was feeling, but he knew that Matt would want to talk it out himself. So, as his friend, Tai was just prepared to listen.
"I mean, all these parties that I have to go to. Everybody there just wants to get drunk and have a 'good time,' but this isn't my idea of a good time. I miss just hanging out with a group of friends that I really know. I miss when we were the digidestined. Right now, I'm just stuck going to these parties with hundreds of people I barely know trying to act like I'm having fun when I'm really miserable." Matt had started to lose his composure, and Tai could hear it in his voice
"Ahh, I see," Tai said. Of course, he was always the lone wolf. This isn't really surprising when I think about it. "So, what are you gonna do?"
"I'm not sure. I was thinking about becoming an astronaut," Matt said, a little weakly.
"Huh?" Tai said, mostly because he wasn't sure he had heard right. "What was that last part?"
"An astronaut. I want to go to space," Matt said, this time a bit firmer.
"Where did this come from?" Tai thought he knew a lot about his best friend, but this came out of nowhere to him.
"I've always wondered, if there's a whole digital world in another dimension, what's to say there isn't something out in space in this dimension. What if there are new worlds out there waiting to be discovered." Tai could hear Matt getting more excited as he continued talking about it.
"To boldly go where no man has gone before?"
"Hey, I'm serious!" Matt said, sounding a bit hurt.
"I know," Tai said quickly, "I'm joking, and being a bit serious at the same time. I just never had you pegged for the explorer type."
"Well, I just don't know where to go from here..." Matt paused again. "I mean I know I would have to go back to school and stuff, but..."
"But, what's stopping you?" Tai interjected.
"Everybody would be so disappointed if I just dumped the band and the tours to go off on this childish adventure. That, and I lose a lot of money if I break the band contract, and in the end I wouldn't have much money to go back to school with."
"You could ask your parents if they'll help."
"No way. After all the money they put up to help the band get started, there's no way they'd throw more money at me if I just gave it all up."
"Nah, I bet they'd be more open to it than you think. You just need to talk to them about it like you told me. If you really hate this life that much, then you should go do what you really want. There's no sense in doing something you hate for the rest of your life. No amount of money justifies that."
"Yeah..." Matt said, "But I still don't want to burden my parents with another load, you know?"
"Yeah..." Tai said, thinking a bit to himself as a brief silence fell between the two. "Well, I still think you should go for it."
"But, how? It's too expensive."
"Then we'll just have to come up with the money somehow, won't we?"
"What do you mean? There's no way I'd ask you for money."
"You don't have to. I'm telling you that we're gonna get the digidestined together and raise some money for you to go back to school to be an astronaut," Tai said resolutely, sounding once again like the leader of the digidestined.
"You really think the others would help just like that?"
"No, or at least maybe not all of them," Tai admitted, "but ever since I became an ambassador for the digital world, I've had a bit of extra income, and I'll bet Joe has some too now that he's made it as a doctor. I'm sure we can pull enough money together."
"But, aren't you saving up for an early retirement?"
"Forget about that, this is more important. I would hate myself forever if I didn't try to help out my best friend. Look, if you're really that worried about it, just pay me back once you get your job as an astronaut. Sound fair?"
There was another brief silence on the phone line. "I don't deserve a friend like you..."
"Hey, shut up with that stuff. Just go to sleep and we'll talk more in the morning."
"Ok, thanks. And I'm sorry again for calling so late."
"Hey, what did I tell you? It's never too late."
"Thanks, good night."
"See ya in the morning."
*click*