Chinese Whispers: Iris By Ryan Bodle

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon or any associated characters. The song is written by the Goo Goo Dolls. (And pretty damn excellent if I say so myself......which I do )

"And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am." Goo Goo Dolls, Iris.

With a heart still in the gutter and no more refreshed, he began his own last mile. He had no idea what remorse he felt at this point, just a prick from his conscience that he shouldn't be happy, not even melancholy. He quickened his pace, trying to shake shadows behind him.

Then, as if irony were alive and found the Ishida boy walking down the streets of Odaiba, the skies turned grey and opened up, letting the heavens plummet on the city. He swiftly raised his jacket over his head and looked up at the clouds. 'Just setting the mood?' He asked them mentally. He almost allowed himself a smile, as if besides it all, somebody found his situation funny, and he couldn't help but laugh back, shedding the last piece of his sanity. But that last piece was something he held onto dearly. He needed it for this one confrontation.

The skies had slowly turned an eerie grey over time. A patch of non-light strayed through the window, dampening the life from anything it blanketed as it spread further into the recesses of the room. It covered the soft red to pink walls turning them to a dull colour that had no quality. It silenced the sharp coloured carpet and rainbow rug. It made a white shirt that lay distressed, grey. Just beyond the grey shirt. It turned pale skin to a shadow.

She hadn't moved an inch in all the time it took the Sun to die and the heavens to open up and fall down to earth. Having felt drained of energy, she cried not moving a single bit. Until she fell asleep, sobbing. She stirred now, her sleep was restless, dreamless and she felt no better for it.

She woke fully startled at a rap on her window. There was nothing there but the rain, washing in cascades down the glass pane. Another rap scared her to no end as she honestly thought that stone was coming through at her. Somebody was outside. She got up gingerly and stepped across the room just as gently. The water running stopped her from seeing who it was exactly, but there was somebody at the foot of her house. She opened the window to look out.

"Sora!"

Sora peered out into the rain, a voice was dishevelled by the sound of the rain hitting the floor. "Matt?"

"Sora!"

"What are you doing here!?" The conversation existed only whilst they shouted at each other.

"To see you! Why else!?"

She couldn't believe he was out there in the wet and cold, she couldn't stop herself smiling though. "Go home, you'll catch a cold!"

"Can't we talk!?"

"Tomorrow." She closed the window sharply and turned around, now hugging herself slightly, feeling somewhat warmer. He had come back. There was another rap on the window. She expected that. Rather more hoped but wasn't surprised. She opened the window and shouted blindly.

"I said, we'll talk tomorrow!"

Matt spoke back, except this time he was right next to her and made her jump. He'd climbed up to her window.

"Can't we talk now?" She looked at the blonde haired boy looking hopefully at her. His long locks drenched were flat around his head and lost the usual volume they had. But she found it all the same looking at him.

"Oh Matt, get in you'll catch death out there," she told him and backed away from the window as he crawled in. "Oh God, you're soaking my room!" She ran to grab some towels and gave him one to dry his hair.

"Stand on this one," she told him laying a particularly large towel down, "don't want you soaking the floor through."

He had wrapped the other towel around his head now, frantically drying it. She stopped fussing around him and just looked at him. He stopped to look back at her. She smiled and looked at him adoringly with swollen eyes. He looked back calmly, his lip quivering.

He was shivering frantically. "Oh my God, I told you you'd catch a cold!" She harassed him.

"I'll live," he stammered. Without thinking, she removed his soaking jacket and shirt whilst he held a towel tightly around him. She returned to drying him when she stopped suddenly and looked up at blue eyes looking back at her. They were deep and sad, a pain existed there that made her feel just as wounded. The two of them stood awe struck at each other.

"I'm sorry," Matt suddenly blurted. "I'm sorry I ran out on you, I'm sorry for leaving like that."

"Shut up Ishida," she leaned in and kissed him tenderly, he kissed back just as gentle.

There was a break between them, looking back into each other's eyes. They already knew what they said to each other, but they wanted to see it again. He wanted to see the sweet tears that formed when she was most happy, a sense of unending loyalty and dependency that made him feel forever wanted. He wasn't on the outside anymore, but the centre of everything and he wanted to be everything for her.

She looked back at the intense passion his blue eyes showed. Strong and protective, she was invincible in his arms, untouchable and secure, she didn't want to come away from his grasp as she leant in again. Their lips met, more intense than the last, what seemed like days and weeks of emotional torment was just barely wrapped up in a few hours, and then released in a single second as they held each other tighter than ever.

Breaking the silence of a dimmed hallway, a phone rang loudly. It was soon accompanied by footsteps on a wooden floor. A silhouette approached and picked up the receiver. A man's voice answered in a very reserved tone.

"Hello? Yes, this is he.......Oh, hello there.......I'm sorry?" There was a pause as he seemed to listen very intently to the other speaker. "I see. Yes, I don't know what to say. Well thank you.....I appreciate your concern. Thank you. Goodbye." The handset was hung up, followed by a very long sigh. The stretched face of Mr. Takenouchi glanced upstairs at his daughter's bedroom door.

After some time, the two lovers had just stood in each other's arms. Broken from their kiss, they just stood holding each other, it seemed like they would never get the chance again. With a quiver, Sora spoke.

"What are we going to do?" Matt took a deep breath and let it out heavily, none too reassuring for her.

"I don't know," he answered and then releasing her enough to her in the face. "But we'll do it together, ok?"

She nodded and nuzzled her head on his chest. He looked down at her and wrapped her in his arms again. "I knew you'd come back," she said through the embrace.

'I didn't,' Matt thought to himself. And suddenly a familiar feeling hit him. He felt it on his way to Sora's house. A feeling that removed all warmness he had just felt when with Sora. The feeling that told him to stop being happy, because he didn't deserve it. It was all his fault and he should be bearing everything for her. He couldn't have felt more guilty in all his life.

There was a sound outside the door. Both eyes snapped towards the entrance of her bedroom. "Oh shit! My Dad!" Sora exclaimed as she heard him come up the stairs. It was now a good time to realise that they both stood topless holding each other, and that it was a bad idea to be seen like that.

Matt gathered his shirt and jacket and held them to his chest. "I'll go," he said racing for the window and opening it up, presenting the dreadful torrents of rain he'd have to fore go to get home. Reluctantly he stepped outside and on to the roof he used to climb up in the first place. Before leaving he turned to Sora, and kissed her one last time before disappearing.

Sora shut the window behind him and rushed around trying to remove all evidence of Matt ever being there. Just as her Dad knocked on her door, her heart leap into her throat as she looked for something to cover herself up with. "Ah! Just a minute."

He knocked on the front door to the apartment solidly. Shivering in the cold rain in just his pants. Hs shirt and jacket was held up in a bundle to his side. It took a couple of minutes and another knock, but his Dad finally opened the door. He took a look at the water ridden Yamato, looking very sorry for himself in the door way and started laughing.

"Thanks Dad, can I come in?"

The father steeped aside as he carried on his laughter. Matt stepped in, water running off every inch of his body and hair. His Dad stopped to speak.

"Well if this doesn't scream 'About a girl,' I don't know what does."

Matt grinned at his current situation. "I take it you've been here." Ishida Hiroaki regarded his son for a moment.

"Nope, can't say I have. Congratulations, you're dumber than I was."

"Thanks, can I have a towel?" Matt's father threw one across the apartment to dry himself off.

"Get out of those wet clothes and into something dry, I'll make some soup or something and you can sit by the fire."

Matt wrapped the towel around his head and shoulders, furiously drying the water from him as he stepped into his own room.

The sky had finally turned dark. Nighttime made its presence clearly known over the city. He had watched the Sun retire over the horizon, turn the sky gold before its blaze died completely. The darkness seemed more comfortable to him right now, less cheery and it didn't seem to mock him. He still felt miserable though. At this point, he felt like ticking around for the Sun to come back up and see if it made a difference.

He had somehow become an enemy and he didn't know how it happened. It was more infuriating that he was only being there for her and it was spit back in his face. If that was how it was going to be then perhaps he shouldn't care anymore. The world would be a better place if he just didn't give a damn. People kept telling him, and they were right. No more interfering, if they don't want his help, then screw them.

Mind made up, he turned to lie down in his bed and closed his eyes, trying not to think about it anymore. Just sleep, and tomorrow will be a new day, a new Tai.

He never noticed his door ajar, and a shadow of Kari watching on with a concerned expression. She felt the need to say something, if only just good night. Her mouth began to open, but she held her voice. She couldn't disturb him now. She turned away and left him as he was.

Maintaining a hunched posture under a thick blanket, Matt sat at near to an electric fire, kept on a low heat. The TV was on but he wasn't watching. He occasionally lifted a small bowl to his lips to sip at a hot broth, which despite being too hot to drink casually, seemed to warm his entire body with just a few drops. His skin tingled as his body temperature returned to normal every time.

On the other end of the beaten down couch he sat on, his Dad sat, talking cheerily and idly as he watched the screen in front of them. He recollected amusing stories when he was off romancing girls at Matt's age. Some of them disturbingly concerned Matt's mother, it seemed the only thing that affected him right now. How it seemed his Dad had accepted the break up and moved on. It was strange then to think how it never really affected Matt until it was mentioned. And it was mentioned so casually. He thought back to when Matt chose to live with his Dad and wondered how his mother felt about the separation.

'Separation,' he thought. 'Will I be separated from Sora when everybody finds out?'

It was an inevitability. There was simply no way they could keep this under wraps. There were repercussions he knew he'd have to face at some point. The way he felt responsible meant he would have to support Sora from now on. He'd have to work overtime when the baby came. And he didn't know what he'd do at college.

'Will I even get to go to college?' It had suddenly dawned on him how much responsibility he would have to take on board. It was simply too much, he didn't think he'd ever live up to it. The only conclusion he could come to was that he couldn't leave Sora alone.

He glanced out of the window. He could only see a margin of what was outside. The curtains had been drawn together lazily but it didn't bother him, he just wanted to look away as far as possible and then put himself there. His dad's voice had become an echo as he lost himself in a trail of thought.

She can't remember how she fell asleep. Just that she fell asleep with the most contented smile on her face. The covers were wrapped around her, she cherished their touch and security. If anything right now, she wasn't alone and that was more than she ever needed from Matt right now.

Oddly enough, when her Dad came in, he was acting very strange questions. How her day was and other trivial subjects like her school work and friends. How was she getting on with Matt. Just typical questions she expected to hear from anyone but her Dad. It didn't matter she supposed. Tomorrow she'd get to see Matt again. That was the last thought she had in head before sleep took her and she sighed with it.

A/N: Thanks to everyone again for their encouraging reviews, please submit more and let me know how its coming along.

Iris- Goo Goo Dolls

And I'd give up forever to touch you

'Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

'Cause sooner or later it's over

I just don't want to miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming

Or the moment of truth in your lies

When everything feels like the movies

And you bleed just to know you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am