Numemon surrounded us. They snarled and licked their lips. Do they seriously think they can eat us? Cause that's the impression I'm getting. Tai's back pressed against mine. My hand tightly gripped the side of his shirt. If it weren't for my pink gloves, you would be able to see my knuckles turning white. We had been on the run most of the morning. Noon wasn't even close to approaching. I was exhausted. I could tell Tai was as well, even if he failed to admit it. I could feel his breathing, heavy and labored against my back. Sweat rolled down the side of my face. "Tai, we have to get out of here. Now." I breathed.

I could hear him growl frustratingly. "I'm working on it!" Well jeez, he didn't have to be so mean. "There are too many! This may be it.." He yelled, getting quieter towards the end. I let go of his shirt. His words were sharp. I stood straighter and turned towards him. I grabbed his shoulder and turned him towards me. He gave me a confused look.

I grabbed the collar of his shirt, balling it into my fist. He looked frightened. "Dammit Tai. I believe in you! I believe in us. You can't give up just because it seems hard now. We can beat these Numemon. We've taken down worse, like Seadramon. Okay, maybe we had Digimon then but there is a reason we were chosen as the Digidestined. You have the Crest of Courage for the gods' sake. Start acting like it. You're the bravest person I know. I know you can do this. You are the Digidestined leader." I said sternly. I wasn't going to let him put himself down. I know he can get though this!

He stared at me, un-moving. I could see the Numemon advancing on us, tightening their circle around us. My hand released his collar. "Tai..." I said in a worried tone, stepping closer to him as I stared at the Numemon, snapping at my feet. One of the Numemon jumped at my leg, his mouth opened, ready to bite. Tai came back to his senses. He kicked the Numemon like it was a soccer ball, sending it flying back into a tree.

He grabbed hold of my hand. "When I say go, we run. Straight through. The mountains are close by. We can make it." He said in my ear, squeezing my hand slightly. I nodded my head. Tai looked off into the distance, his face filled with shock. "Ohh no! It's Myotismon!" He yelled pointing. What!? Myotismon?

The Numemon all turned their heads, searching for their absent leader. "Now!" Tai yelled. We sprinted towards the mountains, stepping on top of the Numemon. It was chaos. Numemon's signature attack would have to be Nume-Sludge, wouldn't it? Poop flied everywhere. It was awful! What kind of attack is that!?

The Digimon snapped at my feet, some actually able to bite my legs. It didn't faze me. I sprinted alongside Tai, letting the wind attack my face. It felt good. For only being early in the morning, the heat was unbearable. My breaths were quick and shallow.

We broke out of the Numemon mob that had surrounded us. There was a dead end in front of us. Tai led the way into the forest, dodging oncoming trees and roots. We came to a fork in the road. It was darker in this section of the forest. The sun couldn't break through the thick barriers of the tree tops. It felt.. evil, like something lurked in the depths, waiting to attack. Something big is going to happen. I can feel it. Whether it's good or bad, I'm not certain.

I looked from left to right. Both ways looked just as dangerous. I pulled Tai with me to the right. We had escaped the Numemon, for the time being. We walked slowly, watching where we stepped. Huge roots stuck out of the ground, just waiting for someone to trip over them.

My hand slipped out of Tai's. He looked at me with a frown. "You're not scared, are you?" He asked, testing me. I smiled. I wasn't scared, and I was proud of that.

"No." I answered quietly. "You shouldn't really talk so loud. There could be a dangerous Digimon nearby. Without our Digimon, we are doomed." I whispered. Tai shrugged his shoulders. "You're scared, aren't you?" I grinned.

"What? Me? Scared? You're crazy." He puffed his chest out. I gave him the 'You're a Damn Liar' look. He chuckled softly. "Okay, I'm freaked out a little. So much for the Crest of Courage, right? But who wouldn't be whe- Sora behind you!" He yelled pointing behind my back. I turned around and felt hands grab my shoulders. "BOO!" I shrieked, quickly spinning around. I knocked whatever grabbed my shoulders to the ground. I opened my eyes and saw Tai clutching his stomach in the dirt, laughing his ass off.

"TAICHI KAMIYA! WHAT AN ASSHOLE!" I yelled in his face. I almost peed my damn pants! I crossed my arms and stomped on forward. He jogged up to me.

"Ohh Sora, you know I was just playing." He said putting his hands behind the back of his neck, grinning. What an ass. I'm pretty sure he thought that was real funny.

The forest grew darker, Digimon lurked through the trees. Strange noises sounded around us. The flapping of bat wings sounded above our heads. "T-Tai?" I stuttered. He took my hand gently and turned his head in my direction. "Myotismon likes bats, doesn't he?" Tai gravely nodded his head. Okay, now I'm scared. If Myotismon gets a hold of us, the rest of the Digidestined are doomed. There was an intensifying clutter of noise. It sounded like wings flapping.. I turned my head to look behind us.

Thousands of bats were flying right towards us. "Time to go!" Tai yelled. He pulled me with him, sprinting in the other direction. We raced through the trees, ducking under branches, jumping over overgrown roots. The constant flapping sound grew louder with each second. My breath was short. My lungs burned for oxygen.

"Tai we aren't going to ma- AHHHHHHH!" I screamed as the floor caved in under my feet. I accidentally pulled Tai down with me. We slid down the tunneling hole, our screams and yells echoing through the bare space. His arms were tightly wrapped around my waist, keeping us from separating. There was a light approaching us. We launched out of the tunnel. I was breathless as I drifted in mid-air. Tai had released me, lurching to the side. As I fell, I caught a glimpse of a massive castle in the distance. Lightning and thunder crackled around it. Before I could see anything else, my body hit icy water. The water engulfed my body, attacking my skin with its freezing fingers, sucking the warmth out of my body instantly.

I was still for a while, not moving. It was if I was suddenly frozen to the core, unable to will my limbs to move. My lungs screamed for air. I looked into utter darkness, while little air bubbles floated up from my mouth. Something shiny floated into my view. It had a red ruby on it. The present Tai gave me. I hadn't even noticed my hat was at the top of the water, floating around. The barrette slowly moved down, sinking into the water. I reached my hand out and took hold of it. I came to my senses, finally swimming to the top. I broke the water's surface, gasping for air. I grabbed my floating hat and placed it back on my head. Tai swam towards me, shouting my name. I turned and started swimming, tying to meet up with him. "To the bank!" He shouted. We swam together, finally hauling or exhausted bodies onto the sand. My body racked with shivers. I was freezing. After a few minutes of catching our breath, Tai asked, "What took you so long? You were underwater forever, I thought you were drowning." His eyes held worry in them.

I clutched the barrette close to my body. I held it out, opening my hand so he could see. A smile appeared on his face. My cheeks got warmer, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I took my hat off and clipped the accessory in, placing my hat back in its rightful spot. "What do you think of me?" Tai broke in. I choked on my own spit. Why is he asking me that?

I stared at him, not knowing what to say. What do I think of Tai? I don't like him.. right? It would never work. We are too good of friends. Things have been awkward enough between us. Why did you have to go and ask me a thing like that!? Dammit Taichi. He stared at me, his smile turning into a frown, his face getting pink. Was he.. upset? Anxious? Embarrassed for even asking the question? UGH!

But how do I really feel? We've spent all this time together.. and I've noticed things. Was any of that flirting? I'm not sure. Do I like him? I don't know what it is supposed to feel like. I've never known love, or even how to like someone. I have never liked someone. I see no point in it. It just ends up with someone getting hurt. I can't hurt someone like that. I wouldn't want to. I'd rather be miserable than break someone else's heart. I know what it is like to feel broken. My mom.. she never cared about me. I don't know what it is like to be loved. How can I trust someone else with my heart, when I can't even trust myself. But this feeling I get when I'm with Tai.. I think maybe I.. "Tai.. I actually think I'm starting to-"

"SORA! TAI! OVER HERE!" Our heads spun in the direction of the squealing voice. Mimi charged at us. I could see the others behind her. I stood up and waited for her. She tackled me to the ground in a hug. She tried talking to me but her voice was morphed by her sobs. I felt myself tearing up, but blinked the tears away immediately. No one can see me that way. I won't allow it.

Mimi got off me and hugged Tai. I stood up shakily, trying to compose myself, when something else tackled me to the ground. A pink blob with a blue and yellow flower sprouting from the top of her head sat on my chest. A smile spread across my face. "Yokomon!" I hugged her tight to my chest, letting a single tear fall from my eye. No one would notice, hopefully. "I was so worried about you, Yokomon." I whispered.

"Worried about me!? I was worried about you, Sora! I've been lost without your love!" Her high pitched voice squeaked. My smile faded somewhat. What love is she talking about. My heart is about as cold as the water I was just in.

"TAI!" Agumon jumped on Tai, hugging him. Tai laughed and gave him a noggie to the head. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, buddy!" Tai responded happily.

"You guys are okay! That's great!" T.K. cheered. I smiled at his innocence. If only he knew. Mimi, Joe, T.K., and Izzy stood around us. I stood up along with Tai, holding Yokomon close to my chest, not wanting to let her go. We were swarmed with questions, Tai answering most of them thankfully. Matt sat against a tree, Gabumon by his side, patting his back. Was Matt.. crying?

I walked over to him slowly. He didn't budge or even look. I sat down next to him, looking at the utterly dark sky. It could only be mid-afternoon. I wonder why it is so dark and cold.

"Sora.. I-" Matt started.

"Don't even finish Matt. You don't have to apologize. You're already forgiven." I said with a slight smile, still looking at the cloud littered sky. He was silent.

"I have to apologize. I almost got you and Tai killed!" He shouted to himself, gripping his hair tightly. I sighed. He is mean't for the Crest of Friendship. I see it now. I can tell the guilt is killing him. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Matt, trust me. Tai and I aren't mad. We understand where you were coming from. You don't have to apologize to me, but it might be smart to talk things out with Tai." I stated. He nodded his head. "Come on over when you're ready." I stood up with Yokomon and walked back to the group.

"... and the next thing we knew, we were launched into that FREEZING lake. And now here you all are!" Tai finished explaining our adventure from the last time we had been together. I smiled at his enthusiasm. He looked at me and his smile got even bigger. I blushed quite a bit.

"Ohh, you two are soaked. We should head over to Gennai's place. And get you two cleaned up!" Izzy said simply. Tai and I gave the group strange looks. Izzy laughed a bit. "Ohh that's right! Well this section of the Digimon world is where Myotismon's castle is. We went inside, trying to go through the gateway to our world where we could find the eighth Digidestined," WHAT? An eighth Digidestined? Izzy continued on. "We got there but a Digimon named Gatomon stopped us. Gennai said we should come to his home, so he can teach us the proper way to open the gate again."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. You all were going to go back to Odaiba without us!?" Tai said offended. Izzy sweat dropped.

"You see Tai, its a matter of life or death! If Myotismon gets to the eighth Digidestined before us, then both worlds are doomed." Izzy defended. It was understandable. Tai nodded his head, not fully grasping the urgency of the plan.

Matt walked over. Tai stood taller and all emotion fled his face. Tai would handle this maturely. I have faith in him. Matt would to. I can tell. "Tai, may I speak with you?" Matt asked politely. Tai nodded and gave me a small smile. I returned it. Tai and Matt walked ahead, with their Digimon by their side.

"Well, we should start following them, Matt is headed for Gennai's." Joe said plainly. He didn't seem very excited. As we walked, Mimi filled me in on everything that had happened to them while we were gone. Most of it consisted of being on the run from Myotismon and his henchmen.

"Well enough about all of this evil Digimon talk," she said sighing, "Has Tai admitted his love for you?" She asked boldly. I nearly choked on my own spit, again! I started at her horrified.

"What?" I gasped. Tai doesn't love me! Hell, its hard to believe he would even likes me!

"You didn't know? Oops.. Well its not big secret. It is completely obvious by the way he acts around you. When he is with you, he is a whole new person. I better person. Everyone sees it except you and Tai. Matt knows it, and I think he's jealous." Mimi stated quietly. What? Matt jealous? Why would he be jealous? There is nothing to be jealous of. I don't like Tai. At least.. I don't think I do.

"Ohh Mimi, I'm so confused!" I hide my face in my hands. I guess if I'm going to talk to anyone about boys, it should be Mimi. She is the 'love guru.''

"Tell Dr. Mimi all about it!" I went into detail about the last few days. Everything that had happened between me and Tai. She listened the whole time with no interruptions. Yokomon and Palmon listened intently as well. I guess they might as well know too. When I finished, she looked off into the distance, pondering about something. After a few minutes, I grew worried. "Well?" I asked in a small voice.

"You like him." My face grew warm. No I don't! I don't like Taichi Kamiya. "Maybe even love him." WHAT!?

"Mimi! You're crazy! I don't love him! I don't even like him!" I whisper yelled. I couldn't possibly.. I don't love him.. I don't... Right?

Alrighty, hopefully everyone liked the chapter! Review with any suggestions you have! (: Till next time! -A