NOTE:*drags self in* At...last! After a week of finals, and two(ish) weeks of writers block, I give you: CHAPTER 13! *flops down on the ground* I dead now. -_-
Chapter 13. The Missing Chapter
"And so," Sora continued on. "The young prince lived on pretending like he didn't know his brave knight. Even when they went on another adventure together in a strange land, he pretended he didn't know him. Once they finished that adventure, they continued on as friends, but the knight still didn't remember him." The red haired paused for a moment. "And they lived happily never-after. The end."
"Nice ending," Tai grumbled miserably.
"Well, if you haven't noticed," Sora gestured to the keychain in Tai's hand. "It doesn't end that happy." The brunette sighed and buried his face into his hands.
"Matt," Tai groaned. "Why didn't you tell me?" He then looked up at Sora. "Why didn't he tell me, but was happy enough to tell you? Aren't you supposed to be the wicked witch?"
"It was kind of by accident," Sora sighed. "I walked in on him after one of his band concerts and he was crying. After seeing he was caught, and after I convinced him that it's better to let things out and not keep them bottled up, he told me the whole story." Tai gently rubbed the star keychain with his thumb.
"Tai?" Sora asked, concerned about the brunette's silence.
"I know why I couldn't remember Matt," Tai whispered. "I know where I locked his memories away."
oXoXoXoXo
Tai ran up and down the dark world that surrounded him. The world was filled with scary monsters and evil things trying to hurt them. He had to find Matt before it was too late! The young boy ran faster down the dark path way and finally found the blonde.
"Matt!" he called out. The blonde turned to look at him. He smiled at his brave knight and started coming towards him. Suddenly, a black hole appeared from underneath Matt and swallowed him up. "NO!" Tai sprinted forward and tried to save Matt, but it was too late. Matt sank deeper and deeper into the dark, black hole of nothingness…and Tai couldn't do anything but watch.
"NO MATT!" Tai screamed as he shot up from his bed. The young brunette panted and looked around. He wasn't in a dark world anymore; he was in his new bedroom in Odaiba. Kari was in the hospital and so he was completely alone in his room. Tai's bottom lip started to quiver at the memory of his prince disappearing and he climbed out of bed. The small knight made his way to the kitchen, where his mother was waiting for their father to come home from work. "Mommy?"
"Tai?" she looked down at him. "What are you doing out of bed? It's almost midnight."
"I…I…" Tai wanted to explain that he had a bad dream, but he was so close to exploding he couldn't help it. "I MISS MATT!" Tai ran forward and hugged his mother tightly. She picked up her son and tried comforting him as he started to cry uncontrollably.
"Oh Tai," his mother muttered sadly. "I'm sorry that you miss your friend…" She gently rocked him back and forth and allowed him to continue crying, letting all of his tears drain out. Finally, once he was calm enough to listen, she looked down at him and smiled. "Tell you what? How about if you and me take a little trip and go back to visit Matt? Would you like that?" Tai sniffed a little and thought about the offer.
"What about Kari?" he sniffled.
"We will go and visit her tomorrow," she explained. "And then Daddy can watch over her since he doesn't have to work tomorrow, ok?" Tai thought for a little while longer.
"Ok," he finally nodded.
"Don't worry Tai," she kissed her son. "Everything is going to be ok."
oXoXoXoXo
The young brunette impatiently walked beside his mother, since he was being held by the hand so he wouldn't run off, as they came closer to the Ishida apartment. Tai was so excited to see Matt again! He would tell him about the new apartment they lived in, the new room he slept in, and how different everything was from this place. Maybe he'd tell him about his scary dream…but he was for sure going to tell him how much he missed him and how much he loved him. Once his mother knocked on the door, they waited for a reply. Matt's mother opened the door.
"Oh, hello Yuuko," she smiled at the visitors. "What brings you here?"
"Hello Nancy," Tai's mother greeted. "Tai and I were just in the neighborhood and Tai wanted to pay a visit to his old friend." Tai smiled up at Matt's mother, excited to see his friend.
"Oh…" Matt's mother muttered. She stayed quiet for a moment, and then sighed. "I'm sorry…but Matt isn't here anymore."
"What?" Tai gasped.
"My hus…Hiroaki and I separated about a month ago and he took Matt with him while T.K. stayed here."
"Oh, I'm sorry Nancy," Tai's mother muttered sadly. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I…I think I'll be alright," she smiled sadly.
"Where did Matt's daddy take him?" Tai shouted at the other woman. "Where is he?"
"Tai, don't shout!" His mother hushed him. "I'm sorry to bother you Nancy. We didn't know—"
"Where is my Matt?" Tai shouted again.
"Tai!"
"WHERE IS HE?"
"I'm afraid that I don't know where Matt is anymore," Matt's mother finally answered the child's question. "After they left…I never heard from them again…" She looked down at the small brunette, who was now coming close to letting out his tears. "I'm sorry Tai…"
Tai's bottom lip quivered and then he quickly darted off. There was one place where he hadn't checked yet. Every time Tai wanted to see him, he'd always be there. Always; so why should this time be different? Once the young knight exited out the elevator, he ran right to the small park where they had first met.
"MATT!" he called out as he ran through the park. "MATT! WHERE ARE YOU?" Tai climbed up the jungle gym and started searching through the tunnels and slides. "Please come out now Matt! I want to see you again!" The longer Tai searched, the more it started to seem that Matt would never come out again. The last place he looked was the tunnel where he gave the blonde the promise. He crawled through it and saw that there was no one there. "…he's gone…" Tai started to sniffle and he slowly exited the tunnel.
"Tai!" The brunette didn't look up when his mother called out to him. "There you are! Why did you run off like that?"
"…He's gone Mommy," Tai whimpered and rubbed his eyes.
"Oh Tai," she whispered. "I'm sorry that this happened…" She took her son and carried him back to the car. Tai watched as the place where he and Matt shared so many memories started to vanish from view.
oXoXoXoXo
"Tai, will you come here please?" Tai lifted his head up to where his mother was. She was putting away some clean clothing in his dresser and beckoned him to join her. Tai flopped his head back down on the pillow and buried his face. "Tai, please. I want to show you something." He didn't move. "I don't want to see you so sad anymore."
"But I am sad," the brunette muttered (which actually came out more like "Mur-mur urm fur").
"Well, what if I told you I know a way to make you feel better?" Tai lifted his head again. "At least, for a little while…" The small child stared at his mother curiously for a moment, then climbed off the bed and joined her side. "That's the spirit. Ok, let's pretend this is a memory you have." She lifted up one of Tai's underwear she was putting away. "Like, yesterday when we went to the toy store."
"That's when I got the cool racecar!" Tai smiled.
"Right! Now, see this drawer?" She gestured to the dresser which had three drawers on it. Out of the three drawers, she pulled open the first one. "This drawer is like a place where you can save all of your memories."
"My brain has a dresser?" Tai blinked curiously.
"Well…no, but it works like a drawer, ok?"
"Ok…"
"Alright, so the memory of our trip to the toy store can come up here in the first drawer." His mother placed the underwear in the first drawer and closed it. "This drawer is for things that have happened to you recently. Understand?"
"Yes."
"Alright." She then took a sock and showed Tai. "Now, let's say these socks are another memory. Like…when you threw up in Sora's hat." Tai giggled at the memory and his mother gave him a stern, yet also teasing, look. She then opened the second drawer and placed the socks inside. "The second drawer is for memories that you will remember, but you don't have to think about them all the time. Ok?"
"Ok…what about the last one?" Tai's mother closed the second drawer and looked at the third one.
"This third drawer," she explained. "Has a special name. It is called, the bottom drawer."
"What goes in there?"
She finished folding one of Tai's pajama pants and opened the drawer. There were other pajamas in there and he waited to see what his mother would say. Once she placed the clean pajamas in the drawer, she then took it out of the dresser. She let Tai look inside the hole that was left from the dresser. In it, were two mismatching socks, an old underwear Tai used to wear, a pajama top that had gone missing and his racecar that he had misplaced.
"It's my racecar!" Tai grinned and took the racecar back. He watched as his mother took out the clothing that was hidden underneath. "Mommy…I'm confused…What were those things doing there? I thought we put them in the other drawers."
"We did Tai," she grunted as she tried putting the drawer back into its proper place. "But sometimes, we put memories inside the bottom drawer, and sometimes, memories just slip down there." Once she finally placed the drawer back and closed it, she looked at the items they found. "Those memories are the ones that are the hardest to remember for us; the memories that make us really sad, or mad."
"Like when I cut my knee?" Tai muttered.
"Well, no. That's something more that would go in the first drawer," His mother sighed and opened the third drawer once more. "Sometimes, the memories we put in can be remembered easily. Like, when Kari gets sick…" Tai frowned at the memories of her sister getting sick. "Other times, our memories sort of disappear because they fall in father than just our bottom drawer and soon it's almost like we forget them."
"We…forget them?"
"Sometimes…but it's only because we're not ready to deal with them yet." Tai's mother studied her son carefully. "Do you understand Tai?" Tai opened his mouth to say yes, but then closed it.
"No…" he muttered. She sighed and looked her son straight in the eyes. She wanted him to understand so much…but she only felt like she was only confusing him more.
"Tai," she started. "I know that your memory of Matt really makes you sad." She gestured to the racecar when she said the boy's name. Tai frowned and started heading back to his bed. "I wasn't finished yet." Tai looked back at her and watched as she opened the bottom drawer. "I know it hurts you to think about him and to know that you don't know where he is. But maybe, if you don't want to hurt so much, you can put his memory away for a short little while."
"But I promised him I wouldn't ever forget him!" Tai stared wide-eyed at the bottom drawer that was now open. "If I put him away, I'll break my promise!"
"I know sweetie," his mother said, sadness in her voice. "But sometimes…it's ok to just put away some memories that hurt and let them be forgotten. In fact, maybe it's the best thing to do at the time." She took the lost item of clothing and placed them in their proper drawers. "The important thing, however, is that we remember to go back and find those lost memories again. When we feel like we are strong enough, then we can come back and remember them." Tai thought quietly to himself as his mother closed the drawers again. He studied the little racecar in his hands.
"So, you're saying," Tai muttered. "That if I don't want to be sad about Matt right now, then I should put his memories in the bottom drawer…but there might be a chance that I will forget him?" Mother and son stared at each other in silence for a while. "I don't know Mommy…"
"It's your choice," she smiled softly. "I won't make you do anything…Just think about it, ok?"
"Ok, Mommy," Tai murmured. That night, Tai laid awake in his bed, debating on what to do.
On the one hand, he made a promise to his prince that he would never forget him. That if he held on to that small star keychain, he would remember and love him. But on the other hand, knowing that he just suddenly disappeared from his life…
'You can't forget Matt!' part of him screamed. 'You just can't!'
'But he's gone!' the other part screamed back. 'I don't know where he is anymore! He's gone forever and it makes me really sad!'
'But you promised him! Even if you'll never see him again, you promised you wouldn't forget him!'
'I know…but, what if I do what Mommy said and forget for just a little while?'
'No! Please don't forget him!'
'But I won't forget him…I mean…Mommy did say there might be a chance…but I'll come back and remember him again when I'm stronger.'
How will you remember?'
'I…I'm not sure…' Tai climbed out of bed and walked over to his dresser. On the dresser, stood Tai's little racecar. He took hold of the racecar, hugged it gently, and then opened the third drawer of the dresser. He placed the car inside and stared at it a moment.
"I'll remember you Matt," Tai whispered sadly. "Just not right now…but one day, I'll be big and strong and then I will be able to remember you without feeling so sad." He slowly started closing the bottom drawer. "I promise." Tai shut the drawer completely. As soon as it was closed, a loud "clunk" echoed throughout Tai's room, and that was it.
oXoXoXoXo
"You forced yourself to forget Matt then," Sora muttered.
"I guess so," Tai shrugged. "I mean…it killed me to know he was gone and so I wanted to run away from my pain…at least until I was older…but I had run away from it for so long, that when Matt came up to me during summer camp…I couldn't even remember him…" The brunette looked down at the silver star that once belonged to his prince.
'You were right kid,' Tai thought to himself. 'I did forget him.'
'But you remember now right?' The younger version of him asked in his head.
'Yes…I remember.'
'So…is it ok to open the drawer now? Are we strong enough?'
'…yes.' Suddenly, it felt like a door had been open and Tai started to remember everything. How he first met Matt and protected him from Bobby. The day they were married and had their "bunny moon." The day he found out that Matt had disappeared after they had moved. Finally, the blue eyes that Tai continually saw in his mind, started to show a face. It was the face of a little blonde boy with his nose pressed against the window of a large van, before driving away. It was the last memory Tai had of his beloved prince.
"Tai, you're crying," Sora spoke up. Tai's head shot up and he lifted a hand to touch his cheek. Sure enough, his cheeks were indeed wet.
"…H-Ha ha!" the brunette laughed and tried to wipe away the flowing tears. "Must have g-gotten something in my eyes…" Tai glanced up at Sora and tried to offer a smile. She smiled sadly at him when she saw the boy's bottom lip start to quiver. Tai lowered his gaze back down to the keychain. His promise echoed loudly in his ears and he dropped the keychain to the ground before burying his face in his hands. "I broke my promise to him! How could I have been so stupid?" Sora placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder as he continued to cry silently to himself.
"You…really do love him…don't you?" she muttered. Tai lifted his face slowly from his hands. He thought back to all the time they had spent together; as children, in the digital world, and even before now. Matt had always been there for him…and he knew he would always be there for him too.
"…Yes," Tai whispered. "I do." He glared down at his hands. "Why didn't he tell me any of this himself?" The question was more meant for himself, but Sora happened to have heard it. The red head smiled and bent down to pick up the star keychain.
"Well there's only one way to find out for yourself," she held the keychain in front of Tai. He stared at the small object and took it in his hands. "I believe you've got a train to catch, Tai Kamiya." Tai stared down at the star, wiped away his final tears and smiled up at the girl.
"Thanks Sora," he said. He quickly got up to his feet and started running. Before he exited the park, he stopped and turned back to the red head. "You know, Matt was wrong about you."
"What?" she called back.
"I said, 'Matt was wrong about you'!" Tai shouted back.
"How so?"
"Because, you're not really a wicked witch…You're a good witch."
"Ha ha, thanks Tai! Now go on and save your prince before I turn you into a toad!" The brave knight gave the good witch a thumbs up, and then ran as fast as he could to save his long forgotten prince.
Even though I like how the ending bit turned out...this chapter...my goodness...
If anyone is confused about the bottom drawer bit...let me know. I'll try my best to explain it. ^_^; Other than that, please review and let me know what you think. I go now...*flops down on the ground and sleeps*
OH! P.S.! In case you haven't already: go read southampton's stories called "Music" and "Time"! They are phenomenal!