(September 11th, 2010)
So this is my final chapter in this story. It's like to say that it's been a lot of fun writing this story and I love all you guys that have been following me from the start and reviewing constantly. I'd like to thank you for being such amazing people, I love you, you're the best.

So without further adieu, I present the final chapter of "The Domino Effect".

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Disclamier: As usual, I don't own Digimon or any of its characters. As well as any other brand name, magazine name, people, celebrities, objects etc.

Chapter 21: Farewells

As soon as Takeru walked in the door a nurse ushered him into a treatment room to treat his broken nose and x-ray his wrist. His knuckles and both eyes were bruised and there were gashes along his face where his father's ring had clipped him. He came out of the room an hour later with a white strip over his nose and his wrist in a tensor bandage. For hours they sat in the waiting room; Sora was slumped in a chair, her toque pulled over her eyes. Hikari and Takeru sat on a couch together, Hikari's head rested in his lap and her legs curled up to her chest. Despite the fact that it was past three in the morning, Takeru was wide-awake. He sat on the couch just waiting for a doctor to tell him how his brother's surgery was going. The events of the evening replayed in his head until it screamed with a migraine.

Around half past four Tai burst through the door, hair stuck out at all ends and eyes bleary. Hikari rubbed her eyes and yawned, stirring as her brother bustled into towards them.

"Was no one going to tell me that Matt was in surgery?" He threw his hands up in the air, glaring a Takeru.

"Well as you can see I have been occupied with other things to worry about." Takeru snorted pointing at his crushed face. Hikari rolled her eyes as she sat up and shifted her body into a seated position.

"Sorry Tai, I probably should've called but I fell asleep shortly after we got here. Did mum tell you?" The brunette nodded and sat down in the chair next to the sleeping Sora. He looked over her and reached his arm to touch her shoulder, then paused thinking better of it and retracted his hand. He looked over his sleeping sister to Takeru, who was staring at him as well.

"What?" With no sleep that night Takeru's patience was running thin.

"Are you going to explain why you socked me in the face yesterday?" Takeru exhaled, running his left hand through his dishevelled hair.

"Look nothing personal, but you wouldn't let me through the door to see Kari and I had a really shitty night so my patience was at its end. In my defence, I did ask you to let me in before I punched you." Tai rubbed his forehead chuckling.

"I guess so…." There was silence for a few more minutes before Tai spoke again. "So… I suppose we're even now. A punch for a punch." Takeru laughed quietly as he remembered his first encounter with his girlfriend's brother.

"I suppose we are. I wonder—" He stopped and gently took Hikari's head off his lap as a doctor motioned for him to come forward. "How is he?"

"He out of surgery and in the recovery room. The general anaesthetic will wear off in an hour then he'll be moved to the fourth floor to room 428. He lost a lot of blood from his femoral artery being cut by the knife; he'll have to stay here so we can monitor his recovery for a few days. There are a few broken ribs and some deep bruising; but they'll heal quickly. Do you have any questions?" He nodded wearily then the doctor continued. "Now as for your father, he didn't need surgery but we gave him a CAT scan because of the concussion; hopefully there'll be no brain damage. He's on some heavy medications for now. Would you like to see him?" Takeru shook his head and the doctor patted him on the shoulder before returning to the restricted access area.

Takeru wandered back to his friends where he relayed the information. Hikari suggested they go to the cafeteria to get something to eat; Sora got up to follow but Tai grabbed her hand, holding her back while the others walked down the hall. She looked at him expectantly and he ruffled his hair, sighing before he spoke.

"Look, I don't even know where we stand anymore. We fight more than we talk, we hardly ever see each other out of university and you and matt seem to have gotten really close." Sora opened her mouth in protest but Tai raised his hand. "Please just let me finish. We've been together for a long time and I know that since you've only ever been with me, you might feel… curious with other men. I also know that you spent the night at Matt's yesterday. I don't want to know what did or didn't happen between you guys; I should be furious but I'm just tired Sora. Exhausted from trying to guess where we stand. I love you and I miss things being the way they use to be. But if you would rather be with Matt, I'll let you go, because I want you to be happy; even if that means we're not together. I can't keep doing this back and forth stuff; it hurts too much. I'll disregard anything that happened with Matt in the past, if you want this to work as much as I do. But if you can't let him go, then I have to let you go too."

Sora just stared at with tearful amber eyes, thoughts running through her head. Then ten seconds later she wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked at him squarely in the face.

"I'm not going to deny that I may have had… an inkling of feelings for Matt. But I love you Tai; no one else. If I had wanted to be with Matt, I would have just broken up with you; I wouldn't have cheated on you. I swear to God nothing has ever happen physically between us. I know we've had our problems lately but that doesn't mean I don't still want to be with you." She touched his cheek gently and he exhaled in relief. Sora leaned forward and kissed him for the first time in weeks; Tai responded passionately until they remembered they were in a public place. "I'm sorry I ever gave you a reason to doubt me."

"I'm sorry too." He smiled weakly and took her hand. "Now… How about some breakfast?"

An hour went by quickly with the help of pancakes and eggs. They made their way to the door of room 428 to see a sleeping Matt tucked into light blue blankets. They entered the room and sat in the chairs surrounding the bed. A few minutes after they entered, Matt stirred and opened his eyes slowly.

Everyone stood up and moved to the bed. Matt fumbled for the bed remote and raised the head so he was sitting. He attempted to straighten himself and winced when he tried to use his leg. "The doctor said not to use your leg for a bit, the muscle was traumatized when the knife impacted it." Takeru sat on the edge of the bed looking at him with concern. "How are you feeling?"

"Really drugged up; like everything's numb. Although my leg hurts like a bitch." He rolled his neck causing it to crack loudly. "Is mum coming?"

"Yes she is" An older female voice said from the doorway. Natsuko walked in with a tin and a guitar. "I brought some food for you and I thought you might want something to do since the doctor said you'll be here for a bit." She handed him the guitar and sat down beside Takeru. She leaned over and stroked Matt's hair gently. Hikari, Tai and Sora took that as a sign to leave them alone and left, promising to be back later. There was silence for a few moments then Natsuko broke it. "Matt… I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, if only—" Matt took her hand, looking her into her tearful eyes.

"Mum, this is not your fault. It's dad's. You didn't ask him to do that, he did it all by himself." He shifted and gently smiled. "And besides, it doesn't hurt that bad." Natusko patted his arm and looked at Takeru.

"And TK, I'm sorry I let you down. I can't believe I didn't realize sooner, all the signs were there. I was just too self absorbed to notice."

"How many times do we have to tell you? We don't blame you for what happened."

"But I blame myself! My own son! Beaten as a child by his alcoholic father! And I did nothing about it."

"Then it's my fault too. I should have told you years ago, when it first happened. It could have been further prevented." Matt threw his hands up in the air exasperated, glaring at the two of them.

"Look, it's neither of your faults. It's dad's fault and his only. Now can we please stop talking about it? It's making my head hurt." Natsuko and Takeru laughed, proceeding to change the subject. Half an hour later the others came back joining into the conversation; Matt laughed with the others, only wincing a few times from the strain on his broken ribs. Soon a nurse came in, telling them Matt needed to rest; his mother squeezed his hand and the others waved goodbye. Only Sora lagged behind, nodding to Tai as he pasted through the doorframe. She waited until they all left, then she sat on his edge of his bed, taking his hand. He looked at her, sighing when he felt her soft touch.

"I know why you're here. You don't need to say it. I get it." Matt looked into her tearful eyes; her lip trembled as she scooted forward closer to him.

"I can't keep doing this to Tai and I really want to make it work." She surveyed his face, watching him sigh as she spoke. "Maybe if it had been a different time, or…." Sora trailed off, her tears getting the best of her.

"Hey now, don't do that. I'm not mad, you don't need to cry." She leaned forward, lying down next to him he wrapped his arms around her and he stroked her hair.

"You know, I have feelings for you too, I just—"

"You love him more" She wiped her cheeks and cast her eyes over his face. Tentatively, she reached out and cupped his cheek turning his face to look at her square in the face. Staring at each other, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. He froze for a moment, before he relaxed moving his mouth with hers. A moment later he pulled away, laying his forehead against hers.

"I should go." Sora whispered, sitting back up. "Can we still be friends?"

"I think we can, but I have to move on Sora." She nodded and stood up, letting his hand slip out of hers. When she reached the doorway, she turned and focused on his strong jaw, his beautiful eyes and his floppy golden hair. He waved feebly and she returned it with a weak smile before she left the room.

The lawn of Odaiba High was littered with wooden chairs filled by family and friends. All the chairs faced a large stage, beside which was a set of bleachers filled with jittery students in black gown and caps. The chatter stopped when the headmaster Chikata took the stage.

"Good afternoon, family and friends. Today is the day our students graduate to the next part of their lives…" It had been almost half a year since that horrible incident with Takeru's father. Hiroaki had been taken into custody shortly after he was released from the hospital and now was in a jail cell for at least the next fifteen years. Matt on the other hand had to stay in the hospital until just before Christmas then attended rehab every morning for his leg until he could walk properly again. While he was there he met a pretty nurse with jet black hair named Jasmine and shortly there after started dating while Tai and Sora moved in to an apartment near university campus.

Takeru was more than relieved to have his father out of his life and soon he and Hikari fell into a comfortable pattern. Along with their other friends, they managed to survive the heavy workload of school, working towards their various dreams.

"Daisuke Motomiya will leaving for Perugia, Italy study athletics and soccer at University for Foreigners Perugia" Headmaster Chikata spoke out calling Dai to get his certificate. She continued down the list in alphabetical order calling up other students.

"Takeru Takaishi" Takeru crossed the stage, grinning from ear to ear. "Takeru will be attending the Sauder School of Business at University of British Columbia to study Business and Literature." He accepted his diploma and sat down on the other side of the stage with the other students. Iori gave him the thumbs up from his seat. Chikata-sensi continued to rattle off students' names and the location of the university they were attending.

"Hikari Yagima." The petite brunette girl strode across to where the headmaster stood. "Hikari will be studying photography at the Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver." She shook her hand, accepting the diploma before taking a seat.

"May I have the honour of announcing the Odaiba High graduatig class of 2011." The audience erupted in applause as everyone stood up and threw their caps in the air, screaming with delight. The students filed out of their chairs walking over to their various groups of family members.

"Congratulations!" Hikari's parents and Natsuko hugged their children. Tai ruffled Takeru's hair as Sora and Jasmine hugged Hikari. Iori, Miyako, Ken, Catherine and Chase with their families joined them at one of the fine dining restaurants. As they sat around the long table, they toasted to the newly graduated teens.

"So you two are going to Canada?" Chase spoke to Takeru who sat next to Hikari, his arm around the back of her chair. Their other friends surrounded them, listening intently.

"That's right. We leave in a couple days to go settle into our new apartment in the West End." Hikari leaned over and placed her head on his shoulder, smiling brightly.

"Isn't it so far away though? I mean, what about your family and your friends?" Hikari shrugged.

"We're not saying it'll be easy being away from you guys. We'll miss you a lot but it's exciting, moving to a new country, with a completely different culture and way of life! We each get to study what we want and finish university. We'll come back to Japan at Christmas time and you guys are always welcome to visit us." Miyako sniffled as she wiped a tear away; Ken squeezed her shoulder gently. "Oh Miko, don't cry! We really aren't that far away. You'll be so busy playing hostess to all the hot boys at Tokyo University that you won't even notice I'm gone." Ken scowled and everyone laughed, Miko joining in hiccupping. Iori cleared his throat and their friends went silent looking at him. He stood up raising his glass of champagne.

"I'd like to take a moment to reflect on our busy year together. Kari, I'm so glad you brought TK into our lives, even though for a while he made it a little difficult to keep him alive and breathing." Takeru scoffed at him, a wicked smile played along his mouth. "We wish you all the luck in the world on your new adventure and hope that you are truly happy. Even though we'll be in separate countries from you guys, we won't forget you." He lifted his glass a little higher into the air. "To Kari and TK!" the others stood up with their glasses echoing Iori's words "To Kari and TK!" They all clinked their glasses together, Takeru and Hikari murmuring their words of thanks. Hikari looked up at her blonde beau and grinned; she felt his hand snake around her waist gripping her to him.

"So Ms. Yagima, this is your last chance to be rid of me because after we step on that plane you're stuck with me." She smiled, touching his cheek lightly.

"I think I can manage a little chaos from time to time. I think the real question is; can you handle it?" He stroked her now-long brown curly hair, grinning that delicious smile making her stomach do flips.

"I'm pretty sure together we can do anything." With that, he leaned down covering his lips with hers in a soft kiss and with that Hikari was reassured in that moment that they could do anything.

Author's Note:

Alright, there you are! I hoped you liked the ending. Please review and tell me what you thought. Seriously I want to hear what you thought of the story, plotline, characters, progression, grammar, spelling… The whole shebang! Thank you all for being so supportive! :D

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Love always, FunkyMonkey