Chapter 38: Covered by Darkness
Guten Tag. I'm back from Germany to give you this largish update. I'd like to say a big thank you to Lilly the Omega Wolf, Stuart444, Kal-El Fornia, Atariel Tsukai and an anonymous reviewer for leaving reviews and feedback on the last chapter and The Sky Turns Black battle as a whole. I'm really glad that you enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the fight that have now set up the rest of this story.
I don't own Digimon or any other copyrighted things that I might mention in this chapter or the story as a whole. I'm thinking of leaving disclaimers out of future chapters because it's a bit pointless for me to repeat myself at the beginning of every chapter, don't you think?
Kari slid her large pink top over her head and placed her arms into the sleeves. She pulled the hem down and felt the cotton fabric covering up her bare chest and stomach. A yawn escaped her lips as she paused for second before pulling the hem down over her tight fitting sweat-shorts. There was no way that she would allow a repeat of the last time Dragomon tried to kidnap her during her sleep when she was wearing nothing but her underwear.
Another yawn escaped as she sat down on the edge of the bed that she would be sharing with TK while they stayed at the DPD headquarters. After collecting their things, the Digidestined had rushed to the base to hide from Dragomon's advancing army. They were now completely surrounded and the whole of Tokyo, along with some of the surrounding areas, were covered by a gigantic dark cloud. It also stretched out over the ocean for hundreds of miles. The city was now crawling with Deep Ones and evil Digimon, and the Digidestined were stuck where they were for the moment.
Kari had to force her eyelids to stay open because she had never felt as tired as she did at that moment. The adrenaline from the battle had now worn off, leaving her with nothing to keep her going. It had managed to get her through packing all of her clothes and some other important belongings during the retreat back to base, but she felt like she was going to collapse again when she and TK took a shower minutes ago to warm themselves up and clean off the dust that covered them. Kari's whole body ached from the fatigue and she had no idea that it was possible to feel so drained. She had very high levels of stamina and was a rather athletic girl so she wasn't entirely sure why she felt so tired when she could normally run for a few hours. The only thing that she could think of that could explain her exhaustion was that using the power from her crest like she had done in the battle had somehow drained her energy too.
Her eyes glanced around the small room that she was in. The door to the small ensuite bathroom was open and inside was nothing fancy, just a toilet, sink and shower for her and TK to use. The bedroom itself was dominated by the double bed, wardrobe, two desks and a bedside table each. It was very basic and, given that they were underground, it didn't have any windows. That thought made Kari wonder when she would see the sun again.
She didn't dwell on that unpleasant thought as her eyes fixed onto Gatomon and Patamon. They had turned one of her suitcases into a make-shift bed by taking out most of the clothes and using some of her towels to create covers for themselves. The two Digimon had done that as soon as they arrived in this room and had fallen asleep soon after. They were now cuddled up together in their little bed and Kari wished that she could fall asleep just like them, but there was one thing that she wanted to discuss with TK first.
Her gaze fixed onto her boyfriend as he used a blow dryer in the bathroom on his wet blonde hair. Kari noticed that his shoulders were slumped and that his movements were rather laboured, so she guessed that he was probably just as tired as she was at that moment. After all, he had been sprinting around and fighting the Deep Ones in hand to hand combat by her side with his crest at full power for just as long as she had. That made her concentrate on what she wanted to talk to him about.
TK turned off the blow dryer and joined Kari sitting on the edge of their bed. She took this as her chance to tell him her thoughts. "TK, I think that we should avoid using the powers of our crests unless we really have to use them. I just don't feel comfortable with someone else knowing everything I think and having access to all of my memories and thoughts."
The blonde teen turned to face her and nodded his head as he sighed. "Yeah, I think you might be right."
"It's not that I don't trust you, TK," Kari added, feeling that she had to make sure he understood her reasoning. "You're the only person I could trust with them and I'd have hated it if it was with anyone else other than you. However, it did feel like an invasion of my privacy, if you know what I mean."
"It feels like a violation and the only way I'm not completely freaked out by this is because it's your mind that was connected with mine. I trust you not to do anything harmful to me with all of my memories that are now copied somewhere in your head," TK ran his hand through his hair before continuing. "I've got loads of your memories in my head and I'm just glad that we don't keep secrets from each other otherwise this could have been a lot more awkward than it already is."
"I don't think I've ever felt so ..." Kari paused for a moment because she didn't really want to use the word violated as well, but there was no other way to describe it. TK had been able to hear her inner most private thoughts and she had been able to hear his too. They had both infringed into one another's privacy and neither of them liked it.
"I know," TK spoke up so that she didn't have to finish the sentence. "I feel the same way as you do about it. You can check my thoughts about this during the battle and you'll find that they are exactly the same as yours. So yeah, I agree with you that we should only combine the power of our crests when we really need to, like when our lives are in danger or to save our friends or someone's life. I'm willing to let you back into my mind if it will stop someone from being hurt."
"Yeah, me too," she nodded in agreement and she knew that what her boyfriend was saying was true. After all, he was right, their minds were linked and she knew that his thoughts on this matter were exactly the same as hers, but she still had to express them verbally just to make sure. "You know that I'd do anything to save you."
The couple smiled at each other, knowing with absolute certainly that their unconditional love was completely reciprocated by the one person they loved more than anything else in any world. Another yawn suddenly forced its way out of Kari's mouth and she moved to lie down in bed. However, she paused when she noticed that TK had now turned away from her. His shoulders dropped as he stared at the floor between his feet. Kari didn't need to be telepathically linked with her boyfriend to know that something else was also bothering him.
"What's the matter?" She asked as she crawled over the bed to his side. The brunette girl rested her chin on his right shoulder and wrapped her arms around his bare chest. She desperately wanted to sleep, but she could wait a little longer if she could help TK with something.
"I failed," TK sighed as he continued to stare at the floor. "Tokyo has been invaded by Dragomon's army and lots of civilians died when those dark clouds began forming. It was my job to make sure that didn't happen. My bad decisions and poor leadership also nearly got us killed on more than one occasion. We might have been able to do something about the creatures in the dark clouds that formed if I hadn't decided to rush off to the first place that was attacked. If I had decided to go straight to the strongest point of the dark energy then we might have stopped them from occupying Tokyo. If we had paced ourselves when we used the power of our crests then we might have been able to stop either that fog or continued to hold off the invasion force long enough for Tai to do something. I'm a terrible leader and I ..."
"Shut up, TK," Kari spoke softly and playfully poked his cheek. "You know that isn't true. You were able to read my thoughts on your leadership so you should know that everything you said just then was a lie. Just because your leadership style isn't the same as Tai's or Davis', it doesn't mean that you're a bad leader."
"But ..."
"But nothing," Kari stopped him from cutting her off. "There was nothing that any of us could have done about what happened otherwise we would have done it, so stop doubting your decisions and blaming yourself for the outcome of the fight. We all agreed with you that going to Fujisawa was the best thing to do at the time and that there was no way to stop the monsters inside those different dark clouds that formed on the edge of Tokyo before they covered the whole city. There were too many of them for us to do anything. How were six of us supposed to deal with over ten separate attacks and still hold off the main invasion force? It's just not possible."
TK placed his face in the palms of his hands. "There has to have been something that we could have done."
"There wasn't anything and good leaders, like you, know when it's best to retreat to live and fight another day. If you had ordered us to go off and deal with those attacks on our own then we would have died, so by retreating like we did saved our lives." Kari gently tightened her embrace. "We may be deep inside occupied territory now but we survived to fight another day, which means that we can work on a plan to retake Tokyo. We did the best we could in the situation that we found ourselves in."
"But I still made some bad decisions that nearly got us killed by Deep Ones," TK mumbled into his hands.
Kari groaned before pulling her boyfriend down onto the bed. He moved his hands away from his face as she climbed on top of him and pinned him down. She stared straight into his sapphire orbs to make sure that he understood that what she was saying was the truth. "I don't think you did and I'm sure the others don't blame you either. As I've said several times already, you did the best you could given the situation. Do you really think that what happened would have been any different if Tai or Davis were with us? What could they have done to stop those Megadramon from attacking Zudomon, Grapleomon and Ankylomon? Nothing, they wouldn't have been able to do anything different. We still would have had to use our crests to save everyone, and I'm pretty certain that the others would view it as us saving them and not you nearly getting them killed."
TK opened his mouth to reply but Kari stopped him. She placed her lips up against his and kissed him. She locked her mouth with his and closed her eyes. He eventually kissed her back and she kept it going for a few seconds before pulling back and staring into her boyfriend's cobalt orbs once more. Kari smiled before telling him her final thought on the subject. "No more buts. I don't really want to have to join the powers of our crests together so that we're telepathically linked again. However, if that's what it takes for you to freaking see sense, and everyone else's view on your leadership, then I might make an exception to the agreement we just made. Now let's get some sleep because I'm knackered."
TK pursed his lips before he chuckled. "I guess you're right. Besides, I don't particularly want you mind raping me."
"I don't particularly want to mind rape you either," Kari replied while keeping her smile on her face as she climbed off him before getting under the bedcovers. She chuckled too as she watched TK join her in bed. "But if I really have to do it to make you realise how wrong you are then I'll do it."
TK arched an eyebrow as a smile slowly formed on his lips. He rolled over to face his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her close to him. "That's a bit extreme don't you think?"
"We'll you're being extremely stupid with your completely illogical and dumb reasoning," Kari replied as she rolled onto her right side and returned the embrace. She kissed him once more on the lips. "Good night."
"Good night," TK smiled before he closed his eyes. Kari closed hers too and before she knew it she was fast asleep.
Matt took a sip of his strong black coffee as he and Sora walked into the Digidestineds' room in the DPD headquarters. He was surprised to see so many of his comrades still awake because it was past five in the morning and they had been up all night battling Dragomon's army. His eyes scanned the room, searching for his brother but TK and Kari weren't around. What Matt did notice was that everyone was slumped in their chairs and staring at the floor.
He couldn't blame them either because he felt as down as they clearly were. With all of Tokyo now occupied by Dragomon's army, the Chosen were going to stay in the base so that they could stage a counterattack from within the evil fog. Matt felt like they had failed to do their job to protect people and save their lives. He didn't exactly know how many were lost in the battle out at sea when those ships had been destroyed and he didn't know how many were lost when the fog formed around the edge of the city. Matt didn't really want to know either because evacuating civilians were caught up in those attacks as the fog enveloped the whole of Tokyo.
Matt realised that his head and shoulders had dropped too so he took a deep breath and pushed those negative thoughts aside for the moment. He rescanned the room as he and Sora took their seats. Tai was slouched in his chair at the head of the room with Agumon by his side. Joe, Yolei, Ken, Cody, Noriko, Keiko, Davis and their Digimon were sitting at their desks without exchanging words or even a glance. To say that their morale was low would be an understatement.
"Where's TK?" Matt asked, breaking the silence that he assumed had hung in the air for quite some time. "Is he ok?"
"He and Kari have gone to bed," Noriko sighed as she glanced up. "Which is where I would be if I could sleep."
"They're probably asleep and I wouldn't wake them after the amount of energy they exerted during the battle," Joe stated emotionlessly before yawning. He then glanced in Matt's direction and forced a smile. "Doctor's orders. I don't want them collapsing again."
"They're probably ignoring your orders and banging each other senseless," Davis chuckled. "They're joined at the hip and all."
"I doubt that. They were nearly out on their feet. Both TK and Kari used up a lot of their energy slowing down the attack and keeping us safe," Cody glared at his friend. "Besides, this is a very inappropriate time to even say something like that given everything that's happened."
"Kari and TK can be a very inappropriate couple at times," Yolei huffed as she continued to stare at the floor. "They kiss at ridiculous times and their public displays of affection are usually really over the top. It can be cute at times but it gets really annoying at others, especially when they sneak in kisses right in the middle of a battle."
Davis' smirk began growing. "So they probably are banging each other ..."
"I don't want to hear about my little sister's sex life," Tai harshly cut them off. His fists clenched as he glared at the younger Digidestined. "I don't want to know about what she and TK get up to in the bedroom at the best of times and this is not the best of times."
"Sorry, Tai," Davis gulped as he gazed meekly at his friend. "I was just trying to raise our spirits because we're ..."
"You should've listened to Cody about how inappropriate it is to discuss something like that at this moment in time," Tai cut him off again. "It's not funny. Thousands of people have died and millions are homeless now that Tokyo is occupied."
Matt took another sip of his coffee and sighed before silence filled the room once more. Everyone was on edge and needed cheering up, but he doubted that now would be the right time to crack any jokes. Davis' failed attempt at humouring everyone was enough evidence for that. He guessed that it probably would be best to try to raise morale once everyone had rested. They were obviously tired and upset and looking for somewhere to release their frustrations.
Joe yawned again before breaking the silence. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. Good night."
"Me too," Cody stood up with Joe. "There's no point in trying to come up with a plan to retake the city when I'm too tired to think. Sleep well everyone."
The others muttered their replies as Joe, Cody and their Digimon left the room. Everyone fell quiet once more, except for the occasional yawn, as they thought over everything that had happened during the battle. Matt glanced to his right at Sora as she took a drink of her hot chocolate. He could tell just by looking at her that she was drained and in desperate need of sleep. The strong coffee in Matt's hands wasn't enough to stop his eyelids from feeling heavy and he realised that Joe's idea was actually a rather good one. However, there was one important thing that he wanted to say first.
"I'm going to get some sleep too," Matt began as he glanced around and stood up. He felt it odd that he was the one going to say this because it was normally someone else like Tai, Sora or Izzy who would point out a fact in this manner. "But before I go to bed I want to remind everyone of what we've actually managed today. A lot of people, probably over ten thousand people, might have died and Tokyo has been taken over by Dragomon. We are trapped inside the DPD base and we aren't entirely sure if we can fully trust them, but that doesn't matter. We are alive and survived to fight another day despite the overwhelming odds against us."
Matt paused for a moment to look each of his friends in the eyes. "We were split into two teams and we still managed to make sure that none of us died, but more importantly we managed to make sure that a lot of innocent people survived this invasion today. We managed to hold off Dragomon's army long enough for over ten million people to escape and survive. Yes, they may be homeless, but what really matters is that they are alive and that they still have a chance of coming home one day."
"Matt's right," Sora sighed as she stood up too. "We did the best we could have done. We were only two groups of six fighting armies containing of thousands of Digimon. The fact that we managed to hold them off long enough for over ten million people to be evacuated from Tokyo while surviving ourselves is a miracle."
Noriko rubbed her eyes as she yawned while slowly walking down the corridor towards the Digidestineds' room in the base. She, like she assumed all of the others did, had followed Matt and Joe's lead and gone to bed. However, as soon as she closed her eyes, the images of Deep Ones swarming towards her earlier replayed and merged with memories of the time the Deep Ones overwhelmed her team. Their screams filled her mind and, after less than five minutes of sleep, her dark brown eyes were wide open once more. Noriko had tried to go back to sleep after that but the same thing happened again.
She felt exhausted and her whole body ached. Her injured arm in particular was rather painful so she had decided to go and look for her sling, which she had left in the Digidestineds' office. It was more of an ache than actual pain Noriko was feeling in her arm and she put it down to not using it over the last few weeks. She had also had all of her bandages replaced after they had become drenched while she and the others were running and battling the Deep Ones in that thunderstorm.
Pausing to take a sip from the hot chocolate that she had picked up from the kitchen that the Digidestined shared, Noriko glanced down at her right arm. She knew that she would end up with scars from the deep gashes but at least they were healing fine. Her eyes glanced at her yellow t-shirt that hugged the curves of her chest and she was glad that the cuts under the fabric and bandages were also healing and wouldn't leave her with any lasting problems. However, if her nightmares were anything to go by then the mental scars would probably take a lot longer to heal.
Noriko took another drink from her mug before she continued down the hallway. Her mind began to process what had happened over the last twelve hours during the fight. The memories of her shooting those Deep Ones and killing them jumped straight into her mind. Seeing them drop to the floor gave her a measure of revenge and vindication for killing those associated with the monsters that murdered her friends. However, that wasn't enough to give Noriko any peace because she knew that the only way that she would truly feel like she had avenged the lost of her team would be when she and the other Digidestined had defeated Metalseadramon and Dragomon. If that meant killing thousands of Deep Ones that were like those who ambushed her team then she was perfectly fine with that.
The loud bang of something hitting a table brought her out of her thoughts. She was close to the door into the Digidestineds' office and she thought that nobody would be left in there because they had gone to bed. It was nearly seven in the morning and the Digidestined and their Digimon had been up fighting all night, so they were knackered. Noriko expected everyone to be fast asleep, just like Elecmon was back in hers and Keiko's room.
"Tai," Agumon spoke quietly before sighing. "You should get some sleep."
Noriko paused at the door, wondering whether she should go in. She didn't want to interrupt anything private between Tai and Agumon. The memory from the hospital and the knowledge that Tai felt guilty about the lost of her team suddenly flashed into her mind, making her wonder if he felt responsible for the loss of life during this battle too. She wondered if the guy who she considered as one of her heroes, since he and other Digidestined rescued her from Malomyotismon, was frustrated about what happened. Noriko knew that he had done everything he could to stop these attacks, but it still wasn't enough because they couldn't do anything about what occurred in the end. There were just too many evil monsters and those ambush attacks on some of the evacuating people was too much for twelve of them to handle.
"I'm fine," Tai groaned. "I don't feel like getting any sleep."
"Hey," Noriko spoke softly as she entered the room. "Can't sleep either?"
She noticed that Tai was resting his head on an empty desk and that his right fist was clenched shut and pressing down hard on the table. The older teen sighed as he lifted his head off the table and turned to face Noriko. Her eyes studied him as he forced a smile. His eyes were red and his hair was even messier than usual.
"Nah," Tai shook his head as he watched her walk over to her desk and pick up her sling. "I've got too much running through my mind. How about you?"
Noriko glanced down at the cup in her hand and took a sip of her drink. She didn't look up as she put her sling into the pocket of her black jeans. "I've had two nightmares in the combined five minutes of sleep I've had."
"About the Deep Ones?" Tai asked and Noriko could make out the concern in his tone.
"Yeah," she nodded her head before taking another sip of hot chocolate. The brown-haired teen walked over to Tai and sat in one of the empty chairs next to him. "I thought I was done for this time when they broke through our lines and charged at us. Kari and TK saved our lives."
"They have a tendency of pulling a miracle out of nowhere just when we need it the most," Tai sighed again and Noriko glanced up at him.
"Well Kari went and literally kicked a Deep One's head off when she was using her light. It was charging towards TK to kill him and the light around her body allowed her foot to slice straight through its neck," Noriko chuckled as a small smile formed on her lips. "It's kind of ironic given that she scolded TK earlier for joking about punching a Deep One in the face, then she actually goes and attacks one. Then she went and lead the attack into the mass of Deep One's once she realised that they couldn't hurt her."
"Really?" Tai arched an eyebrow and he laughed when Noriko nodded. "I guess I can imagine her doing that. I've suffered her wrath in the past when she gets genuinely angry and there is no better way to piss Kari off than threatening to hurt TK. I think it's one of the psychological scars left by what happened during that battle with Neodevimon."
His face suddenly darkened as he ran his hand through his wild hair. "I'll never forget that day and the state Kari was in when Matt and I reached the hospital. She was covered in blood from head to toe, some of it was hers but most of it was TK's, and she was standing there, staring at TK and crying as she watched the doctors operate on him. It makes me wondered how the families of those sailors who were killed on those boats are feeling right now."
Noriko gazed down at her cup once more as she felt certain feelings resurfacing. "They probably feel like we do about the lost of my team."
Silence fell over the room as they thought about the friends they had lost in that battle a couple of weeks ago and the people that had just died in the latest fight. Noriko took another sip of her drink as she thought about what Matt had said earlier. Over ten thousand people had died but they did manage to save over ten million people by holding off the invasion until the evacuation was nearly complete. She wished that they could have held it off just thirty minutes longer because then the evacuees wouldn't have been caught up in those ambushes on the edge of Tokyo. While it sounded good, the loss of any innocent life, even one, was still too many.
"This was supposed to be the final battle," Tai groaned and Noriko glanced to her left at the older teen. He ran his hands through his hair as he huffed once more. "This was meant to be our final stand and the fight where we put an end to the invasion and we lost. Dragomon and Metalseadramon now have control over Tokyo and huge amounts of the ocean to the south. Now we're deep within enemy territory with only the digital barrier surrounding this base stopping them from finding us."
He suddenly brought his right fist crashing down on the desk, making Noriko jump. Tai then placed his hand back in his hair and clenched both fists. "And Metalseadramon killed more innocent people. We were meant to stop him and make him pay for what he did to your team, but those damn attacks on those innocent people stopped us and we had to leave. If we didn't have to fight on two fronts then we could have stopped him. We had a good chance of defeating him every time Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon managed to team up against him, but then some ultimate level Digimon would join the fight and Metalgarurumon had to deal with them. All we would have needed was a few minutes where our Digimon could have teamed up and Metalseadramon would be dead."
Tai's fists tightened as he kept his gaze fixed on the floor. "And why the heck didn't the governments listen to us? They sent those ships into a slaughterhouse. If they had listened to me and kept their boats away then all of those people would still be alive. So many people died because they wouldn't listen. It's so stupid and messed everything up. If we didn't have to protect wave after wave of navy ships then we could have concentrated on finishing of Metalseadramon."
Putting her cup down, Noriko instinctively reached out for Tai's hands and placed hers over his. She could feel his slightly ruff skin as she tried to encapsulate his much larger hands in hers. His fists began to relax, allowing her to slide her slender fingers between his so she could lift them from his head. Noriko realised just how much bigger and stronger they were as she placed their hands on her knees.
Heat began rising in her cheeks as Tai made eye contact with her. She realised that she was holding the hands of a guy whom she considered to be a hero while staring straight into his eyes at the same time. Noriko couldn't help but gaze into those deep brown orbs that were staring right back at her.
Her heart began racing as she studied his handsome face and it was then that Noriko realised where her mind was going. This was how she always comforted her friends so why should it feel different when she treated Tai like this? Why was he making her feel this way? She quickly pushed her thoughts about his looks to one side and forced the warmth in her cheeks to go away. Noriko took a deep breath and thought of what she wanted to say to him.
"There was nothing that we could have done differently," she said softly as she kept staring into his eyes. "We did everything we could to stop the invasion but there was only twelve of us capable of fighting and we had to split up. There was no way we could have won against an entire army like that. We had to do what we did to hold off the invasion so as many people could be saved as possible and your team did their best to protect those boats. All of the governments and leaders in the navies didn't know what they were dealing with so they naively kept sending ships in, thinking that they could win. There was nothing we could do about that."
"All those people that died because nobody would listen to us," Tai sighed as Noriko continued to study his face. "All of those people died on those boats and in those dark mists. Think how many thousands of people would have survived if the various navies had listened to us? The death count wouldn't be over ten thousand if they had listened."
"While I do agree that the loss of any life is one too many, I also agree with what Matt said earlier. Think of the positives. Your decision to evacuate Tokyo and the way you had us fight this invasion did save over ten million lives," the brunette girl replied. She found it a bit odd seeing Tai so angry and frustrated about something out of his control and she guessed that his tiredness must be a factor. "If you hadn't told TK to stay here then we wouldn't have been able to hold off the invasion of Tokyo long enough for the majority of the people to escape. If you hadn't gone out to cover the ships evacuating the people from those islands then they would have been killed by Metalseadramon. If you hadn't persuaded the Prime Minster to evacuate Tokyo then over eleven million people could have died in this invasion. We did our part as well as we possibly could have."
Noriko gently squeezed his hands and rubbed the top of them with her thumb as she continued. "There was nothing we could have done to stop those navy ships from interfering because the governments just wouldn't listen to what you or Mitsuo were saying. We tried our best to stop them but they ignored us. There was nothing that any of us could have done about the dark clouds that formed in the areas that weren't fully evacuated either. It wasn't like we could have split up and dealt with a cloud each because that would have gotten us all killed. We are still alive and able to fight on and that's what matters the most."
She smiled softly before finishing what she felt that she had to say. "Besides, I think that history will portray you as a hero for the decisions that you've made over the last twenty four hours. It'll show the leaders of the navies to be idiots too. The only bad idea you've had is staying awake right now when you clearly need sleep. How can you expect to come up with a plan to retake Tokyo when you can barely keep your eyes open? If you were a member of my team, I'd tell you to get some rest right now so that you can think clearly when we plan our counterattack."
Tai didn't respond but Noriko could see that he was thinking over what she had said. He took his time and eventually answered her. "I guess you're right. I am rather tired and I think I might be letting my frustration and anger cloud my thoughts at the moment. I've only had about four hours sleep over the last few days. I'm still pissed off about not being able to stop Metalseadramon and this attack and at the governments for not listening."
"We all are, Tai," Agumon chipped in. "But, like Noriko said, we won't be able to do anything about him if we are tired. We need to rest to make sure that we can come up with a good plan to take back the city."
"Exactly," Noriko nodded as she stood up. She tugged on Tai's hands, prompting him to stand up too. She noticed that her eyes were level with his chest, but then he leaned slightly forwards so that the top of her head was level with his chin. "Let's get some sleep so that you are back to your usual confident and courageous self, so we can come up with a way to get revenge on Metalseadramon for the hell he's putting us through."
Noriko released his hands and pulled him into a hug, hoping that it would get her point across that she was doing this because she cared for him. Tai stiffened for a few moments before returning the embrace. Noriko felt his arms wrap around her as she rested her head on his chest.
"Thanks for listening to my rant," Tai whispered as he gently stroked her back.
"No problem," she quietly replied as she felt the slow rising and sinking of his chest. Noriko could feel Tai's toned muscles through his shirt and her tired mind began to wonder again. Heat began rising to her cheeks once more as she started thinking about what the guy in her arms might look like in ...
"What about your nightmares?" Tai asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. He placed his hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her hair. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Noriko could feel the warmth from Tai's body and she liked the way his strong arms were holding her. She had never felt something like this while hugging a guy before she began sharing embraces with Tai. There was something soothing and relaxing about it and his strength made her feel safe. The thought crossed Noriko's mind that she could quite easily fall asleep in his arms like this and that it would be a good cure for her nightmares. She quickly forced that idea out of her head because of the implications of what it meant.
However, the brunette teen did realise that she could focus on the feeling of being in Tai's arms when she close her eyes. Noriko hoped that would be sufficient to stop the images of the Deep Ones charging at her because she knew that she couldn't really fall asleep with the man holding her right now. She sighed and tightened the embrace. "I think I'll be ok now."
I'm not sure if I'm really happy with how I've written Tai in that last scene. He seems a bit out of character, but I wanted to make him frustrated and angry because, after all, they have just lost a big fight that the Digidestined needed to win. He is also very tired so hopefully that will also explain his actions.
Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter by writing a review in the box below and clicking post :D