Mistakes
by Laura Kamida
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Language
by Laura Kamida
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Language
"Izzy, you saved me..." Mimi said. "The truth is... is that I always thought you were someone special, Izzy. I always knew that you were wonderful."
"Thank you, Mimi," Izzy said. "I always knew you were special too."
"Izzy, I've been in love with you ever since we landed here in Digiworld, I just never had the courage to tell you because you've always been so reserved, so secretive... But now... I just have to tell you."
"I love you too, Mimi..." Izzy replied, stepping forward to Mimi. Mimi leaned down and kissed him slowly on the cheek, and then -
~*~
"NOOOOOOO!!!!!" Joe screamed, bolting straight up in his bed. His breath was heavy, and he looked around, as light from the sunrise spilled in through his window.
"Joe, what's wrong?" Izzy asked. He had been laying in the floor, but sat up after hearing Joe yell.
"Izzy...! When did you get back?" Joe stammered. He couldn't very well tell him about the dream he had just had... Izzy could never know that Joe was afraid of him taking Mimi away. He's 11 years old! Joe mentally yelled at himself. He can't take Mimi away! Things have changed since he's been gone. Mimi has grown. We all have... Except him. "A couple of hours ago. I didn't want to wake you, so I just came in and went to sleep," Izzy replied. "Why did you scream?"
"I had... a nightmare." Not lying. Not lying yet. Trying not to lie to his friend Izzy.
"About what? Maybe if you talk about it you can get over your fears. Trust me, it works."
"Mimi." Still not lying. Not lying yet. "She did... something awful."
Izzy stood up angrily. His eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth. "Honestly, Joe, I thought you were different from the others. They all just assume that Mimi is behind all this when there is no physical proof. I thought you loved her, Joe. Of all people, you should have a little bit of faith in her!" He turned on his heel and stormed out.
"Izzy?" Joe called. He had kept his secret, and Izzy was still angry. "What did I say?" He scratched his head and put his glasses on. One minute Izzy wants to save Mimi, not hurt her, the next he's denying she's done anything... what if he's on her side? What if that's where he went... to her hideout!?
~*~
Sora stumbled out of the hut and looked around. "Tai!" she called. "Tai!!!" This wasn't like him... he never left in the morning without saying goodbye to her... or without eating. She started to worry... but there weren't many things that Tai couldn't handle and whatever he couldn't handle Wargreymon could.
Well, wherever Tai was, the rest of Odaiba had to be taken care of... Maybe the kitchen needs straightening... she thought, hurrying off to the dining hut.
She gasped, startled, as she saw someone sitting in one of the chairs. "Tai? Oh... no, sorry Matt... I thought you were Tai."
"Yeah," Matt grumbled. He looked at her, a blank look in his emotional blue eyes.
"What's wrong, Matt?" Sora questioned, sitting beside him.
"Nothing," he said, but she wasn't convinced of it.
"Well... All right..." she said. "But... If there is something, you tell me about it, okay? Because I'm your friend and I'll help you through anything." She smiled, and he forced a smile back. "Now, I have to go cook something for all you hungry men..." She laughed lightly and stood up.
She walked away, biting her lip nervously, and straightening a chair.
Tai... Where are you? she wondered to herself.
~*~
Matt watched as Sora walked off into the kitchen, and again mentally kicked himself for what he had done the previous night: not only going into the hut that Tai and Sora shared, and not only sitting on the bed where the two of them slept together, but in addition to watching another man's "wife," he had thought about her romantically... Only his willpower and his memory of what acting on crazy split-second emotions did kept him from making a move on Sora.
~~FLASH BACK~~
The little blonde-haired boy picked up the square object which had been thrown across the room in the big fight between Mommy and Daddy. He looked at the picture in the frame, the glass shattered and falling out onto the floor below. A tear ran down his nine-year-old face as he looked at the "happy" family that was no more... beautiful, sweet Mommy, strong, handsome Daddy, young, cute Yamato, and little TK. TK was too young to realize what was going on, Yamato was not, and he would never tell him either. TK continued to think, and would always think, that Mommy was Mommy and Daddy was really Daddy and he and Yamato were brothers.
But Yamato was burdened with the truth. And so was Daddy. Some other man was TK's father. That man was long gone now, but the memory was still branded in Daddy's mind, and Yamato, although just nine, saw it in his father's eyes every time he looked at Mommy.
Mommy walked by Yamato without even speaking to him, toward the door, with little TK in one arm and a bag in the other. She placed the bag down softly by the door and turned back around slowly. Yamato spun around, and Daddy was standing behind him. He had a emotionless expression on his face.
"Mommy! Don't go!" Yamato cried, turning back toward his mother and starting to run. But something stopped him. He turned slowly and saw his father's large hand placed on his shoulder.
"Yamato, I'm sorry... But your Mommy has to go now. Say goodbye to her and TK," his father's strong voice said, bitterness evident in his voice though he tried to hide it.
The little boy's eyes filled with tears. "No, don't go! Don't go, Mommy! Don't take my baby brother away!"
"Goodbye, little Matt," Mommy said, tears in her own eyes. She picked up her bags and walked out the door, TK beginning to wail.
And little Yamato never went by Yamato again. He needed something to remember his mother by.
~~END OF FLASH BACK~~
And that was what acting upon split-second emotions did to people. His mother and father divorced and split up two half-brothers because of one small fight that caused his mother to go to another man's house that night so long ago.
Sora belonged with Tai. And Matt didn't have the right to do anything to ruin that.
Sora could see right through him -- see everything that he was feeling. She could see that there was something wrong with him... no one had ever been able to read his emotions before. Not his mother, not his father, not even TK. They would just look at him, and not be able to decipher the look that he painted on his face. The far-gone look that he had worked on ever since that day when his mother said "Goodbye, little Matt," and left him behind. The cold, emotionless look that he got from his father. He could hide behind it, tell everyone there was nothing wrong... but he didn't fool Sora. Sora knew.
"Sora!" a voice desperately wailed from outside.
Sora came running as fast as a pregnant woman can out of the kitchen and through the dining room. "TAI!" she yelled. "Tai, you came back!" she exclaimed, running to him. Matt jumped up and followed her over to the edge of the town. Joe ran over as well, and Izzy slowly walked out of Mimi and Kari's hut over to the others.
Tai picked Sora up and twirled her around gently, then put her back down. "I'm so sorry I worried you," he whispered, nuzzling his face into her neck.
"Oh, I don't care, Tai, as long as you're back, safe and sound. It's okay," she said.
"No," he declared, pushing her away and holding her at arms' length. "It's not okay, Sora. What I did was wrong and inconsiderate." He got down on his knees in front of her, and she looked down at him, astonished. "Please forgive me, Sora. You've made me happy for all these years, and what do I do in return? Things like this that worry you. I can't believe I left you and the baby here while I went off." He gently kissed her stomach. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'll never do anything like that again."
"Oh, Tai... Of course I will forgive you," she said, lovingly running her fingers through his hair. Tai slowly stood up and turned to Matt.
Matt felt something... he wasn't sure what... some unsettling feeling, deep in his stomach. It was... as if Tai knew what he'd been thinking last night and was going to confront him about it.
"Matt," he said slowly, "You were right before."
"Huh?" Matt questioned, confused.
"Before, in the dining room, when you said I was stupid. You were right. I am stupid. I --"
Matt was incredibly surprised by this heartfelt gesture. "No, you're not stupid, Tai. What I meant was --"
"No, Matt it's true," he said. "I'm stupid, irresponsible, and incapable of being as good a leader as you deserve. But I will try my best from now on to be the best leader I can be." He extended his hand to shake, and Matt took it, feeling a pang of regret in his stomach.
"You are a good leader," he said simply. "You may make rash decisions sometimes, but sometimes that can be a virtue."
Tai nodded slowly. "Thank you." He turned back to Sora and kissed her passionately. She kissed him back, unintentionally breaking it by smiling widely. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," she replied.
Again, Matt's mind shifted back to the feelings he was having before. They had to get home. He had to find love. Love like this... he needed it. Love like Sora had for Tai. He wanted a girl... a woman... to love him like that. And to get that, to get home, they had to go and find Mimi... and kill her. To him, love was worth it. Love like that was worth anything. Even defying the Crest of Friendship.
"All right," Matt said, a hint of anger within his voice. "We have to go find Mimi's hideout... find TK and Kari... and finally get all this bullshit with Mimi over with."
Izzy expelled a breath of air angrily. "Fine then, go off and destroy someone that you don't even know is alive, much less know is guilty!"
Matt turned angrily to Izzy. "We know it's her, Izzy. We have the proof!"
"All you have is circumstantial evidence. You've got no hard core proof!"
"We have all the proof we need, Izzy. I'm sorry if you're in love with Satan, but you have to stop denying what we all know!"
"SHE'S NOT SATAN!" Izzy yelled furiously, tears forming in his eyes. He charged at Matt full speed, crashing into him and sending the both of them falling to the ground.
"No, Izzy, Matt, don't!" Sora cried.
Izzy futilely tried to punch him, but Matt held him back, and eventually pushed him off onto the ground.
"Listen!" Matt said roughly, pushing Izzy down by the shoulders.
"Matt," Tai began, grabbing Matt's shoulders.
"Tai, I can handle this," Matt argued, shaking him off. "This little one here just needs to stop acting like he can save Mimi and that we're the bad guys and she's some angel. He needs to understand that destroying her is what's best for all of us." He looked back down to Izzy, who was struggling beneath his strong hands, with a frigid look in his icy blue eyes. Izzy refused to look back. He closed his eyes, and a tear slowly fell from the corner of each eye and slid down the young boy's face. "Look, Izzy," Matt continued calmly, "we were all friends with Mimi. Not one of us wants to see her dead. We all want to see her just as perfect as she used to be, but it's just not going to happen. So get over it and help us work as a team... please, Izzy."
Izzy slowly nodded his head, still keeping his eyes closed. "Whatever's best... for the team," he said, his voice cracking.
~*~
Izzy wiped the tears from his face... He hadn't wanted to cry in front of the others... but the tears just naturally came to him... There was nothing he could do. His love for Mimi was apparent to the others... and they would probably think that he couldn't be trusted: that he was loyal to Mimi. And it was true... If he could help it, he would not hurt her... He would protect her in any way he could.
He took slow, deep breaths. Matt stood up and helped him to his feet. "I'm... going back to the house," he said slowly.
"Who's?" Joe asked softly.
Izzy looked at him strangely. "Yours..." he replied. "Who else's?"
"Mimi's, maybe?" All of the other Digidestined looked over to Joe. "I mean... I just thought... Well, to tell you the truth, Izzy, I know where you went with Kabuterimon. You went to Mimi's hideout, didn't you?" Izzy tilted his head to the side. "I mean... we all know that you want to protect Mimi... but I think that maybe... I mean... what I'm trying to say is... Are you helping Mimi?"
"What?" Izzy asked incredulously. "I have no idea where Mimi is! And if I did, I would tell... all of you..." he began to drift off as he wondered to himself whether this was really true or not. He would want the problem to be resolved... but would he risk Mimi's life to do so? He felt a sick feeling in his stomach with his indecision.
Joe looked at him... It was a cold look. He didn't believe in what Izzy said. Well, I don't even believe in what I said, Izzy thought to himself. Why should anyone else? It wasn't that he was on Mimi's side... it was just that he wasn't against her.
The others all looked at Izzy too, as if to say, Well? What's going on?
Suddenly the group heard the faint buzzing of wings...
Just like Lillymon... Izzy realized slowly. I'm just like Lillymon.
~*~
Takeru shook Kari awake. "Kari, Kari... we have to get out of here. At the very least, we have to hide until Lillymon brings the others. We can't stay here... Mimi will be back."
"Let her come back," Kari said bravely. "In fact, I hope she comes back," she continued, baring her teeth fiercely and holding her fists up. "Let her take her best shot. I'm ready for her. I'll stand and fight."
Takeru lifted an eyebrow. "Kari... This isn't like you... You like to think things through... But now... you're starting to remind me of... Tai..."
Kari smiled, and in her eyes, he saw the ambition and determination of her older brother. "Good," she said. "I'm going to be like Tai. I'm going to take charge and take a course of action... because no matter what happens, that dream will not come true. No matter what I have to do."
Takeru smiled... The smile came so easily, so freely... because he was so happy with Kari. There was something about her... something in the way she walked, something in the way she stood, something in her deep, caring brown eyes... something that drew Takeru to her like a moth to a candle in the dark night.
He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. She turned to him, a bit startled, but then smiled. Her smile made him feel good, like nothing was wrong in the world.
"I think we need to talk," she said.
~*~
"Something's gone wrong. The effect isn't the same as it used to be. The magic wears off too soon... I think that there's some outside force affecting the power I have..."
"Yes, Master, I've noticed the same thing..."
"I wish I knew what it was so I could destroy it... I need this power... otherwise my goal will fail! Every piece of the puzzle needs to be present for me to overpower the Digidestined!"
"Perhaps... great and powerful Master... perhaps..."
"What!? What is it!?"
"Perhaps it is love."