Malfunction?

by Penpusher

Re-submitted because it disappeared! This is definitely Taiora - or is it Sorato? Or Sorshiro? Or even Jyouora? Read and find out. And dont' forget to review - I need the encouragement.

8. Chapter Eight - Epilogue

Malfunction?

Chapter Eight – Epilogue

"What did he mean 'I'll be back'?" asked Taichi. They had finally escaped from the volcano with the aid of the two flying ultimates, Garudamon and Megakabuterimon, who discovered the central chimney (long extinct) and literally air-lifted them out. The Arachnamon had offered no resistance – indeed, they had disappeared into hiding almost immediately Metaldevimon had been despatched – and the digidestined had managed to find the cave they had camped in on the way up. There they had quickly devoured the remaining food and had slept for a whole day and night, too tired to set watches or worry about being attacked. On awakening, there seemed to be general agreement that the sooner they put a lot of ground between them and the Arachnamon the better, but this time they travelled by more conventional means - feet. It was on this journey that Taichi asked his question.

"Yeah," agreed Takeru, as they trudged onwards, "We thought we'd got rid of him when he was Devimon – no offence to you, Patamon – but we hadn't, and he came back even stronger as Metaldevimon. Frankly, we'd be hard pressed to get rid of him again as Devimon, but if he were to come back as anything stronger, I really don't think we could be as lucky a second time." Taichi looked around the others.

"Izzy?" he said, suggesting that perhaps the redhead would be able to shed some light on the situation. Izzy shrugged.

"Obviously, Devimon backed himself up in some way before Angemon kicked him into Never Land. The question is, how long does it take him to become reactivated. I guess its been about four years since the last time we beat him, so I think we can probably count on at least that amount of time, if not more. But I really can't be sure."

"How about asking Gennai." Yamato suggested. Taichi made a rude noise.

"He'll probably just tell you he forgot, then fade out claiming to be on a tight schedule. Forget Gennai, forget Devimon: this looks like what we're searching for!" It was mid-afternoon, and they found themselves on a small beach fringed with trees and other undergrowth. The cliffs behind the beach boasted a number of small caves, one of which was large and dry enough for the girls to sleep in, or for them all to shelter in if it rained. Matt checked on the high tide mark - it was well below the line of the caves – and Gomamon located a number of rockpools from which he was busily catching their evening meal. Taichi nodded in satisfaction.

"I think we should stay here a few days, if the weather holds out." He announced to general agreement, "We need a good rest after dealing with Metaldevimon. Let's set up camp." The others scattered, busying themselves on reconnaissance or foraging. Sora, wandering down the beach ostensibly looking for driftwood, but in reality enjoying the late sunshine, was joined by Joe. He was looking slightly uncomfortable, as though puzzled by something he didn't really want to talk about. Sora was amused.

"Sora," he began, awkwardly, "Were you aware of anything between, well, Mimi and Matt?" Sora glanced back at the rest of the group at the campsite and watched the distant figure of Mimi detach Matt from the rest on some pretext or other, and lead him unresisting into the bushes. Probably to pick berries or something, she mused, at least, that'll be her story! She turned to Joe.

"Well, Joe, I suppose I knew Mimi liked him – I've guessed that for a long time – but I really couldn't tell you how Matt feels about it." Joe shook his head in wonder.

"It completely escaped me – I had to ask Kari." Sora's eyes twinkled.

"Kari, huh?" For some unexplained reason, Joe found his face feeling warm.

"Yeah, she, uh, laughed at me for not realising." Sora couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"For not realising about Mimi, or about someone else, Joe?"

"Huh?" Joe stared, his face suddenly the colour of coral. No, wait a minute. Sora glanced down to see her Crest busily emanating its rosy glow once again.

"Oh, goodness!" she exclaimed, "It's doing it again. I suppose I should be grateful, but it really does crop up at the most inconvenient … Joe?" She looked up at him. Joe's face was a picture of conflicting emotions.

"Sora, your Crest." He began, helplessly, "You look … why haven't I noticed before? You're …" He didn't finish as she backed off determinedly.

"Save it for Kari, Joe; this thing's doing me no favours at the moment." She sprinted off into the trees and stayed there until the glow had subsided. While she sat in silence pondering, it occurred to her that this strange new power her Crest was exhibiting was going to be an almighty nuisance. It seemed to work every time she was alone with a guy - and the guys seemed to respond immediately. Now, whilst there are probably any number of girls who would give anything to have that sort of power, even if it was a little inconvenient at times, Sora was not one of them; at least, not in the somewhat restricted social situation of digiworld.

"What am I going to do?" she wondered. She had no answer.

Eventually, the light of the Crest of Love died down, and Sora made her way cautiously back to camp. On arrival, her heart sank as she observed Taichi in his aggressive arguing stance, but she became even more worried when she saw that the subject of his annoyance was not, as was usually the case, Matt but Joe.

"Whaddaya mean, it had some effect on you? C'mon Joe, spit it out. It's important." Joe was looking embarrassed, mortified and slightly frightened. Sora's heart went out to him: she stepped into the ring of people.

"It's okay, Joe." She said soothingly, "Tai, just calm down." He grabbed her shoulders as if he would never let her go.

"Sora, what is this about you and Joe? What's your Crest got to do with anything? Why won't Joe just tell me the truth?" Sora considered taking Taichi quietly aside and explaining, as best she knew how, what the problem with her Crest had been, but as she glanced round the expectant group and her eyes rested on Izzy, Joe and finally, with most pain, on Yamato, she realised that she owed them all an explanation, not just Taichi. She gave a small sigh.

"I suggest we get a fire going and some fish cooking first, or we could be very hungry and cold tonight by the time I've finished."

"I doubt we'd be cold – the meteorological conditions are very favourable – but I take your point about the food." Sora smiled secretly at Izzy's mannerisms and busied herself building a fire. Soon the fish were roasting on sticks and Mimi and Kari were sectioning some kind of citrus fruit to accompany it.

"Okay, Sora," said Taichi, determinedly, "Let's have it." They all looked at her. The girls' and Takeru's faces were interested but impartial, poor Joe was already squirming, Izzy looked apprehensive, but Yamato was his usual cool, unflappable self. Only the sky-blue eyes betrayed uneasiness as he flashed a glance in her direction then looked away. Don't worry, Matt, she thought, reassuringly, I'm not an idiot. She opened her mouth to begin. Abruptly, the embers of the fire shifted aside and, through the flames, a column of light arose. Inside it seemingly floated a very old man with a braid of long grey hair.

"About time." He snapped, irritably, "I've been trying to get through to you for days. Where have you been?"

"Gennai!" they chorused. Taichi grinned.

"Hey, Gennai," he began, "We've been kind of busy, ya know? Like rescuing Sora and Matt from the Arachnamon, and beating the pants off Metaldevimon."

"Well, that's no excuse for failing to keep in regular touch." The old man was not impressed, "A simple email would have sufficed." Izzy protested.

"But Gennai, we were underground. I tried several times, but either the link wouldn't work that deep, or your system was down!"

"Excuses!" The old man brushed Izzy's explanations aside, "Now, if you had remembered to keep me posted as to your doings, I might have been able to save one of you a great deal of inconvenience. Sora, my dear: your Crest if you please." He turned towards the astonished girl, holding out a holographic hand.

"Wha- what?" was all she could manage. He snapped his fingers impatiently.

"Come on, come on! Don't you want me to fix it for you?"

"Fix it?"

"Of course! Haven't you noticed – or rather, haven't the boys noticed – that the Crest of Love has been performing in a very peculiar manner lately? Glowing at odd, unpredictable times and having the very strangest effects?" The digidestined looked around at each other, for once lost for words. Joe and Izzy flushed to the roots of their hair, Taichi stared at them with a mixture of horror and indignation, Mimi and Kari exchanged glances and started to giggle, Takeru merely raised his eyebrows and looked towards his brother Matt, who did not return the eye contact. Then Sora rose shakily to her feet. Her face was as white as a sheet and her legs trembled beneath her, but she clenched her fists hard at her sides and the look in her eyes was almost venomous.

"Are you telling me," she began in a low, dangerous voice, "That my relationships with two of my friends here have been totally disrupted by this – this thing malfunctioning?" She would have waved the Crest of Love in Gennai's face, had his face actually been there and not a hologram. "Do you mean to say that it is this malfunction which has caused me to be unable to look – certain people in the face again?" Yamato could have sworn Gennai was trying hard not to smile, but he couldn't be sure of it.

"Don't forget, young lady, that this particular malfunction saved your life and the lives of your fellow digidestined. Without that singular distraction, you would never have been able to destroy Metaldevimon. He was one of the most powerful evil digimon you have ever encountered, and all of your combined abilities would not have been sufficient to defeat him under any other circumstances."

"That's not the point and you know it!" raged Sora, her face now red with fury, "I mean, how dare you set me up with this thing, just so that I – "

" – would end up saving yours and everyone else's lives, you mean? Was that such a bad thing? Is that what you mean?"

"No, of course not. What I mean is – Oh, I don't know what I mean!"

Unexpectedly deflated, Sora sank back down to the ground. Mimi and Kari suddenly couldn't hold back the giggles any longer, and once Takeru caught Mimi's eye, he joined in the laughter. Izzy's face let on that he could see the funny side, and Joe, and even Yamato, also allowed themselves to smile. All except for Taichi. He leaped to his feet.

"Well, I still don't see the joke." He snarled, "I don't think it's at all funny that you've all been chasing after my girlfriend." He turned on his heel and stomped off into the woods, his abrupt exit only increasing the laughter. Sora turned to Gennai.

"Now what?" she said, quietly. Gennai had the grace to look a little shamefaced.

"I daresay you will be able to smooth his ruffled feathers, Sora; that is, after all, one of your major talents." He muttered, then "Now, give me your Crest – unless of course you want to have this kind of mindblowing effect on every guy you meet?" Hastily, Sora hung her tag on the end of a stick and extended it through the flames to Gennai. The Crest started to glow, getting brighter and brighter until all the digidestined were shielding their eyes. Then the light subsided, leaving it looking much the same as always. Sora retrieved it and hung it back round her neck.

"Well, that's settled." Gennai said, "Now, I feel my connection fading. Don't forget to write, will you? But I suggest a few days off to recuperate: this seems a nice spot, reasonably protected, and you really did work very hard over the past few days, I will admit. See ya, kids." The column of light folded itself away into nothing, leaving the humans and digimon scrabbling to rescue their fire and their dinner. Sora gazed anxiously into the trees after Taichi, but felt obliged to finish serving the meal before she went in search of him. Izzy brought his fish and fruit over to where she was serving and sat down near her. He smiled rather hesitantly.

"I have to admit, I'm rather relieved that the events just before we encountered the Arachnamon have now been discovered to be as a result of mechanical malfunction rather than organic over-excitement." He began, "I mean no offence to you, Sora, but it's just not in my nature to be so impulsive, especially with a girl who is not only someone else's girlfriend, but a person whose friendship I value and would sincerely regret losing. I apologise for my behaviour, Sora. Even though there is now a plausible explanation for it, I would like to have your forgiveness all the same." His dark eyes were wide and serious. Just for an instant, Sora found herself imagining what it would be like to love and be loved by Izzy. Then she came back down to earth with a bump: sure, he was cute, but there was no way she was going to spend her life surfing the Internet – forget it!

"Forget it, Izzy." She smiled, "You're my best friend, apart from Tai. Let's not let something as silly as this drive us apart, huh?" He smiled in relief and squeezed her hand, before being summoned to adjudicate an argument between Patamon and Takeru on the capabilities of his laptop. Mimi and Yamato were helping each other to clear away the remains of supper. Sora looked at the left over fish lying at the side of the fire, took some large leaves and wrapped three of them as neatly as she could manage. She caught Kari's eye.

"I'm going to search for you-know-who." She told her, "I'll try not to be too long, but please ask Biyomon to keep an eye out for us." Kari nodded briefly, going back to her conversation with Joe. Sora cocked an eyebrow, but made no comment.

She took off slowly into the forest, looking for signs of recent hurried departure and on finding them, set of in a generally easterly direction. It wasn't long before she found him, lying on the widest, lowest branch of a large tree, chewing on some grass and frowning.

"Tai!" she called. He ignored her. "Tai, I've brought dinner – you can't go all night without eating." There was a pause, a crash of branches, then Taichi landed athletically on his feet no more than a metre in front of her. He took the proffered bundle, frowned at it and glared at her.

"I can't eat leaves – what the heck's this?" She sighed inwardly and took the bundle, unwrapping the leaves.

"It's fish." She said, patiently, "The leaves are just there to keep them clean – and warm." She added. Grudgingly, he grunted thanks and sat down underneath his tree to eat. The food seemed to penetrate through Taichi's bad mood; as his stomach registered the arrival of some fresh raw material, he began to thaw out, but he wasn't yet remotely mollified.

"So, what was it like, making out with Joe, huh?" he asked, rudely. Sora shrugged.

"How would I know?" she returned, coolly, "You'd know as much about that as me." He acceded her point.

"So who else was there, then? Takeru, Izzy, Matt?" Sora felt her stomach clench at the mention of Matt's name: they were getting very near to perilous waters. She maintained her expressionless demeanour.

"Which one do you want first? Would you like a blow by blow account of exactly what we did, to the last millimetre? Or would you be satisfied with generalities without getting down to the details?"

"Don't play with me, Sora." Taichi's anger abruptly melted away and his shoulders slumped over the remains of his meal. He looked up at her, his huge brown eyes suddenly vulnerable, and she felt her gut twist with pity.

"Don't make fun of me – I can't stand it. I need you so much, there's only ever been you for me – I never even thought about other girls. I just can't handle the idea of anyone else … being with you. Even thinking about Joe having ideas just freaks me out, never mind Izzy or Takeru – or Matt." He was approaching dangerous ground again. Sora smiled gently, and put a hand on his arm.

"Tai, I told you not so long ago: it's you I love." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I've always loved you, even before we came to the digiworld when we were only eleven. I'm not likely to give that up for the sake of a – well, the malfunction of a piece of machinery, now am I?" He looked up, astonished.

"Before we came here? You loved me then?" She nodded, grinning.

"I adored you." She acknowledged, "You were the reason I first started to play soccer - although I quickly realised the game had merits of its own! But it was mainly to get near you that I joined the team, you know." Taichi stared, absently wiping his oily hands clean on the leaves, then reached out and touched her cheek gently.

"I can't do this without you." He said in a low voice, "I'm only fifteen, and I've been trying to save two worlds for four years. What do I know? We've been unbelievably lucky, but one day something's going to go seriously wrong, and someone's going to get hurt or dead. I can't cope with that sort of responsibility, unless you're there to love me and keep me going." Sora gently kissed the hand that stroked her cheek.

"I'll always be here for you, Tai." she replied softly, and then in an unexpected switch of accustomed roles, she leaned over, took him in her arms and kissed his lips gently. Taichi tried to respond in his usual whirlwind fashion, but she held him at arms length shaking her head, a wicked little smile playing about her lips.

"Uh, huh. My turn to call the shots this time!" He looked puzzled, but obediently waited for her to make her move. Sora's ideas of making out were rather different from his own, Taichi was beginning to realise, as she started to kiss him again, gently nibbling his lower lip, caressing his mouth with her darting, quicksilver tongue. She pushed him down in the grass, continuing to stroke him with unbelievable delicacy and lightness. He had never felt anything remotely like this before, and although he was relishing every moment, there remained a building threat that he would lose control altogether. Finally, awkwardly, he pulled away and lay, just holding her, looking in amazement at her familiar, beloved face.

"Whoa! Oh, man, let me get my breath back!" Sora giggled. Taichi stared at her.

"Where did you learn to do that?" She shrugged.

"It comes naturally – you just never gave me the chance to do it until now." Sora hastily crossed her fingers behind her back. "Didn't you like it?" Taichi grinned.

"Sora, it's fantastic. I never realised it could be like that. Will you do it again? Sometime soon?"

"Now, if you like." He quailed slightly.

"Later – for two reasons." He arched eyebrows queried him.

"The first is that, well, frankly with this kind of treatment, I'm gonna need advance warning if I don't wanna lose it completely. You've seriously got me going tonight, you witch, so you'd better just give me some space to cool down, if you get my drift!" Laughing, she hugged him. Thank you, Matt!

"And the second?" He grimaced, ruefully.

"It's my first watch, so I'd really better get back to camp before everyone decides to turn in."

They walked back into camp hand in hand to a chorus of whistles and catcalls from the boys. Sora blushed and smiled, and Taichi threw handfuls of leaves and sand at their grinning faces.

"Okay, okay." He said, sheepishly, "Enough said, now just keep away from Sora's Crest in future, will ya?"

"Absolutely!" said Joe, with feeling, "That's a good idea. I like that idea a lot!" Kari, who was sitting next to him, giggled softly and whispered something in his ear. Joe turned bright red up to his scalp, but did not look displeased. Sora observed Mimi, who was sitting nearby, shyly put her hand over Yamato's. He smiled at her, and turned his own hand over to hold her fingers. Sora sighed, mostly with relief: at least that one was progressing normally, although given time she suspected that Kari could make a good relationship even with such unpromising material as Joe. She looked over at Taichi affectionately as he went about checking the watch rota, making sure the fire was banked, everyone was present, etc.

"I'm just going to walk on the beach for a short while before turning in. I won't be long." Taichi nodded as she rose to walk away. Sora felt she needed some space of her own on this fairly momentous day.

She had walked a little way down the beach to watch the sun set, and was now standing, skimming stones across the shallow water. When she heard the sound of someone approaching, she straight away assumed it was Taichi and swung round immediately – but it was Yamato. Abruptly, all her calm and self-possession vanished, and she turned away in confusion. Yamato stood by her side for a minute or two without saying anything, then he took a breath.

"Tai was wondering about you." He said, quietly, "He sent me to make sure you were alright. Gives me the opportunity to speak with you, though, so it's not all bad." Sora turned to look at him. His blue eyes were deep purple in the sunset.

"Matt, I – " She was almost panicking. He put a hand on her arm and left it there.

"Sora, let me speak." His voice was quiet, unthreatening. "I came to offer my thanks to you for keeping quiet and not rocking the boat. If Tai knew that we – well, that I had come under the influence of your Crest at this time, he'd freak out good. I don't think we could continue working together as we do now under those circumstances." Yamato paused.

"And I've also come to add my apologies to those of Izzy and Joe, but I suspect I've a good deal more to apologise for than either of the others." Sora's cheeks were a dull red, and she stared at the ground in embarrassment. Matt lowered his voice.

"The simplest thing in the world would be to lay all the blame on your Crest for what I nearly did to you back there. Something happened to the thing – maybe Gennai engineered it so that we'd have some faint chance against Metaldevimon, I dunno – anyway, it's effect was unbelievable, and if Izzy hadn't managed to contact us just at that moment, well …" Wordlessly, he spread his hands wide.

"Look at me, Sora." Matt took her gently by the shoulders and turned her so that she was facing him. Reluctantly, she raised her eyes to his.

"Sora, I know you love Tai." He continued, "I also realize that he loves and needs you very badly in order to function properly as our leader. He's got to be good at the job, otherwise we're dead, and his support group has got to work. However, I of all people know that he isn't the easiest of guys to be with, and if you need a friend, Sora, I'll be here for you." His gaze was steady. "I can't put it any plainer than that." Sora stared back with wide eyes for a while, then she began to speak.

"I do love Tai, that's true." She began, carefully, "I can't remember a time when I didn't love him, and without my love and support, he's not going to be able to lead us as well as he should, that's also true. As for what happened between us, Matt, everybody knows that the glitch in my Crest was responsible." Losing her courage, she trailed off, swallowed, began again.

"What I'm trying to say, in a brainless kind of way, is that while we are in the digiworld, the Crest can be the only possible reason for our - involvement." Yamato looked at her sharply.

" You mean …" She cut in quickly.

"I mean there can be no other explanation for it – while we are in the digiworld." She looked at him steadily until he nodded thoughtfully and dropped his eyes. There was a pause while they both absorbed what had been said. Sora smiled.

"Well, Matt, do looks deceive me, or are you and Mimi together now?" Yamato did something rather unaccustomed: he blushed.

"Well, y'know." He began, awkwardly, "I'm not really sure how it happened, but it feels pretty good at the moment." He looked up.

"I'll take you back to camp now." He said quietly, and gestured for her to precede him.

They didn't talk much on the short walk back along the beach. Yamato appeared to be pondering something, Sora was calmly reflecting on the events of the past few days, and every now and again she smiled gently to herself.

I'm sure relieved it turned out to be my Crest that affected the guys so – so strangely, and not just me! I guess Joe will find it difficult to look me in the face for a while, but Izzy seems to have coped with the revelations admirably. And Matt? Oh, yeah – Mr. Supercool. Did he really mean …? But he's with Mimi now, so surely he couldn't ... Oh, aren't relationships complicated – I guess it's part of growing up. I have to wonder where he learned – well, everything he knows. And who from, 'cause it certainly wasn't me calling the shots back there in our cell. But I owe him some thanks: if it hadn't been for Matt, I would never have known that there could be another way different from Tai's. Perhaps that'll help us in the future, or maybe Matt will … but that's something I'm not going to deal with right now. Right now there are two worlds to save, and I need to play my part in that as best I can!