Here it is. Slight Taito again. I know I said this would be up in like five days, but then I realized that the last part (and this part) are kinda short comparatively and I decided to post these two at about the same time. Anyway, please R+R. I'm going to think you don't want me to continue this if you don't review.
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em, never will either.
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Tragedy: Part 3
Some time later Matt and the others finally arrived at camp. It was inside of a rather large cave so they could get out of the rain, which was still coming down in relentless cascades.
The humans dismounted and the digimon de-digivolved back into rookie form.
"I'll carry Tai." Joe said to Matt.
"I got him." Matt said almost gruffly. The tone in his voice was a mix of sorrow and guilt with something that almost sounded to Joe like jealousy, but he dismissed it.
Not wanting to upset Matt, Joe backed off.
Matt hooked one arm around Tai's back and another under his knees and began to carry him as he had done before.
They hadn't even walked ten feet into the cave before the others spotted them.
Kari and TK were the first to approach. They had both been anxiously awaiting their brother's return. Unfortunately, Matt was leading the pack with a battered and bloody Tai cradled in his arms.
Kari gasped as the others came up beside them.
"What happened?!!" she practically screamed.
Matt couldn't speak. He gave her an apologetic look and walked past the distraught girl to set Taichi down on the ground. Everyone else stood looking at Joe and Sora, waiting for some kind of an explanation.
Joe, however, followed Matt and set to work trying to help Taichi as best as he could. This left Sora trying to explain something that she knew only fragments of.
"Sora, w-what happened t-to Tai?" Kari choked out.
Sora looked at the girl. She was only eight years old. She shouldn't have to go through this. Sora kneeled next to Kari and rested her hand on her shoulder. She spoke softly and tenderly, but loud enough so that Izzy, Mimi, TK, and the digimon could hear her too.
"He was hurt Kari." She started. "Some digimon attacked them and Tai was hurt when they tried to fight."
Kari looked a bit puzzled.
"B-but if T-Tai was…was hurt that bad then why is Matt okay?"
It was a question asked out of innocence, but it was also a question that caused pain. Sora glanced up and noticed Matt, who was still within earshot, visibly shudder at her words.
Sora thought carefully about her response and then decided to tell Kari the truth. There was no use in hiding it from her. She took a deep breath to continue but before she could someone else spoke up.
"He did it for me…"
Everyone turned to look at Matt. He was standing next to Tai. His fists clenched and his head pointed downward, trying to hide tears.
"They were attacking me. I-I couldn't defend myself…there were too many of them. Tai…he-he saw that I was in trouble and he protected me. He took a-all of the attacks…h-he…I…I'd be dead now if he hadn't. I just know it." Matt's voice was broken by sobs. "I-I did this to him…it was my fault…I'm so sorry Kari…"
Everyone stood there, sympathy in their eyes as they waited for a verdict to be passed by the bearer of Light.
Slowly, after seeming to wait an eternity, she began to approach Matt. He didn't move. Matt promised himself that he would take anything she threw at him. All those words of hatred that he expected to spew forth from her mouth, all the tears…he wouldn't even care if she hit him. Hell, he wouldn't care if she killed him at this point, he deserved it and he half expected her to, but to his surprise she did none of those things.
Matt looked on in awe as Kari ran and threw her arms around his legs, crying into his stomach.
"I-It wasn't your f-fault Matt. I know it." She told him. "I don't know what happened out there, but I do know that Tai considers you a friend ('more than a friend' she thought) and he is a very good judge of character."
Matt kneeled down and embraced Kari. The two of them crying together.
"Thank you Kari." Matt whispered to her.
"I just…I know you would never hurt Tai, Matt. You two have been through too much together. Here and in the real world."
Matt half-smiled, half-winced as memories came flooding back to him.
"Matt." Joe called, snapping him out of his trance. "I need help with Tai."
Matt nodded and immediately left to help.
Joe kind of took charge after that. He was fueled by the need to help his friend and he knew what had to be done for him so he set the others to work too.
Matt helped him hold Tai up when he needed to wrap bandages around him or when he needed to inspect his wounds.
Sora kept busy by constantly replacing the cool cloth on Tai's forehead, a vicious fever had already sprung up and it wasn't doing much to help the ailing boy's condition.
Mimi was sent to retrieve all the blankets she could find. Although they had dried Tai off as much as they could without injuring him further, his body was still unbearably cold.
Gabumon, who was watching over both Matt and Tai, thought that it was strange. Here was Sora working to keep Tai cooled down and opposite her was Mimi who was trying to warm him up.
Agumon sat by Gabumon, as out of the way as he dared. He and Gabumon were still looking after TK and Kari just as much as they were their own humans. The boys had told them to protect their younger siblings and since both were kind of out of it at the moment, they still carried on that responsibility.
Izzy didn't know what to do so he did the only thing that came to his mind; he worked on his computer. He thought that maybe he could find something that would help Tai on a medical website or something.
TK and Kari were not allowed to help. It wasn't like the others didn't trust them, they just didn't want them to see more then they had to so they were sent a few meters away from the commotion to play with the remaining digimon, though they didn't feel much like playing. Neither did the digimon.
It went on like that for a good two hours.
As Matt helped Joe hold Tai, he happened to glance up at Gabumon and he immediately regretted it. Gabumon's fur still had a stain of red on it. Matt had thought that it would've disappeared when he de-digivolved, but it was still there, haunting him like a ghost.
Before another thought could cross Matt's mind, he felt Tai begin shaking in his arms. Not like he had been before, but much more violent.
'Oh no…not now…' Matt knew what was happening to him.
He glanced down. Tai was jolting back and forth uncontrollably as a seizure tore through his body.
Joe realized what was going on too.
"Hold his head still Matt!" Joe yelled, panic gripping him. "Mimi, Izzy, Sora, get over here now!"
The others came at his frenzied call each gasping as they saw what had him so upset.
"Hold his arms and legs!" Joe commanded.
They all complied as the digimon and TK did their best to hold a frantic Kari back.
Matt wrapped his arms around Tai as tight as he could. Tears leaked from his eyes for about the hundredth time that day. He thought he had cried more today that he had in his whole life. He closed his eyelids and just kept whispering into Tai's ear as he had done before in the real world.
"Just be okay Tai…you're not alone. Just be okay…"
To be continued…
Did you like it? The next part will consist mostly of a flashback to Matt and Tai's childhood. It should prove to be quite interesting. I can't wait to see where this goes! Even I don't know yet. The next one will more than make up for the shortness of these two chapters. I thought about splitting it, but I figured that I might get too many death threats. Please R+R if you want more. ^_^