Ch.3: Sora

I skid around the corner, that I remember so well. The white porclein floor
underfoot was slippery, but at that moment, I didn't quite care. I rounded a corner,
feeling the old aliveness in my legs spring to life again, making me feel like I was still
12, still safe, still innocent, still a kid without worries except for grades in school and
soccer games and a troublesome best friend who always beat me in soccer. I always gave him
what for afterwards, but that didn't matter right now. I threw out my right foot as I
rounded another corner, and almost slipped. Almost tripping a nurse with a cart full of
blood samples, I mentally told myself to be a little more careful. My red hair streamed in
my face, so I almost couldn't see, but I brushed it out of my way as I leaned down to steady
my balance on the floor without slowing down. It was the exhilaration, the pure adrenaline
that pumped through me like a tidal wave that kept me going. Senses long dead for so many
years came back alive, and I surged forth another burst of speed, looking at my destination
up ahead. Just then the door opened in the hall, the door I had been striving for. I
knocked the doctor head over heels, and we both hit the floor, me on top. We flew about 10
feet, hitting the bed. The white doctor's robe splayed out on the white floor, almost
transparent because of its similar color, but a patch of shoulder-length of black/indigo
hair. A glassed face peered up at me, and recognized me, not saying anything but flopping
back down. Hastily I lifted myself up and held out a hand to him. All the other occupants
of the room stood up at this, and as I helped the doctor to his feet, they gathered around.

The doctor shook his head ruefully, but didn't smile. "Sora, this is a HOSPITAL,
for heaven's sake. DO be a little more careful."

I tried to smile, but instead it turned into a frown. My lips trembled, and I
ignored the warning with another question, "Joe...what happened to Tai?" The doctor looked
surprised at my instincts, but I pressed on to the pristine bed behind him. My eyes
worried, I looked him over, and was a little frightened to see his head wrapped in a
bandage, his cheek with gauze strapped to it, his arm patched up in a splint, but other than
that, I could see nothing wrong with him. Wordlessly, the others pulled up a chair for me.
A face swam before me in my sea of tears, and I recognized the light brown hair and
vermillion eyes. Kari gently set me down in the chair Ken provided, and all of us stood
silent, pensive, tense, waiting for something to happen. Finally the tears took control,
and I silently cried, praying to God, if there even was one, if there was even some mercy,
some decency in this world that I lived it, that he would be alright. He looked so pale, so
unlike himself, lying in that bed. I didn't like seeing him so helpless. Sure, I had seen
him sleep before, but this was different. He was PALE, contrary to the dark skin that he
was usually tanned in from being out in the sun so much. His brown hair was held up by the
bandage, but I could see the unruly bang that fell down between his eyes, and flopped up and
down when he ran. It was just like him, to be like that. It almost brought a smile to my
face, but the happiness was crushed by that white skin, so stark and white that I almost
cried.

Wrong. I was already crying.

Finally I dried my eyes, and forced my voice not to tremble too much as I spoke.
"What happened?"

Kari touched my shoulder gently, looking at her brother, taking his appearance in.
I could see the same frustration running through her mind, just like mine. After a little
while that seemed like eternity, her soft voice answered, tinged with a bit of regret. It
was clear that she wanted to take part of the blame, but just like all other incidents, I
was sure she was not the one to blame.

"Wakarimasen. I don't know. All I know that is when I was over at Yolei's, our
crests and digivices started to glow strangely, like if it was too weak to give out light
anymore. Both of us knew that something was obviously wrong by that weakness of the glow,
so we called the first person we could think of. That was Izzy." Out of the corner of my
eye, I saw Koushiro give a small confirming nod, and I knew that they were sure about this.
Kari continued. "He was on his way to Matt's apartment, where Tai and Matt were both
staying. Apparently, Matt had gone out to buy groceries, or something like that, and Tai
was left at home. When we got there, the door was flung wide open, and there was strange
smell in the air. It made all of us nauseous, so we backed out, and dialed as many of the
rest of us as we could. After a while, we realized that we should call the rest of the
retired DigiDestined as well, which included you. We called you, but you weren't home,
Sora." She smiled a little weakly at me. "Sorry, but we had to run a trip to the hospital,
dropping me off at my house to get your cellular number. I called you, you came here."

I could have screamed, but that wouldn't have been like my normal composed self, so
I said, "No. Where did you find Tai?"

Her eyes pained me for a moment, then her voice quivered as she spoke, and her tears
filled her eyes temporary before falling onto me. "Tai...Tai was sprawled out on the
concrete at the top of the building. He was desperately trying to reach for something, and
was screaming Matt's name at the top of his lungs, then we saw this blue portal, the color
of Matt's crest. It swirled before our eyes, and then it just gathered itself up and
disappeared. But we turned out attention to Tai, who was still trying desperately to reach
the spot where the portal was. Unfortunately, if you've noticed, the apartment complex that
Matt rented his apartment in was more than 20 stories high. We almost lost Tai then, he was
about to throw himself over the edge." She smiled weakly, and then she broke down
completely, her eyes shut and her face hidden from the rest of us by her hands which
anguishedly clutched at her face. "Sora", she half-wailed, half-lamented before burying her
head in T.K.'s arms. The boy held her, and for once, Davis didn't complain about it.
"Maybe it was a good thing you didn't see it, Sora. He looked horrible. He was crying, and
with his arm broken, he couldn't get up, and he didn't seem to be able to see us, only that
disappearing portal. He seemed like he was desperately trying to do something, and just
before he passed out, I saw something that shocked me, and surprised me at the same time, in
a good way."

My eyes were asking, pleading enough for her to continue.

"His DigiVice has turned into a D3 as well. Cody brought Matt's. Matt was nowhere
to be found. We called every number he had ever given us, including all the cellular ones,
his pager, his house, everything, but he just wasn't anywhere. There's nothing we can do,
Sora. Matt's gone, and we had hoped that this time, it would be just like last time, just a
false alarm, but it doesn't seem like that now. It's really true this time; Matt's not just
gone, he could be dead, and without Gabumon to help him, I don't know what he'd be at, or
anything like that..." She just broke down and cried, and Takeru gently held her, rocking
back and forth slowly. Davis didn't say anything, just looked at his idol, sleeping
silently on the bed. He, just like the rest of us, couldn't believe that Tai, one of US,
the UNBEATABLE ones, was on the bed, helpless, unable to wake up. His face suddenly grew
fierce, angry and determined, and I knew he had come to a conclusion on what to do. Good,
I mentally congratulated him, you've finally decided to do something about it. But don't
we all? What can we do now? He realizes, he's the leader of all of us now? Tai's not here
anymore to lead us experienced ones, so now he's in charge of all of us.

What will he do?

The figure on the bed stirred slightly. Everyone's attention was suddenly riveted
on him, all of them urging him to awake, to open those sparkling brown eyes that laughed and
danced, mocking and friendly all at once. He was the soul of our little group, the elder
soul that guided the younger ones in the right path. Without him, where would we be?

Nowhere, I told myself. Tai's part of us. He can't afford to die, or else...
I didn't want to think about that prospect at the moment.

And what about Matt?, I asked myself as well. Was he part of the group as well?
Was he part of us? Was he as important as Tai?

No, came the answer. He wasn't, but he still was part of the team. Just not as
important.

There was nothing else to be said, for at that precise moment, Tai awakened.

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Author's note:

This fic is coming along nicely, if I must say so myself. You'll see what all this
is leading to later. Just to clear up a few things...the disk Gabumon had? Well, it said
Matt was dead, right? And Gabumon died telling Cody he would find something. Mysteriously,
Matt came back, alive, and realized that Gabumon had been tricked into going into the Real
World. Remember, when Digimon go into the real world, they lose some of their little
'happy' side of them. Gabumon lost too much at once, coupled with the pretense death of
Matt, and he just couldn't take it anymore and let go of his life. Matt had indeed been
captured, but that was all. The captors had wanted Gabumon to suffer because of his close
friend, not Matt. Perhaps, in a roundabout way, they hurt Matt as well, because Matt lost
Gabumon anyways. Sorry this chapter is so short.

Andrea Weiling