Disclaimer: No, I don't own Digimon. If I did, you'd know. =)
Notes: YAOI! KISSING! TAITO! CUSSING (a little)! Koumi hints! If you don't have "Marjorie" figured out yet, you're... ::shakes head:: Why'd I choose the name? Marjorie Simcox? I needed something that was VERY un-Yamalike. It took me a long time to come up with it, too. ::grin:: R&R, if you wish. :)
"Marjorie! Wait up!" Tai exclaimed, chasing the blonde across a field. It had been two weeks since the mail order brides had arrived. Izzy had gotten together with Mimi. But they did look cute together and worked perfectly.
Suddenly she stopped at the edge of a mountain. Tai slowed down and stopped beside her, trying to catch his breath. "There's something I really need to talk to you abou-"
Then she took off again, right up the mountain. "Oh god," Tai muttered. How long was this girl going to RUN? He had followed her everywhere before, into some situations that he'd rather NOT have been in. But truth was, he would follow her anywhere... He had known that the first time he had looked in her eyes.
Tai was brought back to the present when he tripped over a rock and fell. She turned around and looked back, stopping momentarily before hurrying on again. Tai jumped back to his feet and ran faster. Damn, did this girl run!
Suddenly she dissappeared into an opening in the mountain side. Tai slowed down to avoid falling, although he had been here before. He didn't want to get any permemant injuries.
Tai turned a corner into the light to find her sitting on a rock over. He silently sat down beside her. "Marjorie," he muttered.
"Tai," she said softly, turning vulnerable blue eyes towards him. He had never seen her like this and it almost scared him. What could be so painful that she had to always hide her emotions?
"Marjorie," he said calmly looking into her eyes, "I love y-"
"I've been lying," she said quickly, turning away from him. "To you. To everybody. Even Mimi, to an extent."
"But that doesn't change how I feel," Tai said, reaching for her hand.
She jerked it away from him, shaking her head. "Tai, I'm envious of you. You always- you aren't afraid for people to see what you're feeling- you're you."
"But you are too, Marjorie, I lo-"
"You love a lie," she spat. "My name isn't Marjorie Simcox. It's Yamato Ishida."
"Well then," Tai smiled. "I like that name a lot better. It suits you." Yama...
She smiled, shaking her head softly, resting her chin on her knees, her arms wrapped around her bare legs. Tai had always been amazed by her ability to wear short dresses... It was very strange, but definitely attractive. The men loved it, the women didn't.
"But that's not all, Tai," she said. "You won't feel the same... after you know..."
"Try me," Tai said. "There's absolutely NOTHING that can change the way I feel, and think." And I know, Yama, I KNOW.
She smiled, actually smiled, and said, "That's one of the things that I love about you. You don't care what everyone else thinks." She let one hand rest on Tai's face. He shivered but didn't falter. "Tai- I feel the same way... about you... I can't help it... You're like a damn magnet, attracting the helpless..." she paused and pulled his face towards hers, brushing theirs lips together. She pulled away just a centimeter and whispered, "Tai, I'm a guy."
Tai blinked. But... Yama... a guy... It was possible, anything was possible, but why would he dress up as a girl... and he said he loved Tai... That was... great!
Yamato sighed, shaking her-his head.
Tai grinned. "I'm glad... That you like me... Because I'd still like you," he said.
Yamato frowned. "But- you're a guy, and I'm a guy too. It just wouldn't work."
Tai kept grinning and said, "So? You said you liked me, I believe your exact words were that I'm a 'damn magnet.' That means you LIKE other guys. So, what if I like... both? Because I certainly like YOU still, and YOU'RE a guy."
Yamato sat still, hands clenched - not because of anger, but because he was losing control.. of his emotions. He shook his head. "Tai- I didn't WANT this to happen. Damn, I thought that when I told you I was a guy you'd run away."
Tai looked only faintly amused. "First of all, you've got a gutter mouth that needs to be cleaned. Imagine what the preacher would say. Secondly, I thought it was you that said I wasn't afraid to be myself, love the people I love. And even IF I stopped loving you, which wouldn't happen, I wouldn't stop being your friend."
The blonde smiled. "Tai, I just wish I were like you. Live a happy, peaceful life with my friends and family and," he blushed just a little, "the people I love, and not be afraid to be myself. To not have to hide. From anything."
"Yamato," Tai said, "you don't have to hide. You can be yourself. What are you so afraid of?"
"No... You just don't understand," the other boy said, shaking his head.
"Then help me understand, tell me what happened," Tai said gently but firmly.
Yamato shook his head. "I-I don't know... I've never told anybody everything that happened... I just don't know."
"You don't have to tell me now, if you don't want to," Tai said. He didn't want to force the other to speak. Whatever it was, it had to be terrible and Yamato would tell him, sooner or later. Tai would just rather it be on the blonde's own time and not feel forced to speak.
Yamato smiled. "No, you have a right to know and I need to tell somebody and I'd rather it be you."
Tai smiled back, glad to have Yamato's trust.
"Okay, here goes," Yamato said, his eyes glazing over, returning to a time when he had not known the childish big haired genki young man... "My mother left my father when I was seven. TK, my brother who was three at the time, was took by my mother and I stayed with my father. However, he wasn't too well off and spent all the money that he did have on alcohol or some other drug. Most of the time he didn't come home when he got drunk but when he did he- was violent and didn't have any self control. When I was nine I got a job to help pay for the bills, but somehow, my father got a hold of a lot of my money. It kept getting worse and worse... For some reason, I hoped that my father would be arrested and I would be sent to an orphanage, or even living with my mother would be better. But it didn't happen. Something else did." He paused, sighing. "I used to hang out with some other kids... I was quite popular. Girls loved me, they all wanted to date me, and I had some great friends. One of them would even let me play their instruments. I loved to sing and play music - it was the best thing in the world to me. I could play and pretend I was someone else, somewhere else. Time would fly by. Time did fly by, but then it seemed more like each day was an eternity - at least when I wasn't with my friends. I didn't go to school either. My father didn't see any since in paying for my education. The only way I learned was through my friends. Not like it mattered much anyway. There was ways that one can get money without an education." Yamato paused a look a pity flooding over his features, more likely for his younger self. "I didn't understand why it was happening to me..."
He took a deep breath and looked out at the hillsides. "I hadn't thought that it could get worse... But it did. I was twelve, almost thirteen. My father was really deep in debt to everyone, or most people. That was when he came. The man I would come to dread everytime I saw him. My father and he got along very well- I didn't understand. He looked all rich and fancy and there was my father- exactly the opposite. A week later, a week from my thirteenth birthday, I came home from work to find all of my bags packed. My dad said I was leaving and that someone else would have to deal with my shit from then on, though granted those weren't his exact words. He said I wasn't worth the money that was being payed for me. I had no idea what was going on, except that I was getting away from my father. It was great. Perhaps- perhaps I was being adopted into a new family? I was pretty close, but not right. For a week I lived at his mansion, totally oblivous to the situation around me. On my thirteenth birthday, exactly a week after I moved in with him, I discovered what I was there for. I was dressed in some "sexy" nightgown, bathed in nice scents and perfumes. He said he was "gentle." Fuck! I wondered what he did to the others if he was gentle with me. Or perhaps he was lying and told that to everyone? Possibility. And the others weren't much help either. They were content to stay. Or maybe they'd rather stay than to run away and find out what would happen if he ever found them again. From then on, I had been certain that the whole world was out to hurt me, that I'd never be loved, or held. Yes, I wanted to be held. Maybe it was because of what had happened to me, who knows? It was there that I was taught- how to read, write, all those other things you do in school. I had special tutors. He said it was because I was special, I was his 'favorite.' He would call me his 'Pet.' And that was supposed to be good! I just wanted to leave... And four years later I found a chance to escape. I still wonder how I did it, thinking back on all the horror stories I had been told about what he did to runaways. That's why I didn't want to be found," he said, stopping and turning misty blue eyes to me.
"I just don't know - now that it's all out... I just want to curl up and cry... all my life I've wanted to, but never could. I never could cry, not when I fell and scratched myself up, not when I got hurt bad, not that night on my thirteenth birthday... I do, remember... One time, when I was seven years old... My parents were fighting... over TK. They both loved him- but neither wanted me, they said so, over and over... I cried, hard, I couldn't stop... TK... said that HE wanted me... I was his brother and he'd always love me," Yamato said, biting his lip. "After the divorce, I never saw him again. I heard that mother got married to some rich man. But never saw either of them... That one time was the last time I'd cried. I'd promised myself, that I'd be strong, for myself and TK. I didn't need to cry. It was just a weakness. Emotion was a weakness. Or so I told myself. Now... I don't know what I think anymore."
"Yamato..." Tai said when he was sure that the blonde was finished. He really didn't know what to say, truthfully he had never been in a situation such, he had always had an easy life with parents and a sister who all loved him, and lots of friends. He took a deep breath. "Yamato, emotions aren't a weakness. They're a strength. Imagine what we'd all be without love, kindness, consideration, even greif and fear. I can't imagine a world full of no emotion and I don't ever want to see it like that." He smiled. "You're not emotionless either, Yamato. You love, and hate, and hurt, just like me. I'd understand if you have to leave. I mean, I know you probably will have to. But I do love you, and always will, and if you ever need anything-"
"Tai," Yamato interrupted, "I want to stay with you."
"What?" Tai asked, confused.
Yamato shook his head, smiling. "Just what I said, stupid." Before Tai could say anything the blonde pulled him close and closed the distance between them, placing his lips on the other's. Tai felt himself relax and wrap his arms around the blonde. Yamato slowly unbottonded his shirt, planting light kisses on the brown haired boy's neck.
"Here?" Tai asked, groaning in responce to the blonde's mouth. He could feel Yamato giggling softly against his skin. "I guess that's a yes." He couldn't keep a grin from his face. Life was so perfect.
Bite. "Ouch. What was that for?" Tai asked, rubbing his neck.
Yamato grinned slyly. "You were gone. I don't want to be the ONLY participant here..."
Tai blushed. "Oh, sorry..." He grinned again, reaching to the back of Yamato's dress to unbotton it. Luckily, this one was easy to unbotton. He had come into contact with quite a few that were exactly opposite...