Okay, chapter two

Okay, chapter two. I'm actually only writing this cuz DarkSaint is scaring me....And I quote: *turns into Upamon and starts bouncing around the room* MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!

::Shudders:: Scarey...anyway! Part two! From Tai's POV this time! :)

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I scowled at the deities as they disappeared, then turned to Matt. He smiled weakly, then passed out. I rushed forwards to catch him and smacked his face gently to try and wake him up.

"Matt? Matt, come on man, wake up. Don't kid me like this Matt, not after what's just happened!" I felt a hand grab my wrist. I looked up a saw Sora. She nodded to Matt's face and I looked back down. It was a bit red. I realised that I'd been slapping him harder and harder in my panic. I blushed and pulled my hand outta Sora's grip. She smiled. I scooped Matt up and looked at the others.

"What now?" Joe asked.

"We find a place to make camp. We need a fire and a set base." Sora frowned.

"But Matt-"

"I'm happy carrying him." I told her firmly. She nodded. We started walking again, with me lagging slightly, not because Matt was heavy, but I wanted quiet, to try and sort out my thoughts before I started thinking through them. Matt moaned quietly and shifted slightly in my arms. I tightened my grip on him. I liked feeling his body so close to mine, even in such a situation, I couldn't help it. I loved Matt. I don't know when I'd worked it out, I think I always knew it, since the first time I looked into those cerulean blue eyes on the camp bus. I guess I just didn't register it properly...well, not until I was sucked back to the real world after defeating Etemon. I realised then how much I wanted Matt to be safe. When I found TK when I got back here, Matt was the first thing on my mind. My beautiful Yamato.

All too soon, the walk was over. A fire was built and we ate. I still didn't let go of Matt. I never wanted to let go of him. He had almost been taken away from me today, first by falling down that waterfall, and then by his real parents. I glanced over at TK. He wasn't crying, he looked too upset to cry. His face was white, and he was shaking. Sora was hugging him and rocking him gently, telling him everything would be okay. Matt would be fine. TK just nodded blankly. I don't think he even heard Sora. I sighed and looked down at Matt.

I don't know exactly what happened next. I guess I fell asleep. Just that, the next thing I know, I'm woken up by something moving. I looked down to see Matt, trying to get out my grip without waking me. Guess I must've kept holding onto him. I grinned, knowing he couldn't see me. I closed my eyes again, and hugged him tighter. I heard a gasp, and smiled. This was gonna be fun. I leaned down and began nuzzling his neck through his shirt. Damn polo-neck. I felt him stiffen and heard a whimper. I sighed. Good job he thought I was asleep. I know it was mean, but I'd never be able to do this if he thought I was awake. I felt him shift again, wriggling around in my grip. Next thing I knew, I felt his lips on mine, pressing hard, his tongue demanding entrance. Well, who was I to refuse?

I'm not sure how long we kissed for. All I know is, I was the one who broke it off, desperately needing to breathe. He looked at me, face clouded first with confusion, then fear.

"Oh. Shit." He muttered. Next thing I knew, he'd broken out of my grip and was running like hell. Bastard. I did the only thing I could do, gave chase. I leapt up and ran off after him, dodging trees and ducking branches.

There was a thud, and when I caught up with Matt, he was laying on the floor, holding his forehead, tears pouring down his cheeks. I guess he must've run into a branch, which would've been funny, if my mind wasn't preoccupied. I knelt down beside him and gently stroked his cheek.

"Why're you crying Matt?" I asked softly. He sniffled.

"It hurts!" He whispered. "It hurts! It hurts!" I pulled his head into my lap and began stroking his hair.

"Have you ever felt pain before?" He shook his head.

"I don't like it! It hurts!" I hugged him.

"Sh. Sh. Calm down. Let me see. Take your hands away."

"No!" I sighed.

"Matt. Take. Your. Hands. Away. From. Your. Head." I snapped each word. He looked at me and whimpered, slowly doing what I asked. I pulled one of my gloves off and gently, very gently, brushed my hand over it. His face scrunched up in pain. I stroked down his cheek. "Sh. It's okay. It's okay. There's nothing wrong. It's just a bruise. There might be a lump there in the morning." He nodded and buried his face in my shirt. After a few minutes, I heard a muffled sound. "What was that, Matt?" He pulled his face out my shirt and rolled over, facing away from me.

"I said, I'm sorry." I blinked.

"Why?"

"Because I kissed you. I didn't mean to wake you up, but you were asleep and you were nuzzling my neck and I kinda couldn't help it." I smiled and grabbed his shoulders, turning him gently, so he was looking up at me.

"Matt, I was awake the whole time. Do you really think I would've kissed back if I was asleep?"

"But you pulled away-"

"I pulled away because it is a widely known fact that most mortals need to breathe, and, as much as I would've loved to play tonsil hockey with you for a bit longer, I would've preferred to be conscious and able to enjoy it." He looked bewildered.

"I don't understand." I sighed.

"Do you want me to explain it?" He nodded, looking so innocent it was heartbreaking. I couldn't understand how anyone could want to fuck up a creature as beautiful as him the way Aphrodite and Ares did. Slowly, I leaned down and pressed my lips against his. After a few seconds, I pulled away. He smiled up at me, and licked his lips. "You understand now?" He shook his head.

"I think I'll need a bit more demonstration." I was only too happy to oblige. When I pulled back a second time. He blinked, then stood up and made to walk off.

"Matt? Where're you going now?" He turned to me.

"Away." I stood up.

"I'd guessed that much! I'm not letting you go now! Not after I've finally found you!"

"Tai, I can't stay. Not now that TK knows I'm not his real brother."

"Matt, it's all the same to TK. He doesn't care whether you're blood related or not. You've been there for him all his life and that's all that matters."

"No, Tai! It's not! Now he knows I'm not his brother! I'm nothing but a friend to him now! I can't take that. We were separated after the divorce, so we became less like brothers, even having different sirnames, and now he knows that I don't even have the same parents as him! I can't just be his friend Tai. He's the first person ever to really need me. I need to be his brother."

"He still needs you Matt. Family isn't just in blood and names, no matter what the sayings are. He doesn't care whether or not your name is Matt Ishida, or Nellie the Singing Sealion! Family are those who love you, and who care for you above anything else and you feel the same for. You CAN choose your family, and right now, I think TK will choose you to be his big brother." Matt's eyes filled with tears again.

"Oh God Tai. What am I doing?" I went over to him and hugged him close. He buried his face in my shoulder and cried.

"Please don't wipe snot all over my shirt." I joked. He sniffed.

"Tai, why is it so hard to be mortal? I thought it would be easy, seeing as I've lived among them nearly all my life, but it's not. There are too many emotions and too many feelings. Pain, hurt. We never felt those things. What Gods wanted, Gods took. I thought I'd never feel pain worse than when my parents divorced...but now...oh God Tai...I don't know what to do."

"I'll help you Matt. I promise. I'll be there for you no matter what."

"Like family?" I choked.

"Um...no. I'm sure there's a law somewhere about us kissing the way we did. But I'll be there for you. Not as family, but as a friend. And lover. Okay?" He nodded and pulled away. He regarded me a second, then smiled.

"So, is it only me you plan on treating with these words of wisdom?"

"Huh?"

"Tai. What you've told me tonight, those are the deepest and most thoughful things I've ever heard from you. Why aren't you like that all the time?" I blushed.

"I guess it's one thing to give you pep-talks, it's another telling the others that you'll be there for them all the time, as a lover." He snorted.

"I guess."

We slowly walked back to camp hand in hand. It was early yet, so the others wouldn't have been up. We lay down together, Matt snuggled into my chest with my arms around him. We fell asleep, only to be woken up what seemed like a few seconds later by TK.

"MATT!!! Matt, you're okay!" TK squealed, throwing himself on his brother. Matt blinked, then hugged his brother.

"Yeah, Teeks. I'm fine."

"Hey Matt, how'd you get that bruise on your head?" Joe asked. I looked and saw that the red mark that had been caused last night had turned into a right big shiner. I suppressed a laugh at Matt's face.

"I...um...ran into a tree." Sora blinked.

"How?"

"It's a long story."

"We're not going anywhere." She said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at us. We looked innocent.

"Well we should be. We've gotta try find Myotismon. Otherwise we're screwed." I stood up and brushed myself off, holding a hand out to help Matt up.

We walked for most of the day, stopping only when Matt looked so tired he could barely take another step. Guess he'd never been tired either. We made camp and lit a fire, talking happily. Matt looked happier than I'd ever seen him. Izzy was pressing him with questions about what it was like to be a God and such, but Matt just grinned and told Izzy that now he was mortal, he was happier than he'd ever been. Slowly, the others fell asleep. I volenteired to keep watch first, and Matt second. As everyone slept, I lay back and looked at the sky.

The stars were beautiful. Works of art. And Matt was there. Showing the skills of whoever created such beauty. Matt was one thing that I could thank the Gods for. I loved looking at the night sky. The moon mainly. It amazed how something as simple as a lump of airless rock could look so stunning. I sighed, then sat up when I saw something streak across the sky. I blinked. There was nothing there. I got up and walked over to wake Matt up for his shift, although I was half-tempted to leave him sleeping, I know he'd kill me if I did. Besides, I was kinda looking forward to the good-night kiss.

He opened those gorgeous blue eyes and looked at me. He smiled and sat up.

"Thanks Tai. Go get some sleep now, kay?" He said, standing up and moving near the fire. I sat down next to him.

"Actually, I think I'll keep you company for a while?"

"Why?" I pouted.

"Don't you want me to?"

"No, It's just-"

"Hey there squirt!" We turned around slowly.

A boy was standing there. He looked about fourteen. He was dressed in a similar way to Ares. Only, he had a winged helmet and a pair of winged sandals on. I knew what he was immediately and scowled at him.

"Go. Away." I growled, moving in front of Matt.

"Woah there!" He said, holding up his hands. "Temper, temper!"

"Fuck off! You can't have him back!" I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Tai, it's okay. He's my friend." I blinked and turned to Matt.

"Your....friend?" He nodded, then looked at the boy.

"Hi Hermes." The boy sat down and pulled off his helmet, revealing blonde hair, like Matt's. Only, Matt's was nicer.

"Hey lil' dude. Hear tell you're mortal now."

"Uh-huh. Aphrodite took them from me."

"After he swore at her profusely." I added. Hermes grinned.

"Yeah, I heard that. Ares was fuming afterwards." He slapped Matt on the shoulder. "Well done man. I'm happy for you. You finally got what you always wanted." Matt blushed and nodded. I looked between the two.

"So, how do you guys know each other?" Matt looked at me.

"Well, all Gods know each other. There aren't enough not to. It's just, when I was with Diyonsis, Hermes was my salvation."

"Aw, you're spoiling me."

"I mean it! Everytime he heard that Diyonsis was planning on getting drunk or whathaveyou, he went over and told Diyonsis he would take me off his hands, so he could party without having to worry about me. It was Hermes who helped me escape."

"After I asked him repeatedly if he was sure."

"Well, I'm glad now I told you I was." Hermes, blinked and looked curious.

"Oh, why?" Matt grinned.

"Hermes, meet Tai Kamiya. My Boyfriend." Hermes paused a second, then whistled.

"Well, well, well. I guess this is your not-so-secret crush." Matt blushed and I scooched over and put my arm around him.

"Ah, no. That would be Sora." I scowled at Matt and he stuck his tongue out at me. He smirked, then turned serious. "What did you come here for Hermes? Much as I'd like to think that you came just to see me, I know for a fact that Zeus wouldn't let you out unless it was for a reason." Hermes' face went serious.

"Well...You know you were saying about how Zeus was looking for you and would leave us all alone once you were mortal because there was a God on the loose?" Matt nodded slowly. "Well...It wasn't YOU he was after.." Matt blinked.

"N..Not me?"

"He said that as you'd spent time with Gods, you would know how to use your powers and that you weren't much of a threat and it was up to Ares and Aphrodite to deal with you. "

"But then who-?" Hermes paused. Then sighed.

"Well, you see about the same time you were born, Artemis had a baby. She called me to her and ordered me to dispose of it somehow. If Zeus found out, she'd be shamed. I couldn't kill it. Always had a weakness for babies. So I took it to earth. I found a woman halfway through labour. The baby inside her was dead, so I switched the children, hoping that no one would notice. No one did. At least, not until recently. This other God had never mixed with Gods, didn't know about themself. They had all the mortal gig, felt pain, tired, the lot. Could easily have been mortal. But Zeus felt a power surge coming from earth a few months ago. He knew it wasn't you, Amat-"

"Matt."

"-Matt, because he'd seen you fashion your gloves. He wasn't able to trace it properly. But he called me to him and forced me to tell him the whole story. He got a bit pissed, but he promised he would tell no one else the full story, otherwise Artemis would turn me into an immortal pin-cushion."

"But why come to me?"

"Because...well, I was wondering if you could help me find them."

"WHAT!?"

~*~

Wow. Chapter two finished. ^_^ I'm good! Chapter three will be on it's way, soon if DS scares me again...