Chapter 7- Tears in the Night



"I still can't believe you ate three curry donuts," Kari said, half in disgust and half in amusement, as she and TK left the Odaiba branch of Mister Donut. He shrugged.

"What can I say? I was hungry."

"That's not my point," she snorted. "My point is that even Izzy can't stand those things, and he's got the weirdest tastes in food of anyone I know!"

"Well, I guess he just lost his title," TK said with a smile. "If you would just try one..."

"No way, no how, Takaishi Takeru," Kari said firmly. "I-"

Her voice cut off suddenly, and TK looked over at her in surprise...which quickly turned to alarm.

"Kari!" he exclaimed, catching hold of her elbow. "Kari, are you okay?"

Her face had gone suddenly white, and she was shaking slightly. "Tai..." The name leaked from between lips pressed bloodlessly together as she stared off into nothingness.

"What is it? Kari!" TK cried, giving her a little shake. She stumbled, snapping out of it with a gasp, and would have fallen if it hadn't been for TK's steadying grip on her arm.

"I..." she mumbled, looking disoriented. TK led her quickly to a nearby bench, sitting her down and taking a seat next to her.

"What happened?" he asked, as gently as he could, as her shaking slowed and stopped.

"My brother," Kari whispered, the color still missing from her cheeks. "He..." She shuddered. "Something's wrong," she finished weakly. "I felt it, somehow... Oh, TK, we have to get him back! Something terrible is happening, I just know it! Or going to happen..."

TK hesitated, not sure what to do with the situation, but then he remembered the frequent times Kari had surprised them all before. This foresight, or ESP, or whatever it was, was nothing new, just another variation on the same familiar theme. It seemed things would never be normal when Kari was around.

"It's okay," he said softly, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "We'll go tell Izzy, and he'll figure something out. Don't worry."

Kari sniffled, but nodded. "I guess..." she whispered. TK smiled comfortingly at her, and stood, helping her up.

"Good girl, that's the spirit. C'mon, let's go spread the word. Between the lot of us, we're bound to come up with something."



*****



When Snow woke up the next morning, she felt like a wreck. As soon as she'd gotten out of Tai's sight the night before, her cold, queenly exit had disintegrated into a sobbing rush for her room. It had hurt so much to do that to him...

She'd spent most of the night thinking about why she'd done it, and she still couldn't come up with an answer that soothed her raw conscience.

So she'd done what any sensible girl would do in her situation; she'd cried herself to sleep.

Now, looking back on the whole disaster, she wondered how on earth she'd gotten into this fix. The problem was, she still didn't have all the pieces to the puzzle...

*And with any luck, I never will,* she thought, taking herself in hand. *It's all very well to be weepy all night, but do you really want to spend today being wretched, too?* With a sigh, she slid out of bed, throwing her tear-soaked 'pillow'-a wadded-up blanket-into a corner of the little tower room and padding barefoot to the door.

When she opened it, she found a bowl of water and a towel.

"Bella," Snow murmured, not sure whether to smile or shake her head. Kneeling, she tested the water with her finger; it was freezing. "Good," she said, and splashed her tear-swollen face, yelping at the sudden chill in spite of herself, then dried off with the towel. After a few minutes of taming her hair into something more presentable than the bed-headed mess it had become over the long, restless night, she headed for the kitchens for some breakfast, feeling almost human again.

As she reached the door to the great hall, a single silhouette seated by the fire made her freeze in her tracks.

*Oh, no...* she thought weakly. *Couldn't I at least have gotten something to eat before I had to face him again?* She hesitated in the doorway, debating whether it would be smart or just childish to backtrack and take a detour to the kitchen.

"Hey."

His voice was flat. She winced: too late. Now she was trapped.

"Hey," she responded, tentatively. "I...um...good morning..."

He didn't respond immediately, but sat staring into the fire for a long moment. Snow took the opportunity to hurry toward the door on the opposite side of the hall, hoping to beat a quick retreat...

"There's something I need to tell you."

*Here we go again,* Snow thought, her guilt almost disappearing in annoyance. *Doesn't this guy ever give up?*

She walked over to him anyway, though. The guilt might have been partly blotted out, but it still had a hold on her. Taking a seat next to him on the warm flagstones, she looked at him carefully...*really* looked at him, maybe for the first time in her limited memory. He really was good looking, she admitted to herself, in a kind of boyish way. His eyes were tired, though, and his face broadcasted sorrow. Snow blinked.

"What?" she asked. He shifted slightly, turning his head to return her intense gaze.

"Today's the day the others were going to pick us up," he said, and the flatness remained in his voice, as though he was deliberately trying to keep emotion out of the words. Snow nodded slowly, not sure where this was leading.

"I know. So?" she answered, trying to imitate his level tone.

Tai took a deep breath. "I'm not going."

"What?!"

Snow's voice was a shocked cry. Tai just looked at her with infuriating calmness.

"I had a lot of time to think things over last night, and I decided: I'm not going," he explained, as though telling her the time of day or something equally normal. "They'll be all right without me. Even if Sora is...dead..." -his voice wavered on the word, the tightly reined control breaking for a second before he clamped down on it again- "...Snow's still around, and...and you're all I have left of her," he finished, a little too quickly. "I can't leave you here. I'm staying."

His voice bordered on both sadness and hope in those last sentences. Snow stared at him, her ears ringing.

*What on earth did I do to deserve this devotion?* she thought faintly, as his gaze continued to hold hers. Tears began to well up in her eyes again, and she stumbled to her feet, hurrying to the door. She paused when she reached it, looking back at him. He faced into the fire, his sorrowful profile outlined against the flames, unmoving...

Then she fled, and the door swung shut behind her.



*****



"He won't go through with it." The old cook's words were calm and almost amused as he stirred a pawful of spice into the day's stew. The food would simmer all day on the back of the stove before being served that night for dinner.

"You think so, Mojyamon?" Snow said hopefully from where she stood in the doorway of the kitchen, wrapped in her blankets again like a squaw.

"Absolutely," Mojyamon agreed, putting the lid firmly on the pot and pushing it to the rear of his massive stove. "He's got a family back there, unless he's been telling lies all this time, and friends and a good life to boot. I'd wager my best apron he won't be here to eat a bite of this stew. More's the pity," he added with a furry smile. "It's going to be delicious."

"Thanks, Mojyamon," Snow said, feeling a bit better. She went to the water tank and picked up a pair of buckets. "I guess I'll just go on with my day, in that case. I've neglected my chores long enough."

The cook laughed, shaking his shaggy head. "You are an industrious little creature, aren't you?" he said fondly. "Go ahead, then. There'll be no stopping you, and anyway, maybe it'll take your mind off this Taichi fellow. The sooner he's gone, the better, I say."

Snow nodded. "I absolutely agree, Mojyamon. See you in a minute!" Grabbing the little ice pick and dumping it into one of her buckets, she hurried out the door, feeling almost jaunty...

As she passed through the main hall, the sight of that solitary figure at the fireside sobered her a bit. What if Mojyamon was wrong? What if Taichi did give up everything for her?

*He won't,* she told herself sternly. *It's impossible. Now get a hold of yourself and go get that water.*



*****



The school computer room was once again filled with all ten of the remaining Digidestined, and the Digimon of the active six. Thirty-two eyes were glued to the clock, which was ticking closer to Tai's deadline.

A whimper escaped Kari, and TK reached over and took her hand.

"It'll be okay," he whispered. Kari took a deep breath and nodded. TK looked back at the clock, wishing he felt the confidence he had put into his voice. Everyone was worried, and the room was full of tension.

The second hand ticked away...



*****



When Sora came into the great hall with her bucket and rags for cleaning the hearth, Tai was gone. Turning, surprised, she saw that the huge door to the outside had been left ajar.

"What do you know?" she said softly. "Mojyamon was right..."

Something twinged at her heart, and she scowled.

"Like I care! He's better off back in his own world!" she snapped, frustrated with herself. *I can't be missing that pain in the neck! ...Can I?*

"Snow? Is that you?"

The soft voice made her jump, and she nearly dropped her bucket. Setting it down, she hurried to the doorway.

He was standing outside, arms wrapped tightly around himself for warmth as he looked out at the blank expanse of sparkling white. As she came up behind him, he didn't meet her eyes or even turn. His eyes scanned the horizon, then dropped to an odd-looking bracelet he wore on his wrist.

"Taichi? What's that?" she asked, almost timidly. He finally looked up, and smiled weakly.

"It's called a watch," he said, and there was a faint sadness in his voice that she didn't understand. "You can see what time it is by looking at it."

Snow frowned. "Why would you need to know that? All you have to do is look at the sun; Bella is going to teach me, when she has the time."

He sighed, and tilted his wrist to show her a circular metal-and-glass decoration on the bracelet. "Here, look. See that symbol right there? That stands for the number three. And that one is a six. When this short hand points at the three, and the long one points at the six, our friends are going to try and bring us back." His voice was even and carefully controlled, but inside, Tai felt like the rope in a brutal tug-of-war. *Half an hour left, and the decision of a lifetime to make in it...*

Blinking, Snow looked closer. That little circle of glass could say when things were going to happen? How odd. Curiosity welled up in her; what other wonders did Taichi's world hold?

He shivered, and Snow pushed away her doubts. She was staying, and that was final. He could do as he liked... Still, she didn't like to see him out here in the cold, however little she liked to admit it.

"If you're not going to go, you might as well come inside," she said, trying to sound as cool as her name. When he didn't respond, she hesitated...then reached out and gently touched his shoulder, letting her cold fingers rest on it for a second.

He half turned, looking at her in surprise. "Snow?"

"I don't want you getting sick because of me," she blurted, and hurried back into the fort.

Tai stood for a few long minutes more outside the door of Fort Winter, as the snow piled up in eddies around his boots, almost as if it were trying to hold on to him.

*And that's what she's doing,* he thought, sadly smiling. *Whether she knows it or not, she needs me...and she doesn't have anyone else.* Starting to go inside, he paused, sending a wistful look over his shoulder.

The snow sparkled.

*I never really had a choice,* he thought, and followed her inside.



*****



"We're approaching the sector, Ken."

The Emperor smiled, his icy blue eyes bright with unpleasant fun. "Wonderful. I'll refrain from kicking you out of this fortress for one more day, Wormon. You continue to prove useful in some small way or another. Bring us in, but slowly. I want to sneak up on them."

Normally, Wormon would have stayed quiet, but the upcoming 'entertainment' seemed to have put Ken in the closest thing to a good mood that he ever got into. He ventured a question.

"What...exactly...are you planning to do?"

Ken chuckled. "Wormon, my pitiful little arthropod, we are going to play a little sport I call 'mind games'..."

Wormon shuddered as he reached for the controls. Someone always got hurt when Ken was in 'good' mood. He'd learned by now; it was best to just get it over with...



*****



"Three thirty!" Izzy announced, relief and worry warring in his voice. "I'm bringing them back, guys."

There was a ragged cheer. Izzy had already punched up the program; now he reached for the enter button, and pressed it firmly into the keyboard.

"Executing..." the computer droned. "Searching for lifeforms..."

The tension in the air was so thick one could have cut it with a knife. Everyone held their breath...

"Searching..."

Across the room, Matt clenched his teeth.

"Come on, buddy," he whispered, so low that it was barely audible. "Come on, don't quit now..."

Yolei had crossed all of the fingers on both her hands, and was rocking slightly, nervously, as she stared at the screen. Beside her, Izzy's eyes were glued to his readouts, trying to find anything that might be interpreted as Tai or Sora's life signs...

"Searching..."

Kari's breathing began to become ragged, as tears welled up in her eyes. Her grip tightened on TK's hand. "Tai..."



*****



Snow was silently scrubbing the floor when Tai came into the kitchen. He paused, his gaze lingering on her, and then walked to the window and looked out, resting his arms on the sill.

Time passed. Then Snow spoke.

"Is it...time?"

"Not yet," he said, his back still to her. Snow swallowed hard, and went back to scrubbing.

More time passed.

"Now?" she half-whispered.

"Almost," he said. His voice sounded tightly stretched, as though it were about to break; as if that one word was all it could bear. Snow squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers clenching around the rag she held, squeezing until it seemed to weep the water it held onto the stone floor beside her.

*It's none of my business,* she told herself desperately, her inner voice as close to breaking as his. *It's none of my business. It's his life, not mine. I don't care. None of my business, none of my business, none of my-*

"It's time," Tai said, quietly, and Snow's eyes opened. He still faced away from her, but from where she knelt, she could see how tightly he held onto the windowsill. She got carefully to her feet and went to him, standing beside him and looking where his eyes rested.

As she watched, a green-gold vortex opened in the sky, a good half-mile or so away across the flat snowy plains. It shimmered in the air, and Snow almost smiled. *It's so beautiful...*

The smile was stillborn; it died the moment she remembered the boy standing next to her. *He should be there,* she thought, and the guilt she'd been trying to deny all day crept into her throat and sat there like a toad. *Why is he doing this?*

Her ear caught a soft sound, and she glanced away from the lovely brightness of the portal to look at Taichi. His face was torn and resigned all at once, and so sad that it hurt to look at. He seemed to have forgotten her presence as he looked out at his last chance to go home, shining so far away...

As she watched, he swallowed, and a tear slid down his cheek.

"Taichi," Snow whispered, struck. She reached up a shaking hand to brush the tear away, and he looked down at her.

His eyes were too much to bear.

Snow cried out as if in pain, pushing away from the window in a refusal to look at him. "Why are you doing this?!"

"I have to stay," he said, as if explaining something very simple to an impatient child. "You need me, Snow. I need you..."

"No!" she snapped, too frustrated and guilt-wracked to soften her voice. "No, you don't need me, you need that!" She pointed vehemently out the window at the shining portal. "You need your friends, and your family, and everybody you told me about. You have to go back to them! You have to!"

He just looked at her, and she wished she could scream...

"You don't understand."

"I know I don't! I don't care if I don't, you can't stay here, you don't belong here!" she shouted.

"Neither do you!" His eyes flashed with emotion. "You belong there, with the same people I do...but if this is where you want to stay, I'm staying, too! I'm as stubborn as you are, Snow. You just don't remember it...or don't want to!"

"You're the one who's not listening!" she wailed, her insides twisting. "You don't listen and you don't help and you won't go away! You're horrible! I hate you!" The words tore from her; she threw them at him like arrows, every one barbed and poisoned, trying to throw her guilt away with them and instead feeling it grow with every sentence. Raising her fists, she rushed at him, beating them against his chest like a sobbing child. "I hate you I hate you I hate you!"

He caught her wrists in a strong grip and held her as she tried to twist away.

"Snow, stop it!"

"Let me go!" she shrieked, panicked, despairing, tears running down her cheeks like rain. "Why won't you just leave me alone!?"

"Because I love you!"

The shouted words froze them both for a split second, as they stared at each other's tear-streaked faces. Then Tai leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a desperate kiss.

Snow's mind was reeling, her heart battering against her ribs like a caged bird, but her hands slowly unclenched, her fingers trembling. She kissed back, clumsily, still crying helplessly as he let go of her wrists, his arms closing gently around her. Clinging to one another for comfort, their tears ran together into one bittersweet fall, as beyond them in the sky, the portal closed.


_____________________________________


Author's Notes: *sigh* This one nearly had *me* in tears just writing it. I love it, though; it's one of my favorite scenes in all of the fanfiction I've written. I hope you got as much out of the experience as I did. M_~*

Also, I have good/bad news; there's only one more chapter. I know full well that everybody stops reviewing after a story is finished, so I'm going to make one second-to-last plea for reviews. If you think this chapter has any virtue, or this story, or even if you just feel like a shoutout to SUPPORT TAIORA, tell me so...please. (Heheh...or I might just leave you hanging for a few weeks. I'm in no hurry... *evil grin*)

Arigatou gozaimasu! -Bandit yori O_o