Epilogue

Tai sat unaccompanied on the shore of the lake, watching the silent motions of the waves on the water as they gently ventured up the sand to lick at his bare toes. The full moon was halfway through its journey across the night sky, and he wanted some time alone to reflect on everything that had happened.

They had left the cave early the previous morning after freeing the two surviving miscreants from their makeshift prison cell. Neither Rio nor Ian had seen fit to confront their jailers in any way, and so had simply left the cave without causing a scene. The five had debated long and hard about what to do with the only body that remained, that of the gaunt boy Daven, and in time decided to simply leave him where he had fallen and depart themselves. Telling someone at least where to find him had been brought up as a possibility, but in the end rejected. Certainly no one would believe them if they had told what had actually happened there, and making up any kind of story for this would have been simply too complicated. Before leaving they did, however, strip him of the crest of Duplicity. They all agreed that it was much too dangerous to be left lying around.

They had also conducted a brief search to see if they could find out what had happened to Roan and the crest of Hatred, but could find no trace of him or his body. They all assumed that he had met his death while freeing the dark angels from their prison, but in any event had no desire to spend any large amount of time in the caverns to confirm that possibility.

Tai was finally satisfied. His friends had brought him to this place to abolish his fear and restore his faith in himself, and in a unexpectedly complex way that was what had happened. All that time he had been afraid that Piedmon's presence in his body had corrupted him, had left him somehow more susceptible to evil, but his rejection of Roan's domination had helped him realize that he was the same boy that he'd always been. Perhaps even a bit stronger, and maybe wiser.

He sighed. He'd hurt his friends more by burying himself in his depression than he had by being Piedmon's tool in the attack on them. He realized that much now, and the fact that during the previous month they'd stood by him instead of reacting as they had every right to made him feel even closer to them all.

"Tai?"

He smiled to himself. He felt closest of all to her. Glancing over his shoulder he saw Sora approach on bare feet, a thin robe wrapped around her shoulders. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked.

"Actually, this is the first time in a long while that I've really felt awake," he answered quietly. "It'd been like a bad dream for the longest time. I thought I'd take a little while to appreciate it."

She nodded, sitting down next to him. "You really had us scared there for a while."

Her words disheartened the boy a bit, and turned his face to let her see it. "I thought you guys said you never had any doubt that I was still on your side."

She stifled a giggle. "Not about that, Tai. Because you were torturing yourself all that time. It just wasn't the same without the old you around. I... we all missed you."

He looked into her eyes. For just the briefest moment, he thought he'd heard something in those words that she hadn't exactly said. She blushed under his close examination and turned away for a moment, then put on the bravest face that she could and looked back. She bit off a nervous chuckle. "If I'd known how hard this was going to be…"

The boy cleared his throat. "Sora… I think... no, I know that I've got something that I have to tell you."

"I know. I've got something to tell you too, but I don't know exactly how to say it."

Why is this always so easy for T.K. and Kari? he wondered. He knew what he wanted to say, he'd known it for years, but always before when it had come time he had tripped and fallen over the words. But why? Being nervous in the face of an enemy was perhaps understandable, but her...?

Still, he was barely able to look at her. "Sora? I... I love you," he murmured quickly, then turned his face away from her and bowed his head like a very young child. "There. I said it."

Sora smiled sadly. To spare them both much heartache she'd hoped that he didn't feel that way, though in truth it would have crushed her if he hadn't. She reached out and gently brushed her fingers against his cheek. "And Tai? I love you too." She paused, wondering if she could say what she still must. Then she swallowed. "I love you too, but…"

He turned, startled. "But?"

She closed her eyes against the pain. She had dreaded this moment for several long months. "I… I think I love Matt too."

Tai's bottom jaw was almost on his chest, and Sora bowed her head in shame at the look on betrayal in his eyes. "I'm sorry Tai. So sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen; I didn't mean to fall in love with either of you. You both deserve so much more than me. I try to tell myself to stop, that I'll ruin whatever I have with both of you, but I just can't! It…it hurts…"

She was crying. And as much as the boy wanted to feel devastated at that moment, he simply couldn't. Not when he saw how hurt she was, and how much courage it had taken for her to make that honest admission. She had stood by him in his time of crisis even when she'd had every right to feel wronged by his words. If he truly loved her, how could he do less?

He slid a comforting arm around her shoulders. It was in no way a romantic gesture, as that was not what was appropriate at the moment. "Sora? I feel like I should say I'm sorry, but I guess I'm not. I do love you, but Matt's my friend and a great guy, too. If I have to lose you to anyone…"

She shrugged off his arm in frustration and rolled onto her hands and knees, her head bowed and her hands balled up in the sandy earth. "Tai stop! It's not fair… not fair that you're both like this. How can you both be so different one minute and then so alike the next?"

"Maybe you bring out the best in us?"

She was almost choking on her tears. He took both her hands in his and pulled her close, looking closely at her face and downcast eyes. "Sora? If you're saying that you have to choose between us, all I can do is swear that I'll wait for you. And even though my promises may not carry as much weight as T.K.'s do, I promise that if in the end it's Matt, you'll always have my friendship… and so will he."

"Tai… I can't take this. Please, just… just kiss me."

He looked troubled, then bent down to do as she had requested. But the kiss that he offered was not one born of passion, but instead of a comforting friendship. She looked up, startled, as his lips gently brushed hers. His eyes were kind, caring… perhaps even a little bit wise, and she the look on her face became somewhat curious as he wiping the tears from her cheek. "Thanks... thanks, Tai," she whispered.

The other's face was lit up with a boyish grin, betraying no hint of the very mature decisions he'd just made. "C'mon, let's get back to camp," he said, the girl to her feet. "We've still got a good four days of this vacation left and I guess I've wasted too much of it already."

*****

Matt opened his eyes a crack as Tai entered the tent they were sharing with T.K, and his face betrayed a somber expression. He knew that the other boy had been with Sora, and while that knowledge might have ordinarily been disquieting to him... at the moment, it just didn't seem to bother him quite so much. Tai was back with them and was finally whole again. That was what mattered. He leaned up on his elbows. "Tai?"

"Matt?" the other answered in a low voice.

The blond-haired boy smiled at his friend, and nodded in satisfaction. "It's good to have you back, Tai."

"Thanks, Matt. For everything. I'm sorry for putting you all through this."

The other boy's face betrayed a small, playful grin. "Eh. Demons, dinosaurs, cave-ins, power hungry madmen. What are friends for, right?"

Tai responded with a lighthearted punch to the shoulder and a smile, then plopped down hard on his pillow.

***

Sora tried to ease into the tent without waking Kari, but the younger girl had always been a light sleeper and came fully awake. She rolled into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around her knees. "What'd he say?" she asked, looking up at the other..

"What did who say?" Sora replied in her most nonchalant tone of voice, keeping her back to the other under the pretext of arranging the pillows to her liking. She could probably have used a confidant, but wasn't so certain that Kari was the best or most impartial nominee for the job.

Kari didn't answer the question, and smiled at Sora's back instead. "They're both waiting for you, you know, but you don't have to rush things. Even if neither of them is exactly patient, this is something that's too important to do too quickly. It'll take some time, but I think one of them will make perfect sense to you in the end."

Sora turned and peered quizzically at the younger girl. How can she possibly be such a child one moment and so full of insight the next? "Aren't you going to stick up for your brother?"

Kari shrugged. "I will if you decide he's the right one," she answered simply, then laid her head back down on the pillow.

Sora lay down and closed her eyes as well, but could not manage to sleep for the longest time. Being in love with two boys at once haunted her, as did knowing that she could have whichever one she chose the moment she said the word. How perfectly wonderful… how terribly sad…