Note: The feudal village everyone keeps talking about is the town from the episode Big Trouble in Little Edo. Now, since I'm not sure what continent 02 takes place on, this might be completely impossible. Forgive me if it is, but since Ken went to Primary Village in Genesis of Evil and those crazy Gekomon knew Mimi in Family Picnic, I just guessed they were on File Island, since Gennai also said that stuff about everything coming from the island. But um... yeah.
Also, the song Sora sings is her 01 theme, Ashita wa Motto, and if you think the song Tai and Matt sing is the song from Pocahontas, uhhh... YOU'RE SADLY MISTAKEN! *runs away*
Chapter Sixteen- The Sound of Music
"Who would have thought a desert that's blazing hot during the day could be freezing cold at night," Cody sighed.
"Actually, on earth, a lot of deserts experience the extremes of both ends of the temperature range. During the day it's really hot because there's no water and no shade, but at night it gets cold because there's nothing keeping the heat in."
"Thanks for the weather lesson, Joe, but that still doesn't make it any warmer," Yolei said in a low, annoyed, monotone voice.
The three of them were huddled up together around the campfire, trying to get some much needed sleep. Their water and food supply was running dangerously low, and there was still no sign of vegetation. They had decided not to follow Joe's advice of staying put when they realized they'd probably die of dehydration before anyone came far enough out to find them. Since the compass Yolei had put together with the needle and water didn't work at all, they just picked a direction and started walking.
After two days and still no trees or water in sight, they worried if maybe they had ended up going in circles. Yolei insisted she had an excellent sense of direction and that they would find the others soon, but things were starting to look dim.
"I really wish one of us had packed a blanket or something," Cody said.
"I remember Izzy and Ken having sleeping bags," Yolei replied, "but too bad they're not here..." she quickly added.
"Well, we haven't frozen to death yet," Joe said. "Of course if we don't find water we're going to die anyway."
"Joe! We're going to find water!" Yolei snapped.
"Ok, ok! But even if we do find water, we're probably just going to starve."
"JOE! Cut it out!"
"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a natural worrier," Joe sighed and rested his head on his knees.
Yolei just shook her head and leaned closer to Joe and Cody, trying to keep warm.
"Hey...what is that?" Cody said. Yolei and Joe turned around to see him facing in the other direction, looking at something in the distance.
"It's too dark, I can barely see anything," Joe said.
"You know...I noticed that earlier and I thought it must just be a mirage, because I could see right through it." Yolei said. She put her hand to her chin and tipped her head to the side a bit, trying to make out what the large distortion they were seeing in the distance was.
"Yeah, but it can't be a mirage because I can see it too!" Cody said. "Yolei, doesn't that look like a mountain to you?"
"Well if you mean a giant half invisible glowing type mountain, then yeah, it sure does."
"I still can't see what you're talking about!" Joe cried.
Yolei and Cody glanced up at him.
"Joe..." Yolei said, "Try putting your glasses back on."
Joe suddenly realized that he wasn't wearing them, they were lying on the ground next to their backpacks.
"Eh, oops," Joe picked his glasses up and placed them back on his face.
"Ah! I can see it, we're saved!"
"We're not saved yet," Yolei reminded, "That mountain is miles away, it's probably going to take us all day tomorrow to get there."
"If the mountain range is that way, it must mean Infinity Mountain is in that direction too! We're heading inland! Civilization!" Joe cried.
"I have a suggestion," Cody chimed in. "Why don't we start walking now and rest when it gets hot tomorrow. We won't be as thirsty if we're not walking in the hot sun."
"Ok, I guess we better get a move on then," Yolei said, approving Cody's idea. "Are you ready, Joe?"
"Yeah, I guess, but there's only one tiny problem."
"Um...what's that?"
"I really have to go to the bathroom!!"
Yolei and Cody just groaned and fell over (anime style)
"I am SO sick of walking! Can't we just take a break?" Mimi whined. They had been trudging through the forest all day long, and it seemed to be getting hotter every minute.
"Sora, please tell Mimi to shut up." Matt said.
Sora sighed and didn't even bother telling Mimi, knowing quite well that Mimi had heard what Matt said. Since the night before, they hadn't been speaking to each other and were relaying all their messages through Sora.
"Matt... she said she was sorry, why won't you just stop acting like this?" Tai said, placing his hand of Matt's shoulder as they walked.
"Because I can't forgive her, I'm still too mad."
"Sora," Mimi growled, "Please tell Matt to stop being a stubborn jerk."
"I think we ALL want Matt to stop bein' a stubborn jerk," Davis said suddenly.
Matt flashed him a look that could stop a bullet in mid-air and Davis quickly scratched the back of his head and ducked behind Kari. Matt just folded his arms and started walking faster, until he was a few yards ahead of the group.
"Tai...can't you get him to stop?" Kari pleaded.
"I can't do anything, Kari, you know how he gets. Once he's decided he's going to be mad about something there's nothing I can do to stop him..."
They walked on in silence for a few minutes, Matt stomping along ahead of them, until they heard a strange sound in the distance.
"What the heck is that?" Davis said. "It sounds like a cross between a croakin' frog and a dying cat tryin' to sing!"
Then Mimi gasped when she heard the familiar sound of horns blowing mixed in with the frog croaks.
"It must be the Gekomon and Otamamon!" she squealed. Mimi ran past everyone towards the sound, nearly knocking Matt over on the way.
"Watch where you're going, Mimi!" He yelled after her.
"I thought you two weren't talking, Matt," Tai smiled as he hurried after Mimi.
Mimi dashed through the brush until she reached a clearing and found a large feudal style building with arches and gazebos surrounding it. There in the middle of the clearing, was a group of Otamamon singing and Gekomon playing their horns, being conducted by another Gekomon.
"Oh!" Mimi cried, and grinned happily.
The group of singers stopped and turned around to see who had stepped up. Then a few of them started running up to her.
"Princess Mimi!" one Gekomon shouted.
"It's so good to see you again!" an Otamamon said.
Mimi kneeled down to hug her Digimon friends, who had been loyal to her all these years in gratitude for her waking up their leader, ShogunGekomon.
"I'm so happy to see you!" she said, "You're the first Digimon we've seen the whole time we've been here!"
"Most of the other Digimon have gone into hiding or migrated to safer areas since the disaster," a Gekomon said.
"Disaster? What disaster? Do you mean you know what caused all this chaos?" she asked.
Just then, the others arrived at the clearing (even Matt) and smiled when they saw the Gekomon and Otamamon surrounding Mimi.
"Hey guys! I'm glad we finally found someone who might be able to help us," Tai said.
"We're running out of food and we haven't had a nice place to sleep since we arrived," Sora added.
"Well we have plenty of food inside," said the Gekomon.
"You can help yourself to all you want, since you're friends of Princess Mimi!" said an Otamamon.
"One question," Matt said in a slightly annoyed voice, "If all the other digimon are gone, how can you be singing at a time like this?"
All the Gekomon and Otamamon seemed to become serious and sentimental. "Even through the greatest hardships, the worst disasters, we will always keep our music alive!" the lead Gekomon said.
"They love to sing!" Kari smiled.
"Yeah, even though they stink at it," Davis said.
"Davis!" Kari flashed him a disapproving look that caused him to blush deeply.
The Gekomon and Otamamon led the digidestined inside the main building and informed them that ShogunGekomon had relocated to a safer area along with about half of the population. The rest had decided to stay and help guard the town which was located about a quarter of a mile away. They were staying in the large building in the clearing, which they informed the children was a temple and this clearing was a shrine honoring their music loving ancestors.
Over dinner, they also learned that they had in fact been getting closer to the desert, and it was only a few miles from the edge of the village.
"But you haven't seen any of the other kids, huh..." Tai said sadly after the Gekomon had finished explaining what was going on in the digital world.
"Nope, sorry."
"You're the first humans we've seen in a long time," a little Otamamon added.
"And a lot of the digimon are afraid because of this Monomanemon?" Mimi asked as she finished off her soup.
"Don't worry about him!" Davis said "We'll defeat that jerk easily!"
"It's not as easy as you think!" a Gekomon protested. "Our Shogun tried to destroy him but he was knocked flat on his royal back!"
"Others have tried too, but Monomanemon has the ability to play with our minds, digimon don't know if they're coming or going." said an Otamamon.
Matt sighed and looked around the room when he had finished his food. Then he spotted a stack of instruments in the corner.
"Hey!" He got up from his seat and rushed over. "A guitar, a real one!" he said, smiling, and picked it up.
"Is it in tune?"
"Of course," Gekomon said, "we always keep all of our instruments in tune."
"I think Matt just forgot about being mad," Tai whispered to Kari.
Later that evening, as the sun was setting slowly beyond the horizon, they all sat outside in the clearing around a fire pit located in the center of the area. Some kind of firefly in the foliage around them provided a soothing glow. The scent of the dry desert air mixing with the sweet vines of flowers climbing of the sides of arches and walls was carried on the breeze. The gentle wind blew by everyone's faces and played with their hair.
Matt had brought the guitar from inside the Gekomon's temple outside with him. Even though night was coming, it was still warm and the six of them sat comfortably on logs around the fire with the Gekomon and Otamamon. Matt held the guitar on his knee and started to play a slow melody.
As he played, Sora closed her eyes and started to sing, motioning Mimi to join her when she sang the choruses. Tai sat with his head rested on his hand and watched Matt play while he and the others listened to the song...
Yume mita jibun totemo tookute
Hito shirezu nakitai
Bukiyou de kimochi ienakattari
Tsuyogatte misetari
Demo kono yo ni hitori nara
Namida ga kieru kawari ni ai mo kieru
Utsumukanaide habatakou
Ashita wa motto chikaku naru daita yume ni
Tabi wa nagakute toki ni tsurakute
Hito wa tada chiisai
Yowasa ga fui ni mienaku suru no
Koko ni iru imi sae
Demo kokoro wo sumashitara
Dokoka de kitto sosogitai ai ni deau
Akiramenaide habatakou
Ashita wa motto tsuyoku naru dareka no tame
Demo kono yo ni hitori nara
Namida ga kieru kawari ni ai mo kieru
Utsumukanaide habatakou
Ashita wa motto chikaku naru daita yume ni
Tai had never realized what a beautiful voice Sora had, she and Mimi sang so splendidly together, but he was more focused on Matt. He was watching his fingers pressing down the strings, but his eyes were half closed. It seemed like he didn't even need to watch what he was doing, he could just play, as if it were as natural as breathing. When Matt played any instrument, his eyebrows turned up and his face became so serious. It seemed like every ounce of emotion he had was coming straight from his heart to his hands, and came out in the music he played. It was the only time Tai ever saw everything Matt was feeling, like music was the only form of expression he had.
His music was so personal to him. When he was simply talking with other people, he could hide what was going on. No one was allowed into his heart, and they only found out what he wanted them too. Everything was always locked up inside, even with Tai, he rarely talked about his feelings except to tell him how much he loved him. With music though, it was different, when he played or sang, everything was flung out into the open. Raw emotion was changed into song and nothing he felt could be hidden anymore. It all came out, especially when he played the harmonica.
The more Matt played that night, the happier he seemed to become. When Sora and Mimi had finished singing, Matt asked if the Gekomon had a harmonica, since he had forgotten to pack his, and was quickly brought one. Then Tai and Davis took a turn singing, much to the regret of everyone's ears. Matt would have smiled if he hadn't been playing, because he knew Tai could actually sing quite well if he was being serious about it. Right now, however, he most certainly wasn't.
After Tai and Davis's terrible but hilarious performance, the three girls began singing together. There was a slight intermission in the middle of the song, though. Matt had been playing harmonica but stopped suddenly to laugh when Mimi started doing some kind of hula dance in front of him.
"I guess they're not mad at each other anymore," Tai whispered to Sora while Matt was laughing. Sora just smiled and nodded.
The girls continued singing, and the Gekomon and Otamamon decided to provide some backup. Tai giggled, thinking that frog croaking wasn't exactly what the song needed.
When they were finished, Tai sat down next to Matt and handed him the guitar again.
"Will you sing with me?" he asked.
Matt looked a bit surprised, he had never sung with Tai before. He actually felt kind of nervous...sharing the thing he loved most with the person he the loved most. Matt set the guitar across his legs again.
"Sure, what do you want to sing?"
Tai smiled and tucked a few strands of hair behind Matt's ear that had fallen forward.
"How about, If I Never Knew You."
Matt smiled and glanced down at the guitar. When his fingers were on the right strings, he just closed his eyes and began to play and sing...
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
And if I never held you
I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can see the truth so clear
In your eyes
So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Matt's voice had an amazing range, he could go from bass straight to falsetto, and his singing was so captivating. When Matt had finished the first section of the song, he just stopped and waited for Tai's tenor voice to pick up. He smiled to himself when he heard the goofy sounding voice from just a little while before replaced with something beautiful...
If I never knew you
I'd be safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
The two of them sang the song so perfectly together, like they had been practicing their whole lives.
Matt: I thought our love would be so beautiful
Tai: Somehow we made the whole world bright
Then they sang together, and the others could hardly believe how well their voices blended.
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us where these whispers in the night
But still my heart is singing
We were right
They sang back and forth, one answering the other's call. Matt felt so connected to Tai suddenly, like he could feel what Tai was thinking. It almost felt like the connection that two digidestined felt when their digimon DNA digivolved. Moving in sync, feeling each other's hearts beating.
Tai: If I never knew you
If I never knew this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
Matt: There's no moment I regret
Since the moment that we met
If our time has gone too fast
I've lived at last...
Together: I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Tai: I thought our love would be so beautiful
We'd turn the darkness into light
Together: And still my heart is singing
We were right
Matt: We were right
And If I never knew you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Tai: Empty as the sky...
Together: Never knowing why
Lost forever
If I never knew you...
Matt strummed the last few notes on his guitar and Tai leaned his head over and rested it on his partner's shoulder. To Matt's surprised, as soon as they had finished, the others started clapping, even the Gekomon and Otamamon.
"That was beautiful," Sora said.
"Hey, thanks Sora!" Tai said, and beamed happily.
Matt just blushed and lowered his head, he wasn't sure what to say.
A few hours after the sun had set completely, the Gekomon and Otamamon led the children inside the temple and started showing them to rooms where they could sleep. The girls were already in their room and the Gekomon were leading Matt, Tai and Davis down a hallway to a room of their own. On their way, they passed by a door and Matt glanced inside. He saw a medium sized pool of water in the center of the room with steam rising up out of it.
"Hey, wait a second," Matt said. He grabbed Tai's hand to stop him from walking any further and Davis and the Gekomon turned around.
"Do you mind if Tai and I take a bath in there?" Matt asked.
"Sure, but don't make a mess or anything, that's our sacred hot spring," a Gekomon answered.
"Hey! What about me?" Davis said.
Tai glanced back and forth between Matt and Davis.
"You can have a bath after we're done, Davis," Matt said. "Why don't you just take a nap or whatever for now?"
"What's the big deal? I'm not a girl!" Davis whined.
"Matt likes his privacy," Tai said.
"But-"
"I think you should stop asking questions!" one of the Gekomon said, and the group of them quickly pushed Davis into the bedroom.
"Heh, those little guys are brighter than I thought," Matt said.
He and Tai walked into the room with the pool of hot water and Matt pulled the curtain on the door shut behind them. He turned and saw Tai was already pulling his shirt off.
"Man, it's going to feel good to have a nice hot bath, I must stink after all that walking and no shower in two days, huh?" Tai said.
Matt just smiled, "I haven't really noticed."
Tai grinned and pulled off his socks and pants, revealing the blue briefs he had on underneath. Matt watched with great interest as Tai, who didn't even seem to realize Matt was watching him so closely, placed his thumbs underneath the waistband of his underwear and started to pull them down. Matt brought a fist up to his mouth and bit his thumbnail.
When Tai's underwear were down just past his hips he stopped and looked up at Matt.
"Um...are you going to go in with your clothes on, Yama?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I just got distracted."
Matt bent down to pull off his pants and heard a splashing sound, and when he stood back up, Tai had already jumped into the water. Matt sighed and took off his shirt and socks, and then yanked off his boxers. When he was about to step into the water he noticed Tai was smiling broadly and watching him as intently as he had been watching Tai.
"Even after all this time I still get chills when I see you naked, Yama."
Matt folded his arms, "How come I didn't get to see you then, hm?"
Tai giggled and got up out of the water. He put his hands behind his head and spun around, showing off. His hair was dripping water onto his already wet shoulders and running down his whole body. Matt's gaze followed a droplet of water over Tai's shoulder, down his chest, along the side of his soft stomach, until it made its way over and underneath his bellybutton, then continued down.
"God, Tai...you're so beautiful..."
"Maybe, but still not as beautiful as you," Tai said, looking Matt's pale body all over. Even though he was taller and broader in the chest and shoulders than Tai, Matt was so delicate. From where his baby soft golden hair fell just past his ears, down to his long, slender legs.
Matt just smiled and shook his head.
"Get in."
Tai stepped back down into the water and reached up for Matt's hands. Matt took hold of them and hopped down. They pressed together and Matt stared into his angel's eyes.
"Matt...we can't do anything in this water, that Gekomon said it's sacred, remember?" Tai said, and kissed Matt softly.
"What could be more sacred than making love to you?" Matt ran his fingers through Tai's wet hair. After all this time, it felt like he was finally getting his old Matt back. Tai just hoped nothing would happen to push his boyfriend over the edge again.
"Yama...I want to try something new."
Matt licked and kissed down Tai's neck to his shoulder. "Mm...like what?"
Tai turned and pressed Matt against the edge of the hot spring.
"Tai, what are you doing?"
"Matt...can I, I mean...would you let me..." Tai kept stumbling over his words like he didn't know how to say what he wanted to do, and started to blush. Matt raised a blond eyebrow.
"Tai...are you saying you want to try being seme?"
"Nn...yeah,"
"Are you sure?"
Tai nodded. Matt rested his arms over Tai's shoulders and smiled softly.
"Ok then, Tai, I trust you."
Tai took a deep breath and let his eyes wander away from Matt's for a moment.
"I just hope I don't mess up..."
Matt kissed him on the cheek and Tai looked back up at him.
"You won't, and don't worry about it, we're just trying something a little different, right?"
"Right." Tai moved closer and kissed Matt, letting their tongues wind together. While they were kissing, Tai moved his hand down and carefully inserted two fingers, causing Matt to wince and grunt softly.
"Mmph...it feels weird..." he whispered.
Tai didn't seem to hear him, he just kept moving his fingers around and softly kissing Matt's jaw line down to his neck. Matt felt Tai's fingers leave him and wrap his arms around his waist. Matt closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip, waiting, and wondering what it would feel like.
"Are you ready?"
Matt just nodded.
He let out a gasp suddenly when he felt Tai move in. His eyes popped open as wide as they could go. He sucked in a few short breaths and let out a sound somewhere between a squeak and a whimper. Tai could feel Matt's whole body start trembling.
"Tai...it hurts..."
"Do you want me to stop?"
If only he had been asked that question the last time he had felt this pain. It was even worse then, maybe a hundred times worse, or at least it seemed that way. Matt started to choke back tears.
"Yes..."
Tai slowly pulled out, trying not to hurt him anymore. When he looked up, he saw the teardrops rolling down Matt's cheeks.
"Yami, did I really hurt you that much?"
"No...it's not you, I..."
Matt still had his mouth open, as if he was trying to say more but couldn't. His voice caught in his throat, some invisible force was holding him back, keeping him from speaking.
"Matt, tell me what's wrong, please. I know you only cry when something is really hurting you, so what is it? What are you thinking about that's hurting you so much?"
"It's nothing...really."
"It's not nothing! I'm not as stupid as people think I am and I know something's bothering you! Why can't you tell me?"
Matt swallowed back more tears and blinked. He looked away from Tai and started staring into the water.
"Did someone make you promise not to tell? Did somebody hurt you?"
He blinked again and a single teardrop rolled off the tip of his nose and fell into the water. Tai sighed, he was beginning to get frustrated trying to guess what was wrong.
"Did someone hurt TK?"
Suddenly Matt's face twisted up and he started crying harder than Tai had ever seen anyone cry. He brought his hands up to his face and sobbed loudly.
"Is that it? Someone hurt TK?"
Matt felt like his guilt was about to rip him apart from the inside out.
"Is that what happened!?" Tai grabbed onto his shoulders and Matt screamed out,
"YES!! I DID! IT'S MY FAULT!!" He flung himself against Tai and Tai wrapped his arms tightly around his boyfriend's shoulders. He decided not to ask Matt anymore questions for now. At least Matt had taken the step of admitting he had done something. But whatever he had done to TK that was so terrible, Tai still did not know. He just held Matt as close to him as possible and let him sob.
"Yamato..."