Litanya: I got this idea from Final Fantasy X-2… the best game in the world. There's a song that Yuna sings in it that is REALLY beautiful. I love it! I've been playing it over and over… anyway, this fic is a Taiora (naturally!) and a Mimoe with a little bit of Takari, and Junato thrown in there too.
PLOT: It's set in another world… a parallel universe to our own. That means that the technology is different to our world at this time. The schooling and sports is the same as it is today, but the technology in communication and weaponry is the same as it was in WW1. Transport is also the same as it was back then. And… you'll see!
I have based it off the ANZACs landing at Gallipoli, but the dates are probably wrong because I'm not too sure of them. So… yeah and the ages are different… very different to in the show.
Digimon does not belong to me because if it did, it would be a definite Taiora and Takari and Kenyako (even though it is now) and probably Mimoe and Junato. But it's not… it's Sorato and yeah. So it obviously does not belong to me, so don't sue!
Ages:
Tai, Sora: 16
Matt, Jun: 18
Joe, Izzy, Mimi: 17
T.K, Kari: 13
Wars of the Heart
He carefully paced out the length of the soccer pitch and placed another cone at the corner. It was his job as coach to make sure that the pitch was set up for the young kids to play. Sora, his best friend, was pacing out the other side.
"Sora, about here, don't you think?" he trusted her opinion, especially when it came to soccer. She had been on his team when he had started playing, unusual as there weren't many girls that played soccer. Most girls played tennis or did ballet, but Sora had played soccer. But that was when they were younger. Sora now had joined most of the girls at their school by playing tennis. She still came and helped him out by helping set up the pitch for his under 8s team.
"Yeah, that's about right," she dropped the cone at her corner and then jogged over to where he was surveying the pitch. She couldn't help but notice that he was looking a bit serious, "Come on Tai, lighten up already! The pitch is fine." He grinned.
"Yeah, I know it is. Do you want to play before the match?" he offered; his whole face lighting up at the prospect of a game with Sora. She looked at her watch and then shook her head slowly.
"No, I can't, sorry. I've got a date with Matt in two hours and if I play soccer then I won't be ready in time," she had almost forgotten about her date. 18 year old Matt Ishida was her boyfriend, a blond musician who was two years older than her. Tai just shrugged, and his grin turned into a smirk.
"Ah, little Sora has a boyfriend, how cute. Have the two of you moved out of the sandbox yet, or are you still building your sand castles?" he teased, before he too looked at his watch, whilst Sora turned red, "How would you like an escort home? I've got nothing better to do until the game starts and that's in an hour." Sora looked at the ground to make sure that her blush disappeared before she replied.
"Yep, sure. I mean, my best friend is so mature and everything, so I'm sure that I'll be safe with him around," she told him sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "I'm sure that whenever he gets a girlfriend she'll be so lucky." She was being sarcastic, and she missed the look of hurt that flashed in Tai's eyes. He shook it off quickly though.
"Well, since you want my escort so badly, I'll race you there!" and he took off without giving her a chance to reply.
"Hey, wait up. You're cheating!" but he didn't stop, not until he reached the electronics shop, where they sold the radios. There was a news broadcast coming from a radio that the storekeeper had placed on a table outside. A small crowd had gathered around it, anxious looks on their faces. Tai joined the group quietly, wondering what was going on.
"…Britain has declared war on Germany as they refuse to stop attacking Serbia. As Britain is at war, this most definitely means that as a part of the British Empire, Australia is at war with Germany and her ally, Austria-Hungary. You can sign up to join the fight for our empire at your nearest community centre. Only males over the age of 18 may apply to fight and females over the age of 18 to be nurses. If you want to help your country, go and sign up now…" The shopkeeper turned the radio off at this announcement.
"Well, you heard the announcement. We're at war. We have to put all of our effort into it. We'll send our sons to war and they'll return heroes!" he announced, "And our daughters to be nurses and we will beat the Germans back!" Tai watched the scene with a sense of dread rising in his stomach as more and more people began to chatter excitedly about the heroism of war.
"You'll be able to go to war son, and fight for your country," a young woman told him excitedly, "You'll be a hero!" Tai grinned, but shook his head.
"I'm too young to go to war. You have to be eighteen and I'm only sixteen," the young woman shrugged apologetically.
"I'm sorry; you just look like you are old enough. Well, the war will be over before you can join, but still if you study hard at school who knows what could happen?" the young woman left, probably to tell some other male about the glory they could gain by going to war.
"What's going on Tai? The whole city is practically going hay-wire. All people can seem to do is talk excitedly to each other across the street. Most of the male population of the city is heading down to the community centre, and most of them are bringing their girlfriends and wives too. What's going on?" Sora had obviously missed the announcement.
"We're at war against the Germans. Everyone over the age of eighteen is probably flocking down to apply. They want to come back as heroes," Tai's tone was a little wistful, as though he wished that he could go with them. But then he thought about it for a second and realised that everything he wanted was right there, so there was no need to go and fight.
"They shouldn't fight. People can die, even if we think we're going to win, people will still die. And what about the other side? If you fight you'd have to kill people who probably joined up for the same reasons as you did; to fight for their country. They were probably as innocent as you, but they would die just because their governments have something against ours. War is stupid," Sora was looking at some point far away, seemingly in her own world. Tai had to admit that Sora's words expressed exactly what he had been thinking, but he didn't want to dwell on it for too long.
"Come on, we'd better get you home. Don't you have a date to get ready for?" Sora smiled, her attention snapping back to the present.
"Sure, don't want to keep Matt waiting!" and she began to run, with Tai cursing her as he chased her down the streets of their town to her house.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
One Week Later
"What do you mean that you've signed up for war?" to say that Sora was angry would have been an understatement. She was furious, "You could get killed! And you would have to kill others and you'll be away from here for so long… what if you don't come back?" Matt looked at the ground. He had been too caught up in the heroism of the whole thing that he had forgotten that there was a bad side to war. History had shown, a very long time ago, that wars did not solve problems. That had been why research into weapons had been stopped. But then all of these problems between the European powers had come out and research had begun again, and the past wars had been forgotten by many as they rushed to sign up. Thoughts of glory had blinded them.
"I'm sorry Sora but I can't take my name off the list. I have to go now… I leave tomorrow," he mumbled, still too afraid to look at her. He had told Tai when he'd signed up that he was leaving, but he had never gotten the courage to tell Sora until now. Tai and his younger sister Kari watched the scene, knowing how angry and upset Sora was going to be. They knew that they had to be careful around her when she was this angry.
"B-but what if you don't come back?" Sora felt deeply about the war. She knew that something bad was going to happen, that if Matt left he wouldn't come back. And if he didn't she had no idea what she would do. Tai, on the other hand, was watching this scene with a struggle going on within himself. He had been having this struggle since Matt had told him that he'd signed up a week ago. Tai loved Sora with all his heart, and to see her about to burst into tears was almost too much for him. He knew that if Matt left Sora would be miserable and would never cheer up until Matt came back, if he ever did. That would break Tai's heart even more than it was already breaking, as he watched Matt and Sora together.
"I'll come back, I promise you," Matt whispered before turning and leaving the room. It was too hard for him to watch Sora's heart break. As Matt left, tears began to roll down the auburn-haired girl's face. Tai made his decision. There was nothing else he could do.
"Save your tears Sora, he'll come back," Tai told her softly and he too, turned and left. He watched Matt walk away before he turned and quickly ran home. He had a lot of planning to do.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Tai walked down the corridor of the apartment building he knew well, looking for the familiar door that led to Matt's apartment. It was early the next morning and Matt's ship was due to leave in two hours. Once he reached the door to Matt's place, he opened it, as he had done many times in his lifetime.
"Tai, what are you doing here?" Matt asked the brunette, surprise evident in his expression. Tai looked him levelly in the eye.
"I'll take your place," Matt's left eyebrow went up in confusion.
"What?" Tai's gaze didn't change. It was almost as if he had drained himself of all emotion.
"I'll go in your place. I'll take your place on the ship and you can stay here. Sora needs you here Matt and you don't really want to go anyway. I want to go and fight and no one here really needs me. I'll go to war and you stay here. It's as simple as that," Matt continued to stare at the younger boy, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"I can't let you do that Tai, you're too young."
"And you are too. You are too young to die just as I am. What difference does two years make? Anyway, you're more likely to be injured or killed if you don't want to fight than if you do. People need you here. Sora needs you, and so does T.K. Your younger brother doesn't have anyone else in your family he can talk to," Matt shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, thinking deeply about the situation.
"What about your sister? Kari needs you here just as much as T.K needs me," Tai pulled a small bundle of letters out of his pocket.
"Kari isn't as dependant on me as you would think. Here, these are letters that I want you to give Kari. She'll understand what I mean, eventually. She'll be upset at first, but then she'll come to her senses. Please Matt, let me go," Tai pleaded, hoping that Matt didn't notice how he was shaking. Matt didn't. He turned and picked up a photo frame. The photo inside was of Sora and himself, with T.K, Kari and Tai pulling faces in the background. How the three of them had managed to sneak in the picture had surprised both Sora and Matt, but the trio had managed to do it somehow. It was hard for him to imagine life away from this city, where he had lived all of his life. War would be exciting, but he knew that people here depended on him. Still… Tai was too young to go, only sixteen. He turned back to the brunette to see that he was still holding out the letters, a determined look on his tanned face.
"Tai… I don't know. I know I'm needed here, but I'm sure you are too. You're too young to go," the younger boy did not move.
"Matt, you know that you are needed here, and that you cannot get out of going, unless I go instead of you. I know I'm too young for the age group, but if you go I'll just fake another identity and I'll end up going too. Because I want to go. You don't. That means that both of us will be gone and who will look after Sora and the others? Even if I don't go in your place I will go. So you might as well let me take your place because if not, no one will be here to help the others," Tai's voice was as hard as steel and Matt had to admit that he had a good point. Or at least it seemed that he did. The blond sighed, once again running his hand through his hair. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what was right.
"I don't know Tai…"
"You have to let me go. Please Matt, I have to do this!" Matt had to give up. The desperation in Tai's voice was just too much for him to say no. Something was driving the brunette teenager to go to war more desperately than Matt's excuses could stop. Matt didn't want to go to war anyway, and Tai was offering him a way out, with good arguments. What else could he do?
"Alright Tai, you can go in my place," Tai silently thanked the heavens. He didn't want to go to war, but anything was better than having to see Sora cry. He grinned at Matt, keeping up his confident act. He gestured to the letters that his left hand still held out. Matt took them slowly, still wondering if he had made the right choice.
"Thank you Matt. Please make sure that my sister gets these. Please don't go and see her or Sora until after the ship has left. I know for certain that they both weren't coming to see you leave; they don't agree with it. Thank you again."
"Just make sure that you come back Tai. For your sister's sake, and Sora's too. You're her best friend remember, and she's going to miss you. Just come back in one piece and as soon as you can," Matt didn't really know what to say. He knew that there was some other reason that Tai wanted to swap places other than that he wanted to go to war, but he didn't say anything. Tai was his friend and he cared what happened to the younger boy, but he couldn't help but give in and let him go.
"I'll come back, I promise that I will. And my promise is stronger than anything else in this world. I will come back," but Matt could tell that the words were not as certain as Tai had wanted them to be. There was nothing else left to be said and Tai was starting to feel uncomfortable, "I'll see you then Matt. Goodbye." And without waiting for a reply he left, knowing that he didn't have much time before the ship was due to leave. Matt watched him go, a deep guilt already starting to settle in his stomach.
"Goodbye Tai and good luck. I have a feeling you're going to need it."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"He did what?" the cry echoed loudly through the Kamiya's apartment and Matt cringed, the guilt still building up in his stomach. Kari stood in front of him, shaking with what Matt sensed was anger and fear. He had just told the young teenager that her brother had gone to war and as expected, she had not taken it very well.
"He basically begged me to let him go in my place and I couldn't say no after all of the points he brought up. He gave this to me to give to you," he pulled the bundle of letters out of his pocket and handed them to her. Her hand was shaking so much that she almost dropped them. She was scared for her brother, extremely scared. She had found a book buried at the back of the library full of tales of the last war that had happened about 30 000 years ago. She had not liked what she had read.
"He is so going to pay when he gets back!" she threatened, but there was no anger left in her voice. Instead she burst into tears, knowing that the next time she saw her brother could be years in the future.
"I'll be going now, I need to go and talk to Sora and tell her the news. I'll come back later," Matt quietly left, leaving the girl to her sorrow. He didn't know what to do, but Tai would have known exactly what to say in this sort of situation to calm her down. After Matt had left, Kari managed to reduce her tears enough to let her open the first letter addressed to her.
Dear Kari,
I know that you are probably crying now, having heard from Matt that I have gone to war in his place. Please, I don't want you to cry. You know that I hate it when you do, so please, dry your tears for me. I had to go to war. Now stop whispering that I did not need to go and Matt would have been fine if he'd gone. Think about it carefully. I know that you would be fine without me as you have Sora to talk to. She's like a sister to you, but what about T.K? He has no one but Matt. Don't say that he could talk to me because you know how scared he is of me. It's not my fault that he took my threats seriously. And then there's Sora. I'm her best friend, but Matt is her boyfriend. The guy that she loves. That means that she should have him around. Don't say that it's not true, because it is. People need to be with the ones they love more than their best friends. Would you rather be with T.K or Melissa? Yes, I thought that you would answer T.K. And don't go changing what you would usually answer just to make it seem like Sora would need me more than Matt in this situation. It won't work. Matt will be able to keep Sora happy and I… I can fight in this war that is raging on. Who knows, maybe I'll find the right girl for me whilst I'm on this big adventure. Or… maybe I will just realise how much friends and family are really worth to me. Kari, I know that you are going to be mad at me, but please forgive me for leaving like this. I have a separate letter here for mum and dad. I hope that they are not too angry at me as well. I just want you to know that I have been thinking about doing this for the past week, since Matt told me he had joined up. But I think that it is best for everyone if I go instead of Matt because he is needed more. I know that you're worried, but please… please forgive me. I'll write every chance I can.
There is a letter for Sora also in this pile, but please only give it to her if you haven't heard from me in a long, long time after the war has ended. I… I must go now. I love you Kari, you're the best sister I could ever have asked for. I just hope that I come home as safely as I have left. Thank you for everything Kari,
Love your brother Tai
Kari wiped her eyes again as they came close to overflowing. She had stopped herself from crying whilst she read the letter, but now it was just too much. To distract herself she sorted the letters in the bundle out. There was one for her parents, one for Sora and one for T.K, probably threatening him to stay away from her whilst Tai was gone. Sighing she decided to go over to Sora's to see how the older girl was taking the news of her best friend's flight.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Sora knew that something was not right, but she just shrugged it off. She thought that it was just because Matt had left. His ship had been due to leave at 8:30am, and now it was 11. She hadn't gone to see him off at the ship; she felt that she didn't have the strength. She felt that seeing him off at the ship would almost make it seem that she supported him going to war. And she didn't want to give him that impression. She was just staring into air, thinking about her boyfriend's departure when there was a knock on the door. It was a hesitant knock, as though the person didn't really want to be there. Curious, she stood up and walked to the door, before peering through the peep hole. It was Matt.
'But Matt left on the ship to go to war… right?' she thought to herself as she opened the door, not trusting her eyes.
"Sora," Matt enveloped her in a hug as soon as he could reach her through the door. She was a little surprised, but she welcomed it warmly.
"Matt, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to war," he bit his lip and looked at the ground and she eyed him suspiciously, "Something is wrong, isn't it? You didn't go to war, so how did you get out of it if you weren't allowed?" She was anxious about his answer. For some reason she couldn't fathom, she wasn't all that happy that he was still there. It was like with him being there, someone else was missing… come to think of it she hadn't seen Tai since he had left their little meeting the day before. The sinking feeling in her stomach rose.
"According to the authorities, I did go to war. But as you can see, it wasn't me that went. Someone took my place… Tai took my place. He pleaded with me until I gave in to let him go," it was her turn now to bite her lip. She felt her eyes begin to fill with tears, but she shook them out angrily.
"Why on Earth would that idiot beg you to go to war? We could have found another way to get you out of it, but no, he had to go instead. He's an idiot! Well, if he wants it that way, he can have it. If he gets killed it's his own fault," she didn't know what she was saying, she was so upset. Tai had been her best friend since they were three years old, according to her mother. He was the person outside of her mother that she had known the longest, the person that had helped her out at her mother's flower shop when they were younger. He was her best friend and now he had abandoned her so that he could fight in a stupid war. How could he be so dumb?
"Sora, I could tell that there was more to it than that. Yes, it's true that he told me that he wanted to go to war, but who knows if that is the truth? I could tell that there was another reason, and that reason made him desperate enough to beg me to let him go. He begged me. How could I say no when he countered my every argument? He told me that he would come even if he didn't go in my place. He asked me which one I'd rather have, both of us going or only one of us. You can't get angry at him and hate him forever. He's been your best friend for forever and you know that he has to have had a good reason for this," he was just trying to rationalize it to try and make sense of it for himself. He was justifying it, as if by doing so it would make it seem better. Sora was silent for a second before she pulled away from him and picked up a book, aimlessly turning the pages.
"Does Kari know yet?" and the pages were whirring, turning over and over, getting quicker as time went on. She didn't know what made her play with the book, until she read the cover. It was a book that Tai had given her for her last birthday. It was a book on the different star signs and how they were supposed to affect your lives. She had found it interesting and now, as she was flipping through the pages, she realised that she was trying to find her star sign, looking for anything which may tell her what was going to happen.
"Yes, I told her before coming here. Tai had given me letters to give to her," there was an uncomfortable silence as Sora continued her search through the book and Matt waited for her to say something. In the end he couldn't bear it, "He'd been planning this since he had found out that I was going, I could tell that he was. They say that the war will be over by Christmas, it won't go on for long and then Tai will be back and he'll be fine. He promised me that he would come back perfectly fine." He didn't want to tell her that Tai had been unconfident about that. She knew as well as he did, if not better, that Tai was one of the most confident people in the world. If Tai wasn't certain of something that meant that it was possible that the outcome would be bad. Sora finally found the page that she was looking for. She read it eagerly, but she found nothing that would help her find the answers she sought. It seemed that the stars were not going to help her.
"Did he have any letters to give to me?" she asked, trying to hide her disappointment from the lack of answers. Matt shook his head, wondering what she had been looking in the book for. He knew that it was the book that Tai had given her just last month for her birthday, but that didn't tell him why she had been searching through it so desperately.
"Not unless they were in the bundle that he gave to Kari. I think that he…" he was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. Kari walked in, still holding the letter her brother had written to her. She couldn't bring herself to put it down, in case that was the last thing he ever 'said' to her.
"Hi guys," she said quietly and she came and sat down on one of the chairs scattered around the room. Sora's place was like a second home to Kari and she knew that she was welcome there at any time. Sora smiled weakly and came to sit next to the young girl, knowing that Kari would be extremely miserable because Tai was gone.
"Are you okay Kari?" she whispered, seeing tears come to the younger girl's eyes. Kari nodded and wiped the tears away.
"I'm fine… I mean it's not like he's gone forever. He'll come back, I know he will. Here Sora, read this letter. It's addressed to me, but I know that he won't mind if you read it too. It-It sort of explains why he left, but not fully," she passed the letter over to Sora and the elder girl read it, her eyes quickly scanning the page. It looked like it had been written in a hurry, as though Tai had had no time. There were also some spots on the paper that made it look like Tai had been crying when he had written it. No doubt Kari had noticed them too. There were also fresh drops of water on the page, which were Kari's tears.
"Don't worry Kari, he'll come back," Sora tried to sound confident as she said that, but she only ended up sounding hopeful. She knew that it was going to be a long, long time before they ever got Tai back, if he ever came back. But she was going to hope that he would; they all would. Hope was the only thing that they had left.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dear Kari,
Hi. It's been three weeks since the ship left, three weeks since I left. This letter will probably only get to you in another two or three weeks, but it doesn't matter. How are you Kari? I hope that you are well. I'm okay, doing fine in fact. We're in Egypt for training. Yeah, the ship was pretty fast and it dropped us off here pretty quick. I've made a couple of friends here already. They were near me on the ship. Izzy is really smart, he's doing a first year uni course in medicine…not really. That's what he told the people in charge anyway. He's seventeen, and starting the medical course once he gets back. He still is very smart though. Joe is going to be a medical student next year too. But he's really nice even though he can complain quite a lot. The two of them keep me entertained, even though we're all technically not supposed to be here. There are a lot of good people here. The trip here was pretty boring other than meeting Joe and Izzy, but all trips are usually boring, so it's nothing new. Egypt is so much different to home though. The culture, the people… it's great here, though I still think that maybe home is better, just because of the company I can keep there. But I'm glad that I've come here even if it was just to witness a different way of life. We Aussies over here… well we keep on getting comments from the British that we are too unorganized and unruly. But then again, it doesn't matter. We can do all of the things they have asked of us, so it is all alright.
Kari, please give my love to mum and dad. I miss all of you a lot, although I wouldn't change my decision for the world. Say 'hi' to Sora and Matt and T.K for me! Love you heaps,
Tai
She read the letter through, searching for anything that could give her a clue as to how he really was, but she found nothing. He had said nothing about fighting and he hadn't told them anything about the types of training they did. In other words, the letter was basically to tell them that he was still alive. She had to show this to Sora.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dear Kari,
Hi again. It's been another five weeks since I last wrote. I hope you have received my last letter by now. Training has increased since I last wrote, so my spare time has been a little limited. Izzy and Joe are still around and it seems that they are in my unit. That means that we'll be fighting in the same place, if we ever have to go and fight. I hope you're still doing well and I hope Sora, Matt and T.K are doing okay too. I have a letter for mum and dad here too, so I hope that they get that. Let's see, what else can I tell you? Well, nothing interesting has been happening. No fighting yet and there doesn't seem to be anything coming up. To tell you the truth I'm beginning to get a little bored. I wish I was coaching the under 8s team, that's much more interesting. Egypt is still cool though. Anyway, I have to go. Give my love to everyone,
Love
Tai
The letters were getting shorter, as if something was distracting him. Sora was worried. Kari had let her read every letter that Tai had sent, but he had only sent two so far. They didn't tell them anything other than that Tai was still alive. If only they said more! She could tell that things at the training camp would be worse than what he had been saying, but he hadn't really described what was going on. She wished that she knew. Matt on the other hand, was feeling especially guilty. He felt that he was to blame for letting Tai go. Sure, Tai sounded like he was having an okay time, but what if he was lying? With Tai you always had to look him straight in the eye to get the correct answer because he hated to make people upset. Tai was keeping the details out of his letters probably because he thought that they would upset people, but in fact he was upsetting them by not including the details. It was very confusing.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dear Kari,
Almost half a year has passed us by since I left and the only communication I have to you and the people back home are these letters. Tomorrow's my seventeenth birthday, and soon after that I finish my training. Only a week in fact. But I can't tell you where I'm going, because I don't even know. This is only a short letter to tell you all that I love you and I miss you. Please forgive me for going away so quickly and basically without warning. Anyway, I really have to go; training starts in a few minutes.
Love Tai
This was it. The last letter she had received from her brother. She hadn't heard from him for over two months. Five months. That was too long to even bear. She could hear their parents sit up late talking and crying, hoping that Tai's next letter would come the next day. But it never did. It was almost as if he had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Matt had gone off to war, and he wrote regularly. It turned out that Matt was placed in Egypt, fighting the German forces there. From the sounds of it though, he was doing fine.
"Kari, did you get another letter?" Sora came up behind her and looked at the paper she was holding before sighing in disappointment.
"Don't worry Sora; I'm sure that he'll write soon. Maybe the postal people are too caught up in the war to put the letters on the ship," she was clutching at straws and they both knew it. Tai had said that he was going to fight one week after his seventeenth birthday. That had been on the eighteenth of April. On the radio on the 25th of that month there had been an announcement. ANZAC forces had landed at Gallipoli. Hardly anything had been said about it, but every time the name of the place was mentioned, both Sora and Kari had a terrible feeling. They knew that Tai had fought there.
"That stupid idiot had better be okay. He had no right to leave thinking that I would prefer to have Matt here," Sora and Matt had broken up. In Matt's first letter home he had confessed that he had met another girl on the ship. The girl's name was Jun and she was going to be a nurse. She was going to the island of Imbros, where there was a hospital to treat the wounded. Matt had fallen in love with her and so he had written back to Sora straight away to tell her. To Kari's surprise the older girl hadn't really cared all that much at the news.
"Why Sora, would you need Tai here more than Matt? Could it be that you are actually in love with the goofy monkey that I call my brother?" Kari teased. Sora blushed a little, but Kari didn't see it as she was behind her.
"Hey, you can't talk. I saw you and a certain blond haired boy yesterday in the park… I didn't know that you could hold your breath for more than ten seconds," it was Kari's turn to look like a tomato.
"Hey!"
"I think that when Tai gets back he's going to go T.K hunting again," the mood suddenly dimmed. She kicked herself for bringing him up again. It didn't do any good to sit there and dwell on it. He was coming back when he was coming back. She had to believe that he would be back because she didn't know what she would do if she didn't. She must have been blind not to have seen it before he had left. Sora Takenouchi was absolutely, totally head-over-heels in love with Taichi Kamiya. And now she could never tell him.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It had now been one year, five months since they had last received a letter from Tai. They were beginning to lose hope. The war had ended half a year ago and Matt was back in town again. He hadn't been injured, and he had fought bravely. He had brought Jun back with him and her family had written to say that they had permission to marry. It seemed that everything was turning back from the devastating effects of war to the happier celebrations of marriage and ceremonies. The world was getting back on track, but to Sora and Kari and even Matt to an extent, the world just was not complete. Tai wasn't there and from the sounds of it, he wasn't coming back.
"Sora," it was Kari. The two girls had been spending most of their time together lately, each understanding that they were both hurt and why. Many people understood why they were upset, but they didn't know exactly why. Nobody had known Tai like they had.
"Hey Kari, how are you?" Sora turned to find that Kari was holding out a letter and biting her lip to keep from crying.
"In Tai's first letter he told me to give this to you if we hadn't heard from him in a long, long time after the war had ended," she handed the letter to Sora before turning and leaving. She knew that Sora would want to be alone for this. Sora herself turned the letter over in her hands, unable to bring herself to read it.
"Tai is coming back, he's just been delayed and he doesn't want to spoil the surprise," she muttered to herself over and over, before she realised that she didn't believe the words anymore. She knew that the chances of him having survived fighting at Gallipoli were slim, especially as he hadn't written for more than a year. She had secretly accepted that he was gone. She tore open the envelope slowly, knowing that she was going to cry at the contents of the letter. No matter what it said, she knew she would cry. She unfolded the paper and gasped at how many wet spots there were on that single piece of paper. Tai had been crying when he had written it.
Dear Sora,
If you're reading this, then that means that I haven't written for a long time and the war is over. It could mean that I am dead, or that I have been badly injured. I know, I shouldn't say that, but it's true. Those are possibilities. I hope that both you and Kari are coping with this. I know that you'd have been worried sick for the first few weeks that I hadn't written, and then you would have unconsciously begun to accept it. What I'm saying now is probably just common sense. Anyway, let's get off that subject. I want to tell you why I went to war, the real reason.
When I heard that Matt was going to war, my thoughts immediately went to you. I knew that you would be upset and that you'd possibly cry and then you would be upset the whole time that he was gone. I also knew that he didn't want to fight in the war and that you hated wars. I-I knew that I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you upset for that long. I live to see that you are happy and I'd happily die in Matt's place if it meant that you would be happier. Yeah, if you have smiled even once since I have been gone, then it has been worth it because I know that you wouldn't have if Matt had gone.
And if you haven't worked it out yet, I'm trying to say…… I love you and I always have. I hope that you forgive me for going to war. Please, forget about me and continue with your life. I'll be your best friend forever, but I doubt that I'll be able to talk to you, because if I haven't written, I'm sorry but I must be dead. Please forgive me,
I'll love you always,
Your best friend,
Taichi Kamiya
* * * * * * * *
Litanya: Okay, I want to write the song that I got this idea from. It belongs to Final Fantasy X-2 and not to me, okay? Here's the song:
I know that you're hiding things
Using gentle words to shelter me
Your words were like a dream;
But dreams could never fool me
Not that easily…
I acted so distant then
Didn't say goodbye before you left;
But I was listening
You'll fight your battles Far from me
Far too easily…
Save your tears 'cause I'll come back
I could hear that you whispered
As you walked through that door
But still I swore to hide the pain
As I turn back the pages
Shouting may have been the answer
What if I'd cried my eyes out
And begged you not to depart?
But now I'm not afraid
To say what's in my heart…
'Cause a thousand words
Call out through the ages
They'll fly to you
Even though I can't see
I know they're reaching you
Suspended on silver wings…
The song goes on, but this part inspired me the most. If you want me to write a sequel, maybe a happy ending, please review and I'll think about it. I already have an idea for it. This fic was a bit vague, but I think that it works better with no details during the part where Tai is actually gone. I don't know why. I tried writing it with descriptions and dialogue between Kari and Sora, but I just thought that it didn't sound right. Anyway, please R+R and I hope you enjoyed it.