A/N: If this chapter would be dedicated to anyone it would have to be ClearSkies, for being a bitch and bugging me to finish this.

Disclaimer(s): I have never owned digimon though I am thinking of kidnapping the owners of it and asking for the first two seasons rights as the ransom. Now, onto the story :)

Chapter 3: A Shot of Rhythm and Blues

The next morning dawned bright and beautiful, but Yama was not privy to this fact. He tossed fitfully in his sleep, his mind caught up in a nightmare he couldn't escape.

The brilliant sun shined down upon a large meadow in the forest, bathing every leaf and petal in an otherworldly light. Yamato stood in the middle of the field blinded by the sun's rays. He shaded his eyes with his hand, squinting a bit as he peered around in search of some shade; he couldn't get sunburned, it would ruin his complexion.

Suddenly a small boy with a giant fishing net appeared in front of him. With an exclamation of annoyance Yama jumped back, and raised his other arm to ward of the approaching opening of the net. He growled at the little boy, "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

The boy just smiled as he quickly pulled the net away from him. "Sorry Yama, I thought you were a butterfly for a moment." The boy quickly ran off, giant net in the air as he chased his imaginary butterflies.

Yamato shook his head marveling at the stupidity of children before he turned and headed towards the woods. He began to walk, peering at the ground to relieve his sun blinded eyes. After about five minutes he figured he should be getting close to the woods so he lifted his eyes to the horizon and was shocked to find that the trees were still at the same distance they had been from him. "What..." His voice trailed off as he turned around and saw that the little boy had left off his pursuit of butterflies to purse Yama instead.

"Come play with me," His smile broadened and he repeated his request, "Come play with me."

"B-but... who are you?" stammered Yama, terribly confused.

The boy just smiled brighter, "Oh, Yama." He giggled and grabbed Yama's hand in an iron grip. He pulled hard, dragging Yamato behind him as he walked through the fields of flowers.

Tripping and stumbling, Yama was pulled along in the wake of the formidable child. As time increased he began to feel sharp pains in his thighs every time he stepped forward. Looking down he realized that the once flexible flowers that had flowed like a calm ocean day had now become hard and unyielding they slapped against his shins. Drawing blood to the surface and creating horrible bruises that screamed in agony every time the skin shifted over them. As he looked up he realized that they were no longer in the meadow but in a forest. As he stared in amazement the trees that grew along the side of the path-the flowers had shrunk to mere ankle height and were leaving him more or less alone-began to morph. Slowly the browns and green colors of healthy trees bled away leaving a lifeless gray hulk, and then the trees expanded spreading out and melding together till they formed a solid concrete looking wall on both sides of the path. Effectively trapping Yama on the path, nowhere to go but forward (which wasn't an option) or back.

Then, the screaming began. At first it was more of a grunting sound, like someone was hitting a sack of dirt over and over, but slowly it began to escalate to moans and then to a full out scream that tied knots in your gut one moment and raised the hair on your arms the next.

The child stopped to listen, cocking his head to the side. A sad, sad smile spread over his lips. He turned back to Yamato, peering into his eyes as if he was searching, searching for some answer. The screaming stopped.

The boy's head jerked up; there was a fevered expression in his eyes as he tugged on Yamato's arm. "Come on Yama!! Come on! You need to see the finale. You need to watch the ending this time!"

"NO!!!" Yamato struggled with all his might. He mustn't see it! He Mustn't See!!!

But the kid was finished with being nice. Without warning he yanked on Yamato's arm pulling him off his feet. He dragged Yama behind him, moving faster and faster in a frenzy to reach his goal.

Then, when all Yama could do was dangly limply like a discarded rag doll he stopped moving. He looked up, and before him stood Taichi, holding on to the hand that held Yama's wrist, keeping the boy from continuing to move forward.

The boy glared at Tai, his face contorted in a mask of rage. "He's mine," the boy shouted, "I lost him once before but I'll keep him this time!!!"

Tai just gave the boy a sympathetic smile and said, "No." He plied the boy's fingers off Yama's wrist and coaxingly drew him to his feet.

As if the boys grasp on Yamato's wrist was the only thing that held this world of unliving concrete together, the world dissolved around Yama and Tai, leaving them standing alone in a gray flecked darkness.

Grinning, Tai began to brush off the dust on Yama's shirt. "You're dirty."

Yama glared and gave him a sarcastic reply. "Oh no, how did that happen? After all I was only being dragged down a dirt path by a raging manic for half a mile."

"You always had a flare for the dramatics, Yama."

Yama glared at the back of Tai's head, amusing himself with images of bashing him over the head with a soccer ball. Once he was no longer annoyed at his friend he started looking around him, "Umm Tai?"

"Yes?" Tai said while standing up, leaving a nearly-dust-free Yama before him.

Yama gestured vaguely around them. "Where are we?"

"Uh, it looks like inside your head."

Yama raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Though, you'd think it be a bit more original considering that you're an artist and all." Tai turned his back on Yama and wondered around the 'room'. "Very spacious."

Yama put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot a bit impatiently as Tai continued to poke and prod the walls around them. "Well, how are we supposed to get out of here?"

"Mine has one of those cool pole things that the firemen slide down." Tai looked around, "I don't think yours has one of those."

Yama growled at him, holding his hands up in claws and made as if to scratch him.

"Whoa, whoa," Tai jumped back and held up his hands to ward him away. "Hold it tiger, there's other ways."

"Like what?"

Tai got that infuriating grin on his face again, the one that said he was going to show you something that you didn't necessarily want to know. He slowly paced across the floor to Yama. He stopped a mere half a foot away and leaned into him and placed a soft kiss on Yama's lips.

Yama was shocked. He almost jumped back and pushed Tai away, but stopped; the kiss wasn't unpleasant. Surprise more than anything else had made it uncomfortable in the beginning. Slowly he closed his eyes and just savored the moment.

As his chest grew tight from lack of oxygen Yama pulled back from Tai and suddenly found himself in a horizontal position. Opening his eyes all he could see was his ceiling above him. He sat up with a start, looking about wildly. There was no Tai anywhere!

Groaning he fell back on his pillow. It's bad enough that he kissed a guy, but for it to be his best friend and a figment of his own imagination was too much. He pulled the blankets back over his head and burrowed into their warmth, escaping back into the oblivion of sleep; hopefully this time it would be without dreams.

Crash! The door leaped open, smashing into the wall with a resounding boom of thunder, and startling the sleeping Yama.

Jerking upright, Yama looked around wildly for the source of such a disturbance. Glancing about he found his mother lounging in the door.

"Good, you're up." Turning from the door she started back down the hallway, leaving Yama to get dressed on his own.

Once his sleep-fogged brain had managed to interpret her terse statement, he sighed in annoyance. His mother knew that he didn't sleep with anything clothing on, why couldn't she just close the door and save him a bit of embarrassment. No, she couldn't do that; she'd lose control over me if she started being nice. He frowned, puzzled by that last thought. Shrugging he stood, holding his pillow in front of him as a precaution. He quickly crab walked to the door and shut it before turning to his closet to decided on today's ensemble.

He glanced over the hanging clothing in the front. Nothing special, just a couple pairs of faded jeans and equally faded T-shirts. He frowned; he wanted something a bit more interesting to wear if he was going to be hanging out with Tai all day. Kneeling on the floor he set the pillow down beside him and began to dig through all the boxes hidden in there. Coming to some of the back boxes he started to find bits and pieces of his old wardrobe. After another ten minutes of searching he started to get dressed. Black silk boxers, tight black jeans, white tank top, and black vest. He peered down at himself and smiled.

He left his room and made a sharp left into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and combed his hair running a bit of gel through it with his fingers (it tended to get a bit fly away towards the end of the day if he didn't.) With that done he practically skipped down the steps to get some breakfast.

Humming to himself, he slipped into his seat at the opposite end of the table from his mother. One of the ever-changing maids laid a plate and a glass of orange juice in front of him. Smiling at her, he declined the eggs but accepted some toast and oatmeal.

His mother abruptly stood up and walked around the table. Standing beside his chair she gripped his chin in her hand and turned his face up so she could look at him. Frowning she looked down at his clothing. "What's gotten in to you?" she asked, letting go of him and returning to her seat.

"Not much. I'm going to go hang out with an old friend of mine." Yamato dug in to his food, scooping up some oatmeal with his spoon, and then pilling it neatly on the toast before tasking a bite.

"Oh," She raised an eyebrow, "And, where has this 'old friend' been in the past couple years that I have seen neither hide nor hair of him?"

"His family moved to the city five years ago, and they moved back yesterday."

"And," she drawled languidly, "Does this 'old friend' have a name perchance?"

Yamato nodded hastily, refusing to let his mother's tone get him down. Gobbling down the last bit of toast and oatmeal, he chewed furiously before draining the last of his orange juice. Setting his glass down he caught a glimpse of his mother's face twisted into a mask of impatience. He quickly headed towards the door before she could stop him.

Opening the door, he exited the house and called back over his shoulder, "I'm going out with Tai, Mom. Be back before midnight!"

Shutting the door, he turned and was about to make a dash for the street, when a vision of chocolate colored skin appeared in his peripheral vision right before he smacked into it.

Down they fell; a laughing mess of bodies, trapped and trapping each other.

"Don't you ever watch wear you're going?" Tai asked, untangling his arm from Yama's vest so he could rise up on one elbow. "I believe this is the second time a meeting like this has occurred?"

A dim flash of a previous encounter with Tai flickered through Yama's mind.

"What are you going to do with your life?!" His mother screamed for the umpteenth time.

"Become an extremely wealthy drug lord with an empire that spans the globe." Yamato responded sarcastically. He was coming top the ends of his patience with his mother and her constant nagging.

"Your brother always knew-" She rose to her feet, screaming.

"No!! You are not going to bring him into this conversation!" Yamato jumped up and gave his mother the full power of his glare.

"He at least knew how to respect his betters!" She screamed at him and whirled away; storming off in a wave of fury.

Yamato stood glaring at her retreating back. He spun around and stalked to the front door. Flinging it open, he jumped out into the light. He stood in the sun, trying to ignore all the hurtful things his mother had been saying all morning. In a last ditch maneuver to release his anger he slammed the door shut and turned around and began to run for the street, but before he could run a single step he crashed right into the bronzed chest of his best friend, effectively sending them to a painful meeting with the driveway.

"Oh," said Tai, when he got his breath back, "I guess you just now remembered our date to play soccer."

Yama groaned, raising his aching head a few inches off the ground to glare at Tai, "Not now, Just, not now." He lowered his head back to the ground and closed his eyes.

Sitting up with a groan for his sore rear, Yama smiled at Tai who had already gotten up and collected his ever-present soccer ball. He stood, dusting of his pants and vest.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked Tai.

Tai grinned, tossing the ball up into the air and bouncing it on his head once before answering, "I got bored and decided I'd come visit you." Tai looked him up then down, "Nice outfit, much better than pink."

"Oh thank goodness," Yama sarcastically replied in an "oh too sweet" voice, "I feared that if you did not like it I would be damaged beyond repair."

Tai smiled, and head butted his bouncing ball at Yama. The ball hit Yama's cheek with a loud smack and fell leadenly to the ground.

Yama just stood there, hand clasped to his smarting check, eyes unfocused.

"Ummm Yama..."Tai began, but stopped as Yama raised icy eyes to stare at Tai.

His eyes filled with a fire that burned the pain from his body; with an evil smirk he bent over and picked up the ball. His short nailed fingers plucked at the air plug on the side of the ball. Pulling it free, he applied pressure to both sides of the ball, watching Tai's face sadden as the air blew out with a whistle. Yama tossed the ball over his shoulder, and before Tai could do more than take a quick step towards his deflated friend, Yama tackled him to the ground.

A wrestling match ensued; neither boy gaining the upper hand for long as they rolled back and forth on the front lawn. Finally, Tai dominated. His slightly heavier body, due to years of soccer, allowed him to pin Yama to the ground and effectively end the match with him victorious.

"That was mean Yama," Tai said, though he was grinning like an idiot.

Yama shrugged, well, tried to shrug but since his arms were pinned above his head it didn't quite come out like a shrug is supposed to. However it did loosen Tai's grip on his arms. Yama gave Tai a sweet smile, right before flipping him over.

"So," drawled Yama, shifting a bit as the squirming boy beneath him tried to escape. "Who's—"

"Yama!!" A sharp screech sliced through the air like an arrow through an apple. "What are you doing on the ground?!"

Yama bolted to his feet and saw his mother primly dressed, standing beside her car, looking at him in complete disgust.

"Uh. Let me explain..." He quickly started brushing tiny bits of dirt and grass off his clothing.

The lady just shook her head in disgust. She unlocked her car with a beep and set her briefcase down on the passenger seat. Closing the door, she stalked around the car, her stiletto heels making sharp clicks every time they came into contact with the pavement.

"Uh, I'm sorry." Yama said weakly as she opened the driver door.

She sighed, the pathetic waver in his voice having caught her maternal instincts, "It's alright, just behave from now on." She quickly got in her car and drove away, off to whatever job she had sold her life to.

"Why'd ya let her do that?" Tai asked, still stretched out full length on the ground.

"Huh?" Yama replied inarticulately.

"Why'd you let all over you like that?"

"I-I don't know. Habit, I guess."

"Well break it." Tai said testily. He quickly stood up and retrieved his ball before staring Yama straight in the eye. "Two people are needed to make someone feel worthless; one person to do the degrading and another to lie down and take it."

Yama raised an eyebrow. "I know you aren't clever enough to come up with that on the spur of the moment."

Tai grinned, relaxing back into his normal casual attitude, "You're right, I read it in a book."

"Gasp!" Yama clutched his chest in mock surprise, "Tai reading! This must be the first sign of the apocalypse."

Tai shoved him good-naturedly on the shoulder and started walking off into the street.

"So where do you want to go?" asked Yama, shoving his hands into his pockets as he caught up with Tai.

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?" Tai replied with a mischievous grin.

"Now don't start that again." Yama said giving Tai the response that he wanted.

Tai laughed. "I love it when you play along." He swung his arm around Yama's shoulder and led him off to the park.