Disclaimer: no money is coming from this. Digimon does not belong to me.

Note: the italicized part below is a dream sequence. Normally, the italics are thoughts… and seeing how a dream is a kind of thought… well, you see where i'm going with this... okay, on with the story!

Yama's POV:

I was being dragged into a dungeon. My whole body was in pain. 'So this is hell.' I thought to myself. Suddenly, my limbs were jarred; I had been dropped, facedown, on a hard, stone floor. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move, I couldn't get up off the floor; I was too weak, too hurt. A man walked in, I could tell by the heavy footsteps, and with his foot, kicked me onto my back. He looked down on me with contempt and disgust evident on his face but there was a bit of malicious glee too. He crouched down so that his face was an inch from mine.

"You. Are. Going. To. Wish. You. Had. Never. Been. Born." He whispered slowly, enunciating to get his point across. My stomach rolled; his breath was rancid and I was almost glad I'd had nothing to eat. He grabbed me painfully by my hair and pulled me to my feet. "Look. Look what you did." He forced my gaze up and my eyes watered at the sight. In front of me was Tai. He was hanging by his wrists from iron chains pegged to the stone wall. He was tall but his toes barely touched the floor; all his weight was suspended on his arms. He was thin, so thin, as if he'd gone a longer time than me without eating. I could see his ribs sticking out; he looked like nothing more than a pile of skin and bones. But he was still so beautiful. He was still so perfect.

"Tai?" I asked, disbelieving. Hearing his name, he looked up and I shrank away from the sight of his bruised face. Every inch of his perfect skin was covered with bruises and fresh or infected gashes. He shivered from the cold; the clothes hanging on his thin frame were ragged and torn, unfit for anything but barely covering the essentials. "No." I covered my eyes, shaking my head. "No, Tai. What happened to you?" He glared at me with hateful eyes. The once-warm chocolate brown eyes were icy and hard.

"You betrayed me, Yamato." I flinched at the use of my real name and the loathing in his voice; he never used my real name. "I'm going to die and it's all your fault. You caused all my pain and suffering. I HATE YOU!" My heart jumped to my throat. He hated me. He hated me. I was nothing more than a despicable creature standing in front of him. My knees shook and I nearly fell. The man holding me up was laughing spitefully beside me. I could barely speak around the lump that had formed in my throat and I had to swallow hard to get my voice to become more than a whisper.

"No. Please, Tai, I didn't mean to. I would never hurt you. I didn't do any-" My words were cut off by a scream and—Tai was dead, his lifeless body hanging limp before my eyes. I was in shock. Dead. "Tai." Before I could say anything else, greedy hands pushed me to the floor, which turned into a hard bed with handcuffs attached to the headboard and the dungeon changed into a musty room with no lights and a window with bars. Suddenly, my hands were bound, I couldn't move, where had all my clothes gone? What was-? And pain was all that I knew. Grunting, panting, a voice whispering horrible things in my ear as he roughly pushed in and out of me. I could smell beer and the breath of someone who hadn't brushed his teeth in a long time. He leered at me. Hands touching me where no hands should be permitted. "NOOO!" I screamed, unable to move but thrashing as wildly as I was able. "NOOO! Tai! Help! Leave me alone! Get off! NOOOOO!" I was lost in my agony and I was going to die…

"Yama!" Tai's voice cut in urgently, "Yama, wake up. It's just a dream. Wake up." Soft hands grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently. My eyes popped open and I stared into his face but I refused to let my hopes up. Tai was dead. But I could feel his hands on my shoulders; see his chest heaving, what if this was all an illusion? I reached up and touched his face, his perfect nose, those sculpted lips through which the warm breath of life was passing through.

"Tai," I breathed, sure now that it was him. "Oh Taichi, I'm so sorry! Don't hate me. I didn't mean to. I-I," from then on my words were incoherent. I had dissolved into gut-wrenching sobs. It had seemed so real. It was every one of my fears rolled together and I knew that if I slept again, it would come back. If it wasn't my father, it was the nightmares.

"Hey, shhh. It's ok. It was just a nightmare." His voice was soft and he pulled me into a hug. He rubbed my back and my head with a circular motion, trying to calm me down. I clutched him fiercely, with all of my might, unwilling to let go of him. "Don't worry. Everything'll be okay." He murmured into my hair. I rested my cheek against his chest, my head was in the little space between his chin and chest. I was calming down just breathing in his scent and feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. The rubbing he was doing was soothing and I could feel every one of my muscles relax. Pretty soon, my eyes closed of their own accord and, even though I fought desperately to relish the fact that I was being held by the love of my life, I fell asleep and this time, my slumber was unpunctuated with the nightmares that always seemed to be present. For the first time in a long time, I slept without any fear of nightmares or groping hands. For the first time in a long time, I was able to sleep feeling safe and warm and happy.

Tai's POV:

I held him to me in an attempt that maybe if he realized that I wouldn't hurt him, he would calm down. He kept babbling about how sorry he was, how he didn't want me to hate him and I was puzzled. Why was he dreaming about me? Then he started crying so hard his shoulders knocked against me. I had never heard him cry like this before. It was starting to scare me. But I shook away the fear and apprehension and tried my best to soothe him. I told him he would be okay, that he was safe, it was just a dream. I even added a back rub; my mother used to do that to me when I was little and had just had a bad dream, it helped a lot. Eventually, he calmed down, though he still clung to me like a baby. Damn, he had an iron grip when he really wanted to. But I breathed in and out, not letting him be aware of my palpitating heart as I hugged him to my chest. I rested my chin on the top of his head and let his hair tickle me. As I held him and rocked him, slightly humming, I felt strangely protective of him. I didn't know what had happened to him to make him act so bizarrely but I knew that whatever it was, it was bad and I hated it. Hated it for making him to be fearful, afraid, and timid. I saw the way he acted around everyone at school; he put up a façade and never allowed anyone near him. Well, except me of course. I had always been there for him and he knew it. He trusted me but I didn't know why he had so much trouble trusting everyone around him. I was going to get to the bottom of this, no matter how ugly or frightening it might be. I was going to do everything in my power to help my best friend. As I vowed this, he shifted slightly and sighed. I looked down and, to my surprise, saw that he had fallen asleep. I smiled. He looked so much like a little boy, like an angel that I couldn't help myself. My arms were still around him, holding him close and his grip on me hadn't relaxed either. This was Yama, my best friend in the whole world, and nothing was going to hurt him, not while I was around.

A/N: I liked the dream sequence. Thanks to those who have reviewed. I find myself oddly propelled to write when you guys do… so keep em coming!