Thanks for the reviews and all. Here's the next chapter. The head trip begins!
The character Katie belongs to my sister. I just use her as comedy relief to give Matt something else to worry about besides Jun. Everyone else doesn't belong to me or anyone I know.

Misunderstandings
Chapter 2: Forgetting, But Not Forgotten

"I'll never leave you again."

Tai suddenly sat up. He remembered hearing those words several weeks ago. He looked down from the top of the bunk around the dark room. She was sitting in his computer chair at his desk, looking up at him. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Oh," she replied. They sat and stared at one another again.

"I'll just be going back to sleep," Tai stuttered.

He laid down, turning his back to her, feeling her watchful eyes on him. He pulled the sheets higher up to his head. He wished that she wouldn't watch him at night. Even in the past, it was creepy. The blood was slowly being washed from his mind, but it wasn't fast enough. The more days that passed by, the stronger the feeling of guilt grew. It was the constant nagging presence he felt that he carried out into the world. He couldn't avoid it and he couldn't escape it. At home, she was always following him, looking over his shoulder. At school, the attitude of his classmates toward him reminded him. His friends treated him differently. He knew that they were treating him as if he were fragile and breakable. It upset him, but he couldn't say anything.

The week after the accident, he had been walking in the hall at school, by then everyone knew. They whispered to one another as he walked by, thinking that he couldn't hear them, but he heard every word. Did you hear what happened? Poor guy. Yeah. They were really an item. Did you hear how it happened? Yeah. He killed his own girlfriend. But he just couldn't say anything. There was nothing to say. He didn't know what to think because he didn't know what was real anymore.

Now that some time had passed, the talking began to dwindle, but his feelings remained the same. Activity continued as normal in the cafeteria. He still stared at his food while he ate. He was always in need of something to distract his thoughts. Even if it was for a few minutes it would be relief for him. Matt saw him sit alone picking at the mediocre excuse for nutrition. He put on a pleasant smile and walked over to the table.

"Hey buddy," he said pleasantly.

"Hey," Tai muttered, not looking up from his activity. Matt sat in the seat in front of Tai, looking across the table. He studied Tai for a moment.

"So," he finally said. "How's it going?"

Tai suddenly stopped his spork. He moved his eyes up at him. Matt smiled and chuckled nervously.

"Yamato!" Katie sang out. Matt's heart skipped a beat. He was still afraid of her, despite being her boyfriend. Still better than Jun was his motto. "Mind if I sit with you guys?" she asked sweetly.

"Uh… sure," Matt chuckled nervously. She sat down next to her sweetheart. He blushed a lot. Tai watched them with a blank stare, the bond that they had developed over the past years: it was unmistakable that they were in love, even though Matt didn't want to admit it. He looked back down at his tray.

"How's it going?" Katie asked with a smile. Matt nudged her arm to shut her up. "Oh, Matt," Katie smiled naughtily.

"That wasn't what I meant," he grunted under his breath.

"Fine," Tai said. Matt and Katie looked at him. "You asked 'how's it going' and I answered 'fine'."

"Oh, that's good," Matt laughed rubbing his neck. There was an uneasy silence between the three. Tai stared at the two with no expression. Matt sat and stared at Tai nervously. Katie sat and smiled cheerfully with no thought running through her blonde head, the wind whistling.

"Listen, I gotta go," Tai finally spoke up. "I got some things to do." He stood up and pushed the chair back in.

"Okay, man. See you later," Matt said. They watched him leave the cafeteria at a slow pace.

"Yamato?" Katie asked. "Does Tai seem to be acting different as of late?"

"How so?" Matt asked.

"It's like he's carrying a burden. You could see it in his eyes. A buried pain," she explained.

"I know," Matt sighed. "He hasn't been the same since Sora died that night."

xxxxxxxxxx

Tai entered his room and looked around. He noticed Sora lying asleep on Kari's bed. He had a sudden urge inside.

xxxxxxxxxx

"He has self inflicted guilt," Matt explained. "He blames himself for her death."

xxxxxxxxxx

He sat by her side, looking down at her. He touched the bottom button of her blouse. Images of the past flashed through his mind as each button came undone. He was almost done, on the top button when suddenly his name was called from the other room. He jumped suddenly, thinking he was caught. Sora had suddenly disappeared. He sat up, staring at where she had been.

"Tai! Are you home?" his mother called.

xxxxxxxxxx

Matt and Katie sat together in the shade of a tree in the park. "I don't blame him," Matt muttered in a depressed tone. "Things could have turned out so much different had he not taken her for granted."

xxxxxxxxxx(later)

Tai stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the gray stone. The grass had grown back nicely. It had been torn up last month. A small garden was planted with it. He squatted down and leaned forward to get a better look. Her name was there, but he didn't know where she was. She was always at the apartment when she should have been there. He was getting confused again. Could this place possibly be real? What brings him back if there is nothing there? He looked around, trying to recreate the people who stood around him. Why were they crying and so sad if there was nothing there? What was in that shinny box? He remembered looking in it and seeing her lying there, asleep. But it couldn't have been her. She was with him in his room while he was dressing to go there. He held his head in his hands. It wasn't making any sense to him. Something was out of place, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He stood back up, picked up his backpack, and walked away.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Saving the day… But we don't get paid… But hey that's okay…" Davis sang as he walked down the street. "Because we are… kick ass!" Tai slowly walked in his direction. "Hey Tai!" Davis greeted enthusiastically. "?Que… pasa?" Davis mumbled as Tai passed him without glance or acknowledgment. "Huh?" Davis huffed, confused.

He continued on, thinking about what he just saw. Tai had totally ignored him. It almost hurt. He joined Yolei and Cody at Cody's house for a homework session. He told them about what happened, speaking dramatically about how he was so rudely ignored.

"Come on Davis," Yolei scolded him. "Give him a break. It's been a tough month for him."

"But he doesn't have to take it out on us. And besides, we should be focusing on what's ahead. Need I remind you of the threat."

Meanwhile, Cody sat to the side and listened, pretending to read in his textbook; pretending that nothing was wrong.

"I didn't want to think this," he heard Davis say, "but maybe this whole thing really is Tai's fault." He suddenly heard a quick stinging slap sound. He looked over at Davis and Yolei in surprise. He saw Davis rubbing a red spot on his cheek. Yolei balled her trembling hand into a fist.

"Don't you dare say that!" she screamed angrily, holding back tears. "It was an accident! You can't control accidents!"

"But Tai's the one who hurt her!" Davis shouted back in defense.

"It doesn't matter anymore!" Yolei finished. Cody looked back to his notebook.

"Sora," he thought to himself. "Of all the times to die, why now?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

Tai opened the door to his apartment.

"Hey Tai. You hungry?" Sora asked.

"Nah," Tai answered in a monotonous voice. He walked by the kitchen and into his room. He tossed his backpack onto Kari's bed, pulled out his textbook and sat down at the desk.

"Homework?" Sora inquired, looking over his shoulder.

"Sucks," Tai answered.

"It sure does," she groaned. She was interrupted when Kari rushed into the room.

"Hi Tai!" she greeted.

"Hi Kari," he muttered.

"Bye Tai," Kari said as she began to rush out.

"Hey!" Tai shouted after her. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"TK's taking me on a date," she said. "Mom knows I'm going out, but she doesn't know that it's a date. So don't tell," she finished sternly.

"Fine," Tai grumbled. Sora watched her leave in excitement.

"That's so cute," she said. "You know, I'll bet they'll end up just like us."

Tai gasped when he heard her say it. Suddenly, all the blood that had washed out of his mind returned. Just like us? Would Kari lie on a stretcher, covered with blood? Would their mother sit by her casket and cry? Would the Digidestined gather in mourning over a lost sister, their sorrowful cries rising ever higher? Would TK have to feel the same guilt and pain and self-hatred that Tai felt all the time? It was too much to take anymore. When it could affect anyone else, especially the people he had left in his life, it was too much to comprehend. He stood up quickly, slamming his palms on the desk.

"Tai? What's wrong?" Sora asked. Tai hustled toward the door. "Where are you going?" she asked in distress.

"I have to go do something," Tai replied.

"But Tai…" Sora called after him, but he had already left. "Did I say something wrong?"

And there's chapter 2! Hopefully it wasn't too confusing or anything like that and hopefully it explained some stuff for those who had questions about thefirst chapter. More to come, so keep an eye out.
And also forgive me, but I had to use a series of "x's" to divide up the sections. I don't know what's wrong with the edit thing.