Eesh. I hope this chapter doesn't get too long. I'm gonna attempt to add in the originally intended battle against the threat, so bear with me please. Basically, the real conflict happens between Tai and Sora, but I had said that there was a looming threat and by god I better follow through! Also, this could get a bit serious.

Like always, I don't own nothin' but my mind... and sometimes I wonder if I even have control of that.

Misunderstandings
Chapter 4: Confront

Once Ken left, Kari slowly crept up to the bedroom door. She carefully peeked inside. The room looked the same as it had always been, even before the accident. Only, knowing that Sora had been watching made the room feel more uneasing. She took a breath and stepped inside.

"Sora," she squeaked out nervously. "If you can hear me, I just want to say I'm sorry that you're stuck here. We really miss you. It's not the same without you." She sighed sadly. "Tai's not the same without you. He's gotten really weird. He's been really depressed. I know he regrets everything that happened, but…"

She suddenly gasped. Her skin stung as a sudden cold settled into the room. Her breath floated in front of her face.

"Sora?" she stuttered. "Are you sad?" The air was still. "Are you angry?" she shuddered. She gasped as a chill jumped up her spine and spread through her body. She fearfully turned to look behind her: where she could sense the sensation. The door had swung wide open.

Meanwhile, Tai sulked through the park, thinking about that last night. He had no idea what to do. He didn't want to let Sora go, but he couldn't handle her presence any longer. He felt discomfort when she used to bring him comfort. She reminded him of his sadness when she used to bring him pure happiness. When she came on to him that last night, he felt awkward and uneasy when they used to par-take in "merriment" regularly.

He looked over at the open field, still able to see a little five-year old Sora running and kicking a soccer ball, sprinting toward the goal. Then, like the little ass he was the little five-year old Tai slid in front of her, taking the ball from her possession and intentionally tripping her. He thought for sure that his life was going to end that day. She pounced on him and pinned his shoulders to the ground. Her blood red eyes burned in hellish fury, but then they gave way to amusement, and they laughed together: the very first happiness that they shared. Tai couldn't hold it any longer. The thought of Sora alive while she was in truth dead brought guilty tears to his eyes. The breeze began to blow, bringing tiny blossoms down around him, as if the trees were crying with him. How depressing. The little blossoms only created a greater feeling of sorrow in Tai's torn heart.

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Kari had sat against the wall for a long time, unwilling to leave a hurting friend alone. Her skin was bitten by the cold. A strong presence surrounded her. She sat and watched the still room intently.

"Huh?" she muttered.

Something changed. On the top bunk, on Tai's bed, the edge of the mattress was dipped. An invisible pressure was being applied to it. She stood up and walked up to it, driven by either curiosity, or an unseen force. She reached out her hand to touch the air over it. As she drew closer, the air became icier, then a blinding flash.

Her hand had changed. It was cut and bleeding, lying lifeless. She was unable to move it; a distant pain could be felt every time she tried. Her body felt distant, as if it had been detached. She felt something ooze between her eyes and across the bridge of her nose. She looked up and saw a strange, shadowy man above her. He looked panicked and frightened. She looked back to her hand and noticed a shadow and its flashing lights. The sound it made was too faint and far away to hear. Despite the pain, she reached her hand out toward the shadow, desperate to reach it. The shadow faded; all that was left was its lights. Smaller shadows ran toward her, but before they could reach her, they were gone.

Kari gasped in shock as a sharp pain ripped through her. She grasped at her chest, panting heavily, afraid that her heart would stop. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and tears stung her eyes.

"What other memories do you have?" she moaned, reaching her hand out again.

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Tai continued walking, bringing up later memories. He and Sora stood alone, shortly before they were to board the trolley that would carry them home.

"I said good bye to Biyomon," she smiled, trying to hide tears of sadness. Tai gazed at her, his heart torn. There was only one thing he could do to cheer up the both of them. He stepped up to her, taking her shoulders and without explanation, pulled her into a kiss. Sora was shocked at first, but she relaxed into him. They finally found the power to pull away.

"I love you, with all of my heart," Tai whispered.

"I love you too," she answered.

Tai smiled to himself.

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It was silent. There was no more pain. There were no more frantic thoughts. She couldn't feel the cold liquid dripping from her finger -tips anymore. She couldn't feel the choking or the gurgling in her lungs anymore. But there was one last image burned into her mind: the last thing she saw was the ceiling of some unfamiliar vehicle. And there was no more.

Kari slowly pulled her hand away. A soft sob jumped from her throat. She sank to her knees and hid her face behind her hands. Sora looked down at Kari from the bunk, her tears undisturbed, regretful that Kari had to suffer that. "And now you know… Hikari," she whispered sadly.

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Tai stepped into the entry and slipped off his shoes. He turned and took into his arms Sora, who also removed her shoes. They kissed wildly, tugging on each other's clothes, gradually waddling awkwardly toward the couch. Tai dipped her and fell with her onto the couch cushions.

That was another favorite memory of his as he plopped down on the couch. He laid there and stared blankly at the television, uninterested in wondering why Homer Simpson's face would be on one of their Japanese soapboxes(Mr. Sparkle!), which was a favorite gag of theirs whenever the commercial came on. He heard feet shuffling on the other side of the room. He sat up and looked over the top of the couch. Kari stood there and stared at him, her eyes red and soaked.

"Oh Tai!" she sobbed. "It was horrible! She died so horribly!"

"Who?" Tai asked.

"Sora! I saw it all! I felt it all! It was so painful! She was so afraid!" she sobbed out into her hands. She looked up to him. "She thought of you the entire time." Tai stared at her silently for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what she was talking about. He then stood and walked to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Look, Kari," he explained calmly. "She's in a better place now."

"You liar!" Kari screamed. "No she's not! She's trapped here!"

"What?" Tai gasped, taken aback. "How did you…"

Kari pulled away from him. "How could you keep that from us?" she screamed. "You think you're the only one suffering from her death? I've been worried sick about you! We've all been worried about you! We can't believe you haven't committed suicide yet!"

Tai froze, unable to strike back or even console her. She rushed by him, crying loudly, slamming the front door as she left. Tai stared ahead, the shock still there.

She ran down towards the street, crying angry and hurt tears. She knew that she would regret saying that to Tai, but she couldn't face him now. She was upset at her big brother and she was afraid of Sora. The experience of death was still fresh in her mind. An explosion stopped her in her tracks at it ripped up the street. A terrible sound echoed through the twilight.

"It's here!" Kari shouted.

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Tai peered into the room and felt the stale cold seep out. Sora was hunched over, crying into her hands on his bed.

"Sora?" he asked as he stepped inside. "Why are you crying?"

"You're such a jerk," she sobbed.

"Sora…" Tai began.

"STOP!" Sora screamed angrily. A blast of frozen air hit him, freezing him in his tracks. He shivered violently. "You always take me for granted," Sora sobbed. She glared at him. "Do you want me to go away? Is that what you really want?"

"What… who…" Tai stuttered. "What gave you that idea?"

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Sora growled. "Ken and Kari came here with my father, who had his ghost tracking equipment!"

"Ken?" Tai exclaimed.

Sora jumped down from the bed. "They were looking for me, Tai!" Tai tried to back away from her. She glared deep into his eyes. "Why did you talk to Ken about me? I thought you had more respect for me!" She circled around him, keeping her angry glare fixed on him. "I thought you learned your lesson after what happened, but no! Tai Kamiya can't learn anything! He has to make the same mistakes over and over again!"

"Sora…" Tai began.

"And his girlfriend will always be there for him. If something happens to her, he'll just jump in and save her in the nick of time and everything will be just peachy, just like before! But he can't be there all the time! He doesn't know how much pain he caused her!"

"Sora…" Tai tried again.

"He doesn't know how painful her death was or how frightened she was!"

"Sora, please…"

"Or that he was all that she could think of while she was dying!"

"Shut up!" Tai shouted, clasping his hands over his ears.

"Or maybe she's stuck in this Purgatory because of him!" She stopped in front of him. "Did you think about any of that?"

"SHUT UP!" he shouted again. He squeezed his eyes shut and swung his arm, his hand passed through her. He froze when he realized what he did.

"You think that just because I lost my body, I forfeit my feelings and emotions?" she snarled. "I'm not completely dead yet." Tai's body trembled, trying to hold back tears that had already surfaced. His voice was entirely lost, wild fear set in his eyes.

"I…" he managed to force out. Tears flowed uncontrollably. He turned and ran. "I can't take this anymore!" he cried.

Sora's glare followed him and she turned to walk away. She stopped when she heard Tai frantically dig through the junk drawer. That didn't seem right. She stepped out into the hall and looked into the kitchen, but the kitchen was empty. She walked by the bathroom door and saw Tai standing in front of the sink, sobbing heavily. His body shook violently.

"It'll be over soon," he shuddered.

"You're an idiot," Sora growled in a low voice.

Meanwhile, the others had arrived at the scene to fend off the threat that became a reality.

"Flamedramon! Get behind him!" Davis barked orders.

"Davis! Tai's not answering his D-terminal!" Ken said.

"Or the phone!" Matt added.

Kari looked to them in panic then looked away. Her brother was unaccounted for, and she had a sickening feeling of why that was.

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Tai and Sora sat on the bathroom floor and stared at each other. Tai slumped heavily against the cupboard beneath the sink. His achy hands rested on the floor; the warm fluid cooled as it settled into pools.

"Do you even know why I'm here?" Sora finally spoke up.

"To remind me every day of the pain and guilt I feel after causing you and everyone else pain," Tai answered.

"Not even close," she growled. "I'm not your ghost. I'm your angel… your guardian angel." Tai looked up at her, a dazed expression in his eyes. "They knew you would feel guilty after I died, so they sent me to help ease your pain," she explained softly. "At least until you felt that you wouldn't need me."

"Your presence only made my guilt worse," Tai explained. "I thought I was being driven to insanity."

Sora sighed, disappointed. "I guess this was the totally wrong way of helping you deal with such a heavy loss. We should have known."

"At least you tried to help," he said. "All I could do was make it worse for everyone. The night I learned you had died, and ever since then, all I wanted was to tell… to you… how awful I felt and for you to forgive me, or scorn me." Sora listened intently. "You could do whatever you wanted with me, just as long as you could hear my words and act on them. Then I would be all right."

"Oh Tai," Sora whimpered. "You had this entire time to do that. I would have listened."

"Sora…" Tai said tiredly. He fell over onto the floor.

"Tai," Sora exclaimed. She crawled over to him and rested his head in her lap. She looked at his bleeding hands. "Oh Tai," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"It's not your fault," Tai said calmly, though weakly.

"It is!" Sora cried. "I failed! I failed as a lover and an angel!"

"Hey," Tai heaved. "Don't blame yourself. We both made our mistakes. I was an ass, and we paid for it with our lives. I love you more than anything in the world; I was blinded to that on that night."

"I love you, too," Sora smiled, sad tears formed. "That's why I want to stay."

"Will you wait for me… in Heaven?"

"Of course, Tai," she smiled tenderly. "When you grow old, and live a full life, I'll still wait for you."

"Take me, with you…" Tai trailed. "I want…"

"No Tai. You're too young."

Tai lay peacefully in Sora's lap.

"TAI!" she screamed in terror. She was suddenly engulfed in light. She gasped in pain as a pair of wings shot out of her back. Images of themselves flashed in front of them from childhood to death, and then a blinding light was all that was left.

"Is this it?" Tai asked. "Is this Heaven."

"More or less… of a utopia," Sora explained. "Heaven depends on your view of Earth. Earth can be either Heaven… or Hell."

"I guess I've been forgiven," Tai answered.

And they disappeared in white light.

BUT WAIT! There's more! Don't go away, there's still one last chapter. Actually, I've got two endings. I'm going to use the happier one. If anyone is interested in seeing the somewhat-happy one, just let me know. I wouldn't mind posting it afterwards.