NOTES Hi! Just a quick note before we start. Checked out the question mark thing, it's not like that on the original copy so I'm going to reload it and hope it works. Thanks for telling me (I'm so clueless sometimes) Also after reading one of the reviews I have deemed it necessary to point out the obvious. Yes they are older than normal because this is romance. Artistic licenses were taken and abused with the vampire and Tai and Yama are destined to be together (the creaters had them both shot together and always put them together not me) Thank you for reviewing I love you all and as soon as my other stories are up I'll write a note here.
Disclaimer I own nothing except this pillow with a picture of Yama on it!
Warnings: Mentions of M/M, abuse, cutting and suicide. Oh yes and swearing.
When Darkness Falls
Everything was silent, the evil digimon had gone with their master leaving nothing to distract the remaining Digidestined. As the shock and horror faded soft sobs broke the unnatural silence. Tk screamed out for his brother and ran to Taichi were he fell and cried on the older boys shoulder begging for his brother to be returned to him. Tais entire frame shook with heaving sobs, he barely managed to wrap a comforting arm around Takeru in a meager attempt at comfort.
"Tai...? Sora started softly in such a way that everyone knew what was coming, motherly comforting, talk of how everything would be fine, but Tai couldn't handle that. If she said it, actually put into words that Yamato was gone, than it would be true. If no one said it he could pretend for just a little longer that it was no big deal and that any time now Yamato would return to them. If she spoke there was actually a chance that Tai would never see again see Yama, never tell him he was sorry, never tell him everything he had ever wished to tell the earth bound angel but never had the courage to. No, Sora could not talk; there was no time to indulge the girls mothering tendencies when all he had to do was go retrieve his Matt.
"Alright! Lets go save Yama!" Tai jumped up, hand thrown up in the air like they had already won. "Izzy! Can you find the location of Myotismons base?" Tais voice held such charge, such determination that most of the group was enveloped by an overwhelming feeling that everything would be all right.
"Give me a minute! Maybe if I...? Izzy rambled off excitedly as he flipped on his laptop.
"Tai." Sora spoke again just as soft as before but infinitely more determined. "You saw what happened, we don't even know if he is still..."
"NO!" Taichis eyes flashed and his words came out more like a roar than anything. "If he were dead I would know! I just would!" His wide chocolate eyes glittered with unshed tears as he advanced menacingly on the girl. "Yama is not dead and don't you dare even say that! We will not give up!" Sora backed away; frightened by the display, never had Taichi acted this way in all the time they had known each other. The brunette turned on his heals and picked Takeru from the ground from where he had fallen and refused to get up.
"My Onii-chan is going to be ok right Tai?" Takeru sniffed a little as he spoke but the tears had vanished as he watched Taichis speech in awe.
"Of course!" Tai replayed with a confident grin. "We are going to get him back and it will be just like old times! But until then you don't have to worry because Yama can watch himself and I will watch over you!" Tk grinned and hugged Taichi around the neck. 'I promised I would watch over him for you Yama and I will. I will protect you too all you have to do is hold on just a little longer, I will save you Yama.'
Takeru still in his arms Taichi stalked over to Izzy, glaring venomously at Sora as he walked past, daring her to even mention Matt. Sensing someone behind him Izzy started to talk, his eyes never leaving the screen.
"I did a few searches but came up with nothing. Right now I?m establishing a direct connection with Genni...Got it! He is sending me the coordinates, the castle is pretty far away but we can make it." Tai nodded.
"Great! Lets go everyone!" Taichi put Takeru deftly on the ground and walked to the front of the group. "To Yama!"
The group walked for hours without stopping, Taichi checking his compass every few minutes, nervous to walk even slightly off course for any length of time. Everyone was growing tired but didn't have the heart to ask their nearly frantic leader to stop, even Mimi who is always first to complain kept her mouth shut, a determined look on her face.
"Taichi we need to stop." Soras voice broke the tense silence that surrounded them. Taichi spun around to face her, eyes flashing dangerously.
"We have to keep going! It's a long trip and we can?t waste time on breaks! He needs us!"
"I know all this Taichi but you have to think about those of us that are still here! Look at poor Tk, he is struggling to keep up!" Sora was more than slightly annoyed with Tais behavior and decided that it was up to her to stand up for the needs of the group. Instead of giving in or even yelling as she expected silently Taichi walked around her to where Takeru was sitting with Patamon.
"I?m sorry Tk, I didn't realize you still have shorter legs than the rest of us!" But Takeru was determined; he even smiled up at the brunette.
"No, I want to keep going! For my Onii-chan!" Tai nodded and picked up the smaller child.
"We are going to keep moving! I know about Tk but does anyone else need help?" He ignored the glares he was getting from Sora and watched the rest of the group for any signs of weakness.
"We can do this!" Izzy said, stepping forward so that the whole group could see him. The others all nodded in agreement, minus the infuriated Sora.
"We'll follow you Taichi!" Mimi added in one of her rare moments of enthusiasm for work. "I know Yamato would do the same for any of us!"
Tai looked down as he felt a tug on the hem of his shirt. Augumon was staring up at him now, a smile on his face and his eyes filled with pride and admiration for his human partner. "Lets go get him!"
"Right!" Once again they set off. It was hours later, when the sun had finally fallen behind the trees and sounds of stumbling followed Tai instead of the steady padding of feet, that they stopped.
Everyone fell asleep right after dinner with promises to get up early the next morning. Only Tai lay restless, thoughts of Yamato haunting him.
'This is all my fault. If I had done even one thing differently Yamato would still be here with us, safe and happy. No he wouldn't be happy, how could he be when he is afraid I will send him away on a whim. I am such a fool, I should have asked him what had happened when I disappeared instead of assuming Takeru had gotten everything clearly in the state he was in, crying for his big brother.' A slight breeze swept through the camp but it did nothing to pacify the panicked heat that radiated from Taichi. As a feeling of helplessness washed over him Taichi tore the gloves from his hands in a hope that some of the heat would dissipate.
'I never should have sent him away, never should have been so cold to him. Then we never would have fought and in battle he would have been at my side where he belongs, where I can protect him. Hell I never should have left him all alone and completely defenseless like that, Gabumon barely even had a chance to digivolve a that point.' Tears welled in his sleepless eyes and he tried to blink them away only to have them spill down his cheeks. 'I let him down.' His hands balled into fists, self-hatred pulsing through him. He didn't even notice that his fingernails dug into the sensitive flesh of his palms creating little crescent moons of crimson.
The thoughts and images that he had tried so hard to avoid during the day now flooded his mind, each one more painful than the last. 'I let my own feelings get in the way of doing what was right for the group, I am a horrible leader, Yama was right all along. I sent him away on purpose, I didn't want to see him, could deal with him there. It had hurt too much, every time I saw him I thought of how I could never have him, how he didn't even want to look for me. I know now that he did look for me but at the time...it hurt more than if any of the others had given up because it was him, it was my Yama.'
Ever sense the first time the group had broken up and Yamato ended up crying in his arms Tai had been enraptured. Something about the blonde just made Taichi want to be around him always. Just seeing Yamato in pain tore at his soul. He thought that maybe if Yamato was not there that the pain of betrayal would leave him too, instead he found that every waking moment was consumed by thoughts of the blue-eyed beauty. In his heart Tai had always loved Matt but it took that time apart for him to tell what it really was. What he felt was not the love of a friend or a brother, he loved Yamato with every fiber of his being and simply could not live without him. Even after all that he couldn't find the courage to tell Yamato how he felt, and now he may never get the chance.
His stomach twisted angrily and threatened to dispel its contents, which was very little sense he had barely eaten sense Matts kidnapping. Tai clamped his mouth shut, forcing the bile back down his throat as his bloodied hands fell to his stomach.
'No! I will find him and he will be fine so everything can go back to normal!' He told himself desperately but his body didn't listen. Tears still glistening in his deep chocolate eyes he curled up into a ball, content to deal with the pain because it was what he disserved. But the guilt and anxious pain that had him clutching his knees to his chest was nothing in comparison to the pain he felt in his heart. It was a constant throbbing pain that sapped him of his energy and sent visions of Yamato in front of his eyes. For some strange reason it comforted him, it told him that Matt was still alive. A final image of stormy blue eyes and golden hair comforted him as he passed out with a soft "I love you" on his lips that was whisked away by the nighttime breeze.
Yamato woke up in stages, noticing everything slowly. First was the pain that came with each shallow breath as his ribs screamed in agony. Next was the sharper searing pain that shot up his leg and into his spine as he tried to move his ankle. Yamato opened his eyes slightly, just enough for the unforgiving light to make them tear before he could shut them again. Unable to move or look around without suffering he next noticed the plush bed beneath him with a layer of soft velvet covering it. The thing is that in the digital world such luxuries are nearly non- existent. Images of battle flashed behind his closed eyes, Taichi leaving him all alone and then cold unyielding arms surrounding him, razor sharp fangs and a cold humorless laugh of the damned.
His hands flew to his neck, fruitlessly trying to protect his fragile throat but it was too late. Two crimson holes decorated the flawless skin.
"No!" Matt yelled hopelessly, sitting up and instantly regretting it as pain shot through his lithe frame.
"Your not a vampire if that's what you?re thinking, or dead for that matter." It was a female voice at the end of the bed, one that commanded attention and power without effort.
Yamatos eyes blinked open to find a small cat-like digimon, no bigger than Gabumon. Determined to force his eyes open he examined the rest of the room. The bed was covered in a deep crimson fabric; the color dominated the room, and heavy velvet curtains hung over the windows letting a single stream of light fall onto the head of the bed.
"Why am I here?" His voice was strong and his face set. Suddenly Matt was glad for the life that had forced him to hide behind a stoic mask, now the mask was so perfect that the fear the tore at his heart was hidden by a façade of courage he wish he felt.
"Because of what you are." The creature hopped up onto the bed effortlessly as she spoke.
"There are other Digidestined, I am..." Yamato had everything he was going to say planned out like he always did but was forced to stop as the creature spoke again.
"You are special. Not because you are a Digidestined but because you are different from the rest of the human children."
"Where are they? What have you done to them?" He shouted before he could stop himself. In the following silence he cursed himself for showing weakness so easily but he couldn't help it, if they had even touched Taichi...
"We did nothing to them. We took what we wanted, you, and then left. Without a lot of trouble on their part either."
"Why? What am I to you?" The mask was back in place, as uncaring as ever but he couldn't help the slightly inquisitive tone in his voice.
"Like I have said before, you are special. You bearer of friendship, have been chosen by Lord Myotismon for your dark heart." The digimon smiled as she walked forward, the smile held no humor, no happiness, it was a smile borne of a sadistic joy because she knew some ill fated piece of information that Matt did not. "Where are you friends bearer of friendship?"
"Looking for me!" The precious mask stayed in place this time but his eyes he could not control. His stormy blue eyes flashed dangerously at the creature, she had hit a nerve.
"Such an optimistic child, Maybe your right, maybe the child of love will not sway the leader, maybe she does not see you as in her way to get to the boy. In a perfect world maybe the holder of courage will forget you didn't want to look for him."
"No, you?re making this up! You have no idea what is going on with them!" This time his voice wavered. Yamato was absolutely terrified now, all of it fit so well, how could she make all of that up? Taichi didn't believe him about wanting to look for him, that's why he had just been abandoned during battle, not shunned, Taichi would never do that, but not helping him. Sora, the name in its self is enough to make Yamato want to hurl. She tries so hard to be nice to everyone but how could she be when she is so jealous of Yamato always being with Taichi. Or of them use to always being together. With him gone she could finally have Taichi all to herself, no stupid 'best friend' to get in the way. No, he had to hope that they would come, that the digimon was lying to him. Besides Takeru still needed him, Tk was young and needed his Onii-chan.
"I stayed after the battle. It only took a minute for all of this to show up. Don't worry about the little one either, Takeru, he dubbed the leader his new 'Onii-chan'. Think what you will but Lord Myotismon wants to see now that you are awake."
Tk had told him about Tai being his temporary big brother when they had been separated, only fitting that they do it now on a more permanent basis. Takeru had always looked up to Taichi and himself; everything the digimon said made perfect sense. The cat-digimon left the room, the door swinging shut behind her. Finally he was alone.
Tears stung the back of his eyes, threatening to tumble down his elegant face. With a soft sob he let himself fall back into the pillows, which quickly enveloped him. He tried to think logically, tried not to let the digimons words affect him. Sora would probably spend more time attaching herself to Taichi than looking but would she actually stop the others from doing so? It was very possible that she would try, but to have it work...then there was Taichi himself, more than likely he thought Yamato had stopped the search for him. He had already sent Matt away once; why not let someone else do it for him? The first tear slipped softly down his pallid face leaving a salty watermark in its wake. Takeru, he is so young and naïve with basic concepts a person should have escaping him because of his abnormal childhood. It wouldn't be hard for Tk to simply take on Taichi as a brother. Besides, Yamato thought with another tear escaping his ocean blue eyes, he will be better off with a role model like Tai, someone who isn't so fucked up.
For the first time sense coming to the digital world Yamato willingly let the darkness seep into his heart. Before this adventure he had never been happy. His whole life was filled with fighting and screaming. Threats of suicide by those he held as role models, frantic nights ducking as everything not welded to the floor was thrown at him, and days spent hiding in his closet because the alcohol had flown a bit too freely and his already bruised body could take no more abuse.
At some point his optimism had left him and the void had been filled with darkness. Time once spent thinking about happier times was consumed by thought of death and of his precious shard of glass and the blood and release that came in the darkness of his room. The only reason he had not just killed himself was Takeru, his brother held onto the sweet naiveté of childhood, blissfully unaware of what all the screaming meant and only knew that after the screaming and some crying on his part his Onii-chan would hunt through the empty refrigerator and give him some ice cream that Matt always bought with his school lunch money.
The moment Yamato had come into the digital world and was welcomed with open arms by a digimon who inherently loved him and a leader who immediately adopted him as a best friend, all of the darkness melted away, his entire life seemed so far away that it was almost as if he had watched it indifferently on TV rather than lived it himself. But even with the sorrow gone the scars remained, easily aggravated and threatened constantly to once more plunge him into darkness. Now the darkness had once again taken over but this time one thing was different, the thing that kept him alive, Takeru needing him, was no longer there.
"Gatomon how did it go?" A cold otherworldly voice asked the moment the heavy wooden door shut behind the cat digimon.
"He is already doubting my lord. He will be easily swayed...but why do you not just kill him? I can do it now, be rid of the Digidestined once and for all, just one swipe of my claws and..."
"No! He is not to be harmed; I am the only one that is allowed to decide such a thing. I'm disappointed Gatomon, you think of only the immediate future. Yes, I could kill him and the rest of them but more will come in their place. One group fails, dies, and another is sent in their place. But...? In the blink of an eye Myotismon had found a book and opened it to yellowing pages describing the Digidestined. "They must all fail for this to happen, if I keep one with me, forever, no more will follow because he remains." His long fingers caressed the symbols decorating the pages.
"I did not know my lord. He will not be harmed." Gatomon bowed lowly but seeing that her master was lost in thought dared to ask another question. "Why do you wait to turn him Master?"
"These things take a certain elegance that you seem to be lacking tonight Gatomon." His soulless blue eyes stared down at the smaller digimon accusingly. "Very few creatures have what is required to become a vampire. A pained heart to turn them, beauty and grace to survive...the boy has all of these things and as a vampire they will flourish and grow beyond his wildest dreams. But he must be ready when I do it, if not he may reject the process and die leaving me with nothing." The harshness left his eyes only to be replaced by a glazed far off look that did nothing to ease the fear he inflicted with them. "Not in an age have I seen one of my own kind. To have him to train and converse with in a way only immortals can will be invaluable to me. He will turn, and he will be mine."
Thank you everyone who reviewed! You all ROCK! Remember reviewing is your friend! Besides Yamato wants you to! (Forces Yama to do puppy dog eyes)