Warnings: Nothing I have not put you through already
Disclaimer: I own nata, nothing, zip, but I plan to kidnap Taichi and Yamato soon anyway.
It took no conscious thought for Yamato to find the remains of the house he had burnt, Takerus and Taichis makeshift funeral prier, he had not even noticed where his legs were taking him until all at once they stopped and let his mind run free. There had never been a plan, what he did now was the only option left to him, it was as natural as breathing, as natural as drinking blood. Here, in the place his beloved had died by Yamatos hands, where he had murdered the only friends he ever had and the only family he loved he too would die. If some part of themselves still clung to this place, tortured souls haunting the place their young lives were ripped from them then he would join them, his ashes would mix with Taichis and they would finally be together forever.
Gently, fearing that the slightest breath would cause his treasures to break, Yamato set down his brothers blackened hat and Taichis beloved compass, he could not risk them breaking as he gathered the wood he would require. Yamato had no idea how much fire it would take to end his immortal life but decided in the end to make a massive bonfire. He would not roam this world a half-dead burnt creature, if he could not find death in this fire he may be too weak to try again. All night with preternatural speed Yamato gathered timber until the wood was taller than he was and it had potential to rival the fire that had burnt Taichi.
Even now in the minutes before oblivion he could not see Taichi as dead. He had no body to bury, no way to put Tai to rest, no way to say a final goodbye. There had simply been too many plans involving Taichi for the brunet to die, he could not just leave Yamato like that. He was suppose to survive until the end of this world and beyond, Taichi would be a reminder of light when everything else went dark, the knowledge that such beauty lived on in the universe would be enough for Yamato to endure this almost life. He had always thought, even when Taichi had disappeared into the real world so long ago, that Tai could not die without him knowing. He would just know when Tai ceased to exist and the entire world would weep for its loss.
Yamato stepped back and examined the tower of timber with pride, this would surely end it his life. But something felt unfinished, he walked back to where the compass and hat lay and picked them up. It did not seem right to leave the last reminders of his loved ones abandoned on the ground where any creature could come and claim them but he did not want to obliterate them with himself. There was no one left to give the items to, no one he could entrust the material possessions of his life to, he had killed them all. He turned them over lovingly in his hands, examining the glint of the compass, the weave of the cloth. Finally he tucked them into his pockets, there would be no trace of any of the digidestined left in this world, Yamato would end their tale this night, leave their story left untold.
It took little effort to light the kindling and watch the fire slowly grow to a blaze, he would wait until the fire reached its peak, it was so close now. Smoke rose high into the air, as an afterthought Yamato hoped Myotismon would not notice, that he did not know Yamato planned to die this night and would not try to stop him. Then again he had not come yet and Yamato knew without a shadow of a doubt that if Myotismon even suspected that Yamato would leave him through death the digimon would have stopped him already. As he felt the heat of the fire warming his cold skin he felt pity for the digimon, alone for eternity, making a child only to have it die by its own hand, but Yamato would not waste his last thoughts on someone he did not love.
He had many regrets in his life, his biggest regret and biggest joy however had been one in the same, Taichi. Not for the world would he trade away the memories of Taichi he did have but there was so much left unsaid, so much he never did. He never told Tai that he was loved, never told him that he was an angel and that he had not known love or happiness until he met Tai. Yamato never held Taichi as only a lover can, he never kissed those perfect lips and never would. The very last thing he had done to Taichi was…rip him apart. Yamato had had to leave and to do it he had to hurt the brunet but…he had not just hurt Tai he had destroyed him, played on every weakness he could find. Tai probably died thinking that Yamato thought him to be a worthless leader and the source of every bad thing that had befallen any of the digidestined.
Yamatos eyes welled with tears, he didn't know how or why Tai had returned to this place but he had. Myotismon had lied to Yamato, told him that Tai had died long ago and Matt could not help but regret that Myotismon would never be punished for this but it was too late for that, the fire was nearly high enough. Taichi had been here just days ago, Yamato could see images, memories that were not his own but clung to the remnants of the charred building. In a flash he had seen the digidestined sitting on the floor, Takeru petting Patamon quietly, listening as Gennai and Taichi spoke words Matt could not hear. Taichi had been alive in this place, as alive as a vampire could be, but he was not the joyful boy that once was, Yamato had killed all the joy that once resided in his eyes.
This was it, the fire burned viciously, sparks flew into the night air and flames licked the wood greedily. All of the good in his life, all the bad he had wrecked, all the friendships he had made, it all ended now. Sense the fire had been lit Yamato had blocked out all his surroundings but his beautiful flame, he needed to be totally alone because now he would join Tai where ever he had gone in death.
"I'm coming Tai!"
Tai did not know how long he had wondered the digital world alone. Every minute, ever second without Yamato stretched into an eternity. This night he had fed early, some awful creature that was dumb as it was evil, of course it had known of Yamato, Taichi took the information from its mind the moment he saw it, but it had only seen him once and it was too long ago to be of any use. Yamato lived and roamed the same forest he did, some night soon Tai would find a fresh trail to Yamato and they could live together forever.
Every once in awhile in the darkest most solitary hours of the night a thought would come to him. Yamato had wanted to leave him, he had forced the blonde into this life and it was only a matter of time before his beloved Matt would leave him forever and perhaps that time had already come. Maybe Yamato did not just send them away to be safe, maybe he just had to be rid of Tai, the one who caused him so much pain over and over again. Then the thought would slip away. They had to stay together, even if it was for just a little while longer they had to keep fighting for the digital world. He still had time to tell Yamato everything, time to gaze into those fathomless sapphires that held his heart.
A very faint smell of smoke permeated the air, nothing a human could detect but plenty for Taichi to realize what it was and find its source. Smoke billowed into the darkened sky and taichi ran as fast as he could to it. He had wandered far from the others but he knew exactly where he had left them and the smell of fire and the digidestined were far to entangled for comfort. Tai urged his body on faster as the forest flew by him, in a matter of minutes he was only a mile away from the fire, away from the little house he had left his charges in. Panic had set in, if anything had happened to them…
All along Tai had been searching for a sign of his friends, the timber of their voices hidden under the sounds of fire and the nighttime world, the smell that was entirely human, then all at once it hit him. Taichi skidded to a halt and turned with open arms to his friends.
Gennai along with each child left in his charge stood relatively unharmed although notably shook up. Takeru gave a little shout and ran to Taichi, as far as he was concerned he had been left in charge and it was therefore his duty to inform Tai about everything that had transpired.
Mimi plopped herself on the ground and the others were quick to follow her example and join her on the cool grass. Only Tai and Takeru remained standing, their digimon all mimicking their partners.
"Tai" Taichi was disturbed to notice that Takerus normally cheerful voice wavered and tears had welled in his crystal eyes. "Your compass, I put it down when I went to bed and it got lost when the fire started, I am sorry! I was careful with it, really I was!" Tai pet the mused blond hair comfortingly.
"I know you were Tk. You did a good job, everyone is here with us and safe, that's all that matters." Tai said even though he desperately wanted to know more about this fire, luckily Tk was quick to oblige.
"We had gone to bed and were sleeping but then I woke up, I could smell fire. When I got up and opened the door to the first floor all I could see was fire. I screamed and the others woke up, Mimi screamed too so everybody was definitely awake then."
"Well you scared me!" came the rather disgruntled reply from Mimi who was more upset about loosing her beauty sleep than anything. Tk ignored her and continued.
"We broke one of the back windows and Palmon put us all on the ground. Then Gennai led us here, he said it would be easier for him to shield us if we were farther away." Taichi nodded.
"Do you have any idea who started the fire?" Gennai shook his head.
"My shields are two ways, we can not see who is beyond them and they can not see us." Tai nodded, he needed to know exactly what had happened but if someone was really out to get his friends who would be here to stop them? They already penetrated Gennais defense once if they were able to find the group.
"Damn it!" Taichi swore under his breath. The digidestined were in no condition to protect themselves without him, they were frightened and tired, it would be unlikely that any of the equally tired Digimon would be able to fight. He would watch over them until the danger passed, he could only hope that wherever he was Yamato was safe
Taichi had finally been able to part ways with the Digidestined once more. Together they traveled away from the site of their near burnings all the way to one of Gennais safe houses instead of the makeshift one they had stayed at before. Tai was assured no less than ten times that it was impossible for any digimon, however powerful, to find or destroy the digidestined there.
Tai was quick to go back, taking only a single night for the return journey. He took time only to feed and then he would be off again. He had expected that the smell of fire might still cling to the area but when he arrived he was assaulted by the fumes of a new fire. Smoke rose out of the same place in which he had seen it before but it was impossble, the little house had already burned down, there was nothing left to catch flame. A feeling of utter dread and foreboding twisted in Taichis stomach. Something was very, very wrong, this was no coincidence.
Yamato. It.Was.Yamato. Tai had stopped in the brush just before the clearing intending to spy on the culprit but instead he nearly fell from his hiding place at the sight before him. His beautiful Yamato was standing before a fire that was taller than he was by far. Its yellow flames sent tendrils of light to dance on Yamatos face and arms. He was deep in thought by the looks of it. His hands playing idly with Takerus hat and Taichis compass, turning them around in his hands a few times before putting them gently into his pocket.
Tai tried to process these things, to understand what they all meant, to see if it was the right time to go to the blond but he took a moment too long thinking on it. Yamatos soft voice came on the breath of the wind "I'm coming Tai!" His slender form was tightening like a cat ready to pounce. 'No!' thought Tai desperately 'He is going to jump into it!'
In one fluid motion Yamato was airborne, his eyes closed not wanting to see death coming, wanting his last vision to be of Taichi. In the moments before death it is said that time stops and you see your life flashing before your eyes. Time had slowed and Yamato was nearly at the crest of his leap, it seemed he had all the time in the world before he fell. It was too late to save himself, death would come now no matter what and in this hopelessness he found peace. This moment of perfect serenity was broken when something heavy hit him in the chest. At first he thought it was one of the tall branches and that he would fall into the fire now, happy. But the fire never came, he was ready to open his eyes and curse anyone who dare stop him when he found himself looking into familiar chocolate depths.
"Yama!" Taichi nearly sobbed the name. He had caught Matt in air, forcing the blond out of the way. They landed together far from harms reach, Yamato trapped beneath Taichi. Tai could barely breath, he found him, Matt his darling angel, trying to kill himself. Fear, rage, love, a million emotions bubbled up inside Tai until he would either explode or act on a strange collaboration of all of them. Desperately he gathered Yamato into his arms, the other boys legs still trapped beneath his own and held him fiercely.
"What were you thinking?" Tai half yelled half sobbed in Yamatos ear. He wanted to look into Matts eyes once more, see that he was still alive and with him but he needed to feel Matts heart beating against his own just a little longer. "I wont let you leave me like this!"
Taichi pulled back, making sure Yamatos head was placed gently onto the ground before he lifted himself onto his arms so he could see the beautiful boy beneath him more clearly. He had only seen Matt in this position of weakness a treasured few times, trapped under the brunet. A memory of Yamato crying in his arms on a snowy cliff imposed itself over this reality, it seemed like a lifetime ago but the Yamato that lay broken in his arms now and the past Yamato were the same, being a vampire had not truly changed Yamato, no matter what the blond thought.
"Yama" Tai spoke in a low commanding voice, Yamatos mind was somewhere far from here and Tai needed to know he had his full attention. Blue eyes focused on Taichis chocolate ones. "You have to promise me you will not try this again. Promise me you wont try to kill yourself!" He had tried so hard to stay calm, stay strong for Yamato, but his voice broke and tears cascaded down his cheeks. His Yama had tried to kill himself.
"Tai? Is it really you?" Yamato whispered in something akin to shock, when he got no answer but more crimson tears he was sure. "Tai!" Matt wrapped his arms around Taichi and pulled him down so they were pressed against each other. Words could not describe what he felt so he didn't try to make them. Everything that had ever gone wrong in his life was worth it just for this moment. "Tai." Yamato whispered it in the others ear, more of a caress than anything. His hands found their way to Taichi face where they held it in place as Yamato kissed away every last crimson tear.
Tai let Yamato do what he wanted with him but responded to nothing. He needed to know that it was ok, that Matt would not leave him, nothing could happen until he had that assurance.
"Yama, Promise me you will never try to kill yourself again." These words seemed to shock Yamato but his hands did not fall from the others face. "Promise me."
"As long as you live I will not let myself die." Yamato smiled at Tai, caressing the still tan cheek as he spoke. He still could not believe his angel was alive, he would promise Tai anything as long as it meant they could stay like this.
Tai thought the answer was strange but it would have to do for now. He nodded and rolled himself off of Yamato but pale hands held firmly to his shirt. "Please." Yamato breathed, he could not let go, if he let go Taichi might disappear. Taichis eyes grew wide but he sat down and crossed his legs, planning to have Yamato sit on his lap. Before he could pull the blond to him Matt had straddled his hips and hooked his feet behind Tais back, their chests pressed close together and their faces close to touching.
Tais mind abandoned him and left him at Yamatos mercy. Where the contact seemed to hinder Taichis ability to communicate Yamato thrived on it. His hands threaded themselves into Tais hair.
"Don't leave me." Matt whispered into Taichis ear. Yamato had gone so long without Tai, without the simple touches he so treasured, weeks of loneliness crushing his heart were suddenly lifted and he found himself dreadfully tired. Without another word Yamato curled up against Taichis chest and was lost into sleep.
For the first time in a million chapters Yamato and Taichi are together! Lets see if they wont stay together for awhile. To everyone who reviewed I really do love you! I have gotten over my little writers block and hopefully the side effects of it will disappear shortly. Tune in next to Digimon Digital Monsters! (well the Taito Version of it anyway)