Hey guys. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, that was really great. I really believe that this chapter is better, but I'll let you decide. This chapter makes a lot more sense if you've read chapters 2-3 of If I Could Stay, but it's not incredibly nessecary. Again, I don't own "Pyramid Song" or "Digimon."

All my lovers were there with me

All my past and future

And we all went to Heaven in a little rowboat

There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

"What in the world?"

Tai jumped back at the sight of the street frozen in time, the blurs of cars in stop motion, birds frozen in mid-flight, paramedics and pedestrians statues. Then Tai jumped back at the revelation that he even could jump back in the first place, suddenly noticing that all of his pains and wounds were gone. "Could it be?" he wondered in idle but excited hope.

Then he slowly and cautiously glanced at where he had lain sprawled on the side of the road only moments before and was shocked at the sight his battered, bloody broken body half under the car and half on the pavement. He quickly tuned away from this gruesome scene, more confused then ever. He wondered aloud "If that's me, then what the heck…"

"There's nothing to fear"

Startled, Tai turned around and was met by the sight of a white, brightly lit figure standing in the middle of the road. He couldn't make out any features through the blinding cloak of white light, but he figured the person to be about 5'9''.

"Oh," Tai said, looking down at his feet, a sad smile forming at the corner of his lips. "You must be… This must mean…" He turned around and looked back toward his friends hovering over his nearly lifeless body.

Although one couldn't be sure though the blinding light, the figure appeared to smile. "It always brings me great pain to visit young people who had so much unfinished business in their lives, so much more to look forward to. But not as much as when the reason I'm visiting that person is because of such a heroic sacrifice."

Tai looked back toward his visitor and furrowed his brow. "Heroic?" He shook his head. "No. I just did what I had to do. I know that in a heartbeat Matt would…"

"Perhaps," the man cut him off. "But Matt's not the one who's lying broken on the side of the intersection just so he could prevent his best friend from the same fate."

Tai pondered that for a moment. He hadn't really thought about that. At the time, he had forgotten about all the terrible consequences that might occur, all the extreme danger to him. The only thing that he had on his mind was getting Matt to safety. So he was a hero now?

There was a few seconds of silence before Tai slowly started up again. "So... what happens to me now? What happens to my friends, my family?"

The man again appeared to smiled from behind the veil of mysterious light. "What happens to you now is far too complicated to explain in full. You'll just have to take it as it comes. But please believe me when I say it's a 'better place'."

Tai took in a long deep breath and sighed. By now, although he tried to restrain himself as much as possible, some tears had formed in his eyes and his voice had grown a bit hoarse. "I can't think of a better place than here."

Tai looked up at the sunny, noon Odaiba sky and suddenly remembered what a beautiful day it had been. He was certain that if time was back to normal and he was a half kilometer from this scene of disaster that he would of heard birds chirping and children playing. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, he turned around to face the man once more. "Is it okay if… I…" He scratched his head. "You know… stick around for a while?"

"Believe me when I say 'we have all the time in the world.' But I must warn you. For every second you spend here, it only makes it a little harder to let go."

"I understand. I just…" Tai didn't finish his sentence."

"Of course. Just tell me when you're ready."

Tai nodded and began his final stroll down memory lane. He walked past his friends, his broken body and across the street where he had unintentionally gained hero status. He then made his way through the park, joggers and strollers frozen in time all around him. He passed the soccer field where Davis and his team were playing a game against Shinjuku and stopped at the grassy hill where he and Sora had laid down and been lazily enjoying the summer day. Grinning at the recent memories, he took off his shoes and squished his feet in the warm grass before laying down with his arms spread out. He lay there for a while before sadly deciding that it may be best to move on.

Making his way down the path, he came to their favorite cafe where he and the rest of the group dined regularly. Opening the door and listening to the door chime, he sat himself down at the booth were he and his friends had eaten earlier that day. Looking out the window, he recalled the playful conversations they had engaged in not just today, but all of the countless days they had ended up eating at this little cafe on the corner of the street. Eyeing the soda fountain in the front of the restaurant, he decided that one small cup of cola wouldn't be missed. Reaping in the sounds of the soda rushing into the cup, he took in the blissful smell of carbonated goodness and gulped down his final serving of caffenated high-fructose corn surup. When the last drop had drained from the cup, he threw it away, weaved his way through the still busy cafe and proceeded to the door,

He left the restaurant and made his way through this final stretch of the park where he had walked with Sora this beautiful morning just hours before. He recalled his conversation with her and their playful banter about his study habits. "Well," he thought to himself with some dry sarcasm, "at least I never have to finish my English project." Weaving through all of the people in stop motion still enjoying their day, Tai decided that all things considered, there probably couldn't have been a better day to die.

Finally, he came to his favorite tree right in the middle of this peaceful setting of serenity. With a sigh and a faint smile, he grabbed on to the first branch, straddled it and pulled himself up. He shuffled into a comfortable position and began to fall into deep thought as he had many times before in this sacred spot. This whole time that he had been retracing his morning stroll, one thing had been nagging at his conscious: Sora. He had heard the expression "live every day like its your last" more times than he bothered to count, but he, like the majority of the human race, had never fully reaped in its meaning. Every day since before he could remember, every time they had taken a walk through the park or met up at the café or just hung out, he heard a voice inside his head begging him to tell her how he really felt about her. He'd always thought that there was a good 76 chance that she felt the same way, but he had always shelved away the idea and decided to worry about it another day. After all, back then he believed that he had all the time in the world. What reason did he have for the need of an impending deadline?

He shook his head. That was what the man had meant when he said it was hard to visit people with "unfinished business." There must be a million more like him in the world, young people who had their work cut out for them but still let the one they cared about the most slip away. That was Tai. A youngster who left before his time, a soul with unfinished business. He decided if there was one thing in life he regretted the most that was it. But with all his chances spent, the only thing he could do now was to sit back in his tree and regret.

Taking in the beautiful sunny scenery of his world one last time, he gave a somewhat uncomfortable yawn and closed his eyes.


"I… I'm… I'm Ready."

2 down, 1 to go. The plan still is to update the final chapter tommorow, but I'm not so sure about chapter 4 of IICS for Monday anymore. I'll know by tomorrow, so check back then. Please review!