I finally finished this chapter and started the next! This story began as a note on my Ipod touch back in 2007ish and slowly formed into a 48 page Google Doc. I never considered myself a writer, so sharing my thoughts on here was weird, but the Digimon community is a wonderful community and I feel I need to finish this story for myself and for the few of you who took the time to give it a chance!
So thanks for being awesome!
Taichi grumbled as the light began to shine on his face. His back ached, and his mattress felt exceptionally hard. Wait a minute, he slept on his living room floor. That's right, everyone slept on the living room floor meaning this elbow in his face belonged to an unconscious Yamato. As his brain woke up, he began to remember the events from last night. Quickly sitting up, he shifted to his other side, only to be met with a cold, empty spot on the floor. Slowly standing up, hoping not to wake anyone else, he examined the room. It looked like Hikari and Takeru were also missing from their spots. They must have gone somewhere together, probably coffee. The only person Taichi knew who could drink Takeru under the table (in terms of coffee) was Yuzuki.
His thoughts were interrupted by the unlocking of the front door. Takeru and Hikari slipped into the apartment with to-go trays of coffee in their hands. Upon seeing her brother staring at her, Hikari scrunched her eyes.
"Onii-chan, what are you doing awake?" she whispered.
As panic set in, Taichi struggled to keep his voice low as the words tumbled out of his mouth. "Yuzuki didn't go with you?"
"No? Hikari and I went out to grab coffee for everyone. Is she not here?" Takeru whispered as he set all the trays on the countertop.
"Too late to try to be quiet, I think we're all awake," a voice grumbled from inside Yamato's sleeping bag.
Taichi kicked at the lump. His voice harshened as the volume slowly elevated.
"Seriously, where is Yuzuki? She's not here!"
The rest of the room began to stir as Taichi's frantic pacing from room to room woke them up. He looked like an animal, hair matted in all sorts of places and eyes wild, desperate. Hikari stepped across the room and grabbed onto his arm. He was always thankful of Hikari's calming presence.
"We'll find her Onii-chan, don't worry," she whispered.
Takeru walked around the room, passing out coffee, while Hikari coaxed Taichi to sit down. Moving his pillow to sit, Taichi noticed a small slip of paper. Taichi was written on the folded slip in a very neat cursive.
"Shit," he whispered.
Sora and Yamato leaned over toward Taichi, examining the letter.
Wrapping her arm around Taichi's shoulders, Sora asked, "What does it say?"
"She left." His voice sounded empty. Shaking his head, he shrugged Sora and Yamato's arms off his shoulders and stood up.
"Agumon, let's go," he hollered, looking around for his partner and a pair of shoes.
"Where the hell are you going?" Yamato nearly yelled.
Taichi stopped, one shoe on and hair still unbrushed, and turned to the half-awake group.
"I'm going to get her."
"Onii-chan, you don't even know where she is." Hikari's voice quivered, layered with worry.
Shaking his head, Taichi looked down at his feet. "I know exactly where she is. I just don't know how to get there."
He felt a hand grab onto his shoulder. Turning he was met with blue hair and a serious expression. Jou spoke slowly and carefully.
"Taichi, you're being a little irrational. Come sit down and let's make a plan. Yuzuki can take care of herself in the meantime."
Taichi tried holding onto his firm expression, but gave up. Since when did Jou become the rational one? He nodded, allowing the blue-haired man to lead him back to the living room.
Slowly lowering to his spot, Taichi took a deep breath before looking up toward the group.
"So.. who knows how to get to the dark ocean?"
"You know, if you were honest with them and told them the real reason you are working for Demon, I think they could have helped," Tailmon yelled as the duo ran through the sand.
"No, our only hope is to make a new deal with Demon. One where no one gets hurt," Yuzuki yelled. They could hear footsteps approaching from behind.
"I have to protect him at all costs."
They quickly ducked behind a tree and waited for the herd of scubamon to run off.
"And what if Demon says it's either the chosen or him?" Tailmon inquired.
"Then I hope Taichi will understand," Yuzuki whispered.
At the mention of the dark world Ken and Hikari tensed. Miyako, sitting between the two, grabbed onto both and glared at Taichi.
"And how do you know that's where she went? Do you even understand what you're asking?" she growled.
"I'm not asking that any of you go, especially with your history Hikari, but I know that's where she went. She wouldn't run away unless she was going to face Demon herself. She's going so she can protect us." His voice came out hushed, strained.
Everyone sat in silence for a few moments. It was shocking to see Taichi, their courageous leader, completely deflate. Yamato couldn't take his eyes off his best friend. Flashbacks of Meicoomon and their battle with Alphamon entered his mind. Grabbing at the invisible goggles that once sat around his neck in Taichi's absence, Yamato spoke.
"We're going to help her, Taichi." Turning toward Ken and Hikari, he continued, "Here's the plan: once we figure out a way in, which hopefully you two can give us some insight on, Taichi and I will go. Our best chance is to be discreet. Find Yuzuki, bring her back, that's it. Koushiro, your job is to figure out how to sever her link with Demon. We don't have Gennai helping us anymore. If we can break their connection, Demon will still be trapped in the dark ocean, where he can't hurt her."
"You're trying to split the team? What the hell do you expect the rest of us to do? Sit here twiddling our thumbs while you guys put yourselves in danger? That's crap!" Daisuke yelled.
Takeru turned toward Yamato "He's right aniki, we aren't just going to sit here and let you and Taichi rush off into danger, that's not what we do."
The rest of the room began to murmur. The rustling of blankets soon caught the attention of the room as Hikari stood up.
Her voice was quiet, but there was intensity in her eyes.
"The dark ocean is not something to underestimate. It is a very dangerous place. I haven't been there in years, but I can honestly say I am still terrified of what lurks there."
"Hikari..." Taichi whispered. His voice was laced with worry as his eyes reflected pain.
"But.." she emphasized. Straightening up, she stared at her brother with a look of determination. "I will not let you two go alone. We're all better together. Yamato, your plan relies on IF we break that connection, something we can't do without Yuzuki. The fact that Yuzuki even ran off shows that she doesn't have that kind of time. We need to act now. We're much stronger than we were when we first fought Demon. We can beat him."
Takeru slowly stood up to wrap his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. Flashing her a genuine smile, he spoke. "I agree. We're doing this together or not at all."
Yamato stood up next, holding his hand out for Sora to take as she, too, began to get up.
"Well then, it's decided. Everyone, go home, get your things together and meet back here in an hour," Yamato ordered while looking at the uncharacteristically quiet brunette still on the ground. His expression was hard, unreadable. Yamato wondered what else was going on in his head.
Soon everyone filed out, leaving Yamato to cross his arms and stare down on the brunette, who still hadn't moved.
"Alright, talk to me."
"..."
Yamato felt his temper rise. "Oh come on! We just came up with a plan to save everyone, why do you look like that?"
Taichi shifted slightly. "I can't let everyone put themselves in danger for me," he mumbled.
Fighting his first instinct to pummel the brunette into the ground, Yamato sighed. "We're not putting ourselves in danger for you, we're putting ourselves in danger in SPITE of you."
He received a glare from the brunette, but watched as his friend's face softened and a chuckle left his lips. Taichi slowly stood up and playfully punched the blonde's arm.
"You're a dick," he chuckled as he walked off to his bedroom.
Yamato smirked. Watching his friend walk away, he yelled, "But I'm your dick!" before turning around and heading for his own room.
He snickered as he looked over at Gabumon and Agumon asleep on his bed. They must have snuck into the room after everyone passed out last night. Gabumon opened an eye curiously at his partner. Yamato smiled, placing his finger over his lips and pointing at the dinosaur snoring under the covers. Gabumon smiled back and closed his eyes once more. They looked so peaceful, totally unaware of the danger that lies ahead. Then again, Yamato didn't know what to expect either.
