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"Favorite Friendship"

"And of course, because it's Agumon, it can't be just a normal sneeze," Tai recounted, his voice easily the loudest in the tavern they were currently sitting in. "It's a full-on Pepper Breath, leaving a huge singe mark on the nearest wall."

The few people who seemed to mind the noise glanced in their direction, but Sora couldn't bring herself to care. She, Tai, and Matt had found some chairs and a small, circular table, barely big enough for the three of them to all sit around. It had taken a bit to get their conversation started, and she wasn't about to let some outside party cause it to stall again. After what they had been through, they had earned at least this much.

"How could you have not seen that coming?" Matt ask, feigning a lack of interest. Whether this was because he had heard the story before or just wanted to keep up his image was anyone's guess.

Tai looked right at Matt. "In all the years you've known Agumon, have you ever seen any indication of any kind of food allergy?"

"Then what happened?" Sora asked, knowing how easily the both of them could get sidetracked.

Tai refocused. "Then the RA comes in, completely speechless, and Agumon being Agumon, looks between them and the wall he just ruined and says 'Wow! So this is what a college dorm looks like! It needs new wallpaper!'"

Sora laughed while Matt turned his head, again to pretend he wasn't engaged in Tai's story. She wondered if any of them would have actually found it funny under different circumstances.

"Little dude was banned from campus life after that," Tai concluded as he leaned back in his chair. The light in his eyes seemed to flicker after, probably a more accurate representation of what was going on in all of their heads.

It had only been a day since Eosmon was defeated and their connections to their Digimon partners had been severed. None of them expected the grief to end any time soon, and the only reason they were out at all was down to them agreeing that they could only cry and brood for so long, at least on their own.

Sora still wasn't sure what to do with moments like these. As much as she wanted nights like these to be distractions from her sadness, she also knew repressing any of it for too long would make things worse. There was also just the fact that she wanted to support her friends, so she settled for a middle ground between all the emotions she was feeling.

"I just can't believe they're gone," she said calmly, hoping that saying it outright would make it clear that she didn't want them to pretend things were fine.

"There had to have been something else we could have done," Tai said without a pause.

"We did everything we could," Matt replied as he stared blankly at the table in front of him.

"We don't know that," Tai growled back.

"Gennai said there was no stopping it." Irritation crept into Matt's voice, as it so easily and so often did whenever Tai was involved.

Tai slammed a fist on the table. "Well, maybe he was wrong!"

"Enough!" Sora cut in, without even thinking. "Arguing won't change what happened."

Both boys went quiet, glancing at her and each other before looking away entirely.

"He started it..." Tai grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"And I'm ending it," Sora replied instantly. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sometimes, I swear you two haven't changed at all since we were eleven years old."

"You're one to talk," Matt commented before quickly averting his gaze from her again.

Sora raised a finger to respond, but ended up biting her tongue. "Fair."

Every one of their friends had old patterns they tended to fall back on when things got tough. Playing mediator for Tai and Matt was Sora's, and almost a safe space for her as weird as it was to even reflect on. She knew where she fit in during those moments, as they checked and balanced each other. They overcame a lot adversity in this way, though it was becoming clear this was going to be the exception.

"I miss them too," Matt said after a pause.

"We know," Sora replied, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Matt turned back to face them. "I mean it. I know I don't always say what I'm feeling-"

"Seriously, Matt, it's okay," Tai added. "We know you're a tsundere."

Matt's whole face twitched. "What did you just call me?"

"You heard me."

"I am not a tsundere."

"A little bit, you are," Sora said. There was no trying to hide the smile on her face.

Matt rolled his eyes. "I don't know why I talk to you guys."

"Because you love us," Tai teased.

"I don't remember ever saying that."

"Yeah, you sang it instead," Sora reminded him.

"Should we go find a CD and make it a game?" Tai asked, more than ready to follow through if given the go-ahead. "Figure out who he's singing about in each song?"

Matt sank in his seat. "I hate you both."

"Please pay attention, Matt," Sora responded in a mock scolding voice. "We've already established that you don't."

"For what it's worth," Tai said as he pushed back laughter and put on straighter face. "Gabumon also knows how much you care about him, in case that's what started this conversation."

Matt gave Tai his full attention but said nothing, a single nod being the only communication that passed between them. Not much more was needed, though, as Sora could plainly see the the appreciation in Matt's eyes. Also, chances were that if he did respond, Tai would follow up with a joke or jab and ruin the moment.

Instead, the three of them went silent, and Sora's mind inevitably found its way back to Biyomon. The pair of them had said goodbye so many times before, and they had always found their way back together in the end. As much as this instance tried to make itself feel different, Sora fought back against the thought, telling herself it wouldn't be.

"Sora..." Matt said softly, bringing her back to the present.

It took a second for it to dawn on Sora why the both of them were looking at her all of a sudden. She lifted a hand to her face, finding that a couple tears had managed to slip out of her eyes.

"Sorry," she said as she quickly wiped them away.

"Don't be," Matt assured her. That had always been what Sora appreciated most about him. Matt never judged her, knowing how easy it was to slip into darkness when feelings were kept inside. It was a lesson they had learned together, in a dark cave so many years ago, and one they still held each other to.

"Yeah, it's kinda how we're all feeling right now," Tai added, trying to put on one of his confident grins.

"Well, I've got the whole rest of the night to cry," Sora argued. "Let's talk about something else. Anything else, let's go."

Tai and Matt looked at each other again, having one of their nonverbal conversations, because words never quite worked right for these two. Another nod marking an agreement reached and they faced forward.

"So, Sor, you still doing the flower thing?" Tai asked.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "The flower 'thing'?"

Tai raised his hands defensively. "Hey, you knew the second you decided to become a girl that there were some places I couldn't follow."

Stupid Tai. The words echoed in Sora's head as he tried to lie to her. Much like he couldn't convince her that he hadn't thrown up in her hat as children, he couldn't convince her that there would ever be a time when she couldn't count on him. She let him play aloof, though, because she knew how much he cared. Luckily for Tai, that feeling was mutual on most days.

Sora sighed. "Yes, Tai, I am, in between a couple other things."

"How are those things going?" Matt asked.

Sora gave them a quick rundown, not wanting to absorb too much time talking about herself. At the very least, the distraction worked as intended. It wasn't a permanent fix, and she knew losing Biyomon wasn't a wound that would be healing overnight. Sora also knew she would pull through eventually, though, as long as she had her boys.