Litanya: Well everybody, we've arrived at the end. This is the last chapter of the fic. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read the fic. I don't own Digimon.
The Island Holiday
Chapter 13: The Reunion
Matt took a deep breath. Then, once he had no air left in his lungs, he took another one. He had never really understood why characters in novels took deep breaths in this situation, but now he knew why. Deep breaths made you concentrate on things which didn't scare the living daylights out of you. Now, what could scare the living daylights out of the lead singer of a very popular band who had saved another world when he had only been eleven? What frightened a singer who had been pursued down the streets of Tokyo half of a night by fan girls when he had just been trying to make reservations for dinner? The answer was in the small box he had tucked away under his bed. It was almost like being afraid of a monster under his bed. Almost. He glanced back down at his watch. It was three o'clock, the sun was shining and a warm breeze ruffled the curtains at his window. It was time. He pulled the box out from its hiding place and tucked it into his pocket.
As he walked down the street towards the park where he was meeting his girlfriend, his emotions tumbled around and around and he could barely tell what he was feeling. He kept on thinking about Tai. At a time like this, it just seemed natural that he should think of his best friend. Tai had represented Courage after all. Matt mentally asked Tai to forgive him for stealing his girlfriend. After all, Catherine had been Tai's girlfriend first. He then asked Tai to give him the courage he needed to do what he was about to do.
He and Catherine had been dating for three years. It wasn't all that long- he had dated Sora for about the same length of time- but this felt different. He had been happy when he had been with Sora, and he had no doubt that he had loved her, but he loved Catherine in a different way. It seemed to be more special to him. It hadn't been love at first sight- no, definitely not. He remembered that he had thought that she was a snob. He had never really bothered to get to know her until after the crash. Once he had discovered that she wasn't actually a snob, she had found a way into his heart without him realizing it. He had always wondered why she was there, but when he thought about it afterwards, he had decided that he had wanted her to be there. Her fun-loving attitude had slowly recovered the longer he had known her, and it helped to cheer him up when he started to get too bogged down in his emotions. He knew it was corny, but he had once told her that she was the sunshine in his life. She had laughed and told him that if she was his sunshine, he was her rainbow- always there to cheer her up when she was sad. And so he was now on his way to meet her, with the small box in tow.
"Matt, over here!" he blinked. Had he arrived at the park this quickly? His palms became clammy. He smiled a little nervously and went to join her. She was sitting on one of the swings. For some reason, all of the kids were playing in the sand-box, and the teenagers had been coerced into a game of soccer. He turned away from the teenagers and focused on Catherine.
"Hey, how are you?" he tried to act completely natural. He failed. He could tell by her curious expression.
"I'm fine, but you really don't look well. Are you sure you're okay for this afternoon?" they didn't really have any plans for the rest of the night yet- they usually planned their dates when they got there. It was partially Matt's fault. With all of the media he received from his band, dinner reservations could turn into a game of cat and mouse, where Matt and Catherine were mice and all of the single girls in Odaiba were the cats.
"Yeah, definitely! I have no idea what we'll do, but… I'm fine," Catherine just shrugged and began to swing slowly, a child-like look of glee on her face. She always had loved the swings. He fidgeted with the box in his pocket. She had been giving him hints about wanting to get married, but suddenly he wasn't sure about this.
"Come on Matt, smile! You look like you're about to collapse due to stress," she had stopped swinging and she was staring at him, looking concerned. He noticed that his hands were shaking. He took a deep breath and quickly glanced to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. The kids in the sand-box seemed to have found some sort of lizard and that was keeping them entertained. The parents of the really young kids were watching the lizard as though it would grow fangs and eat their children, and the teenagers were now making bets on who would win their soccer game. Now was the time to do this, if he ever was going to.
"Umm… Catherine, I know that we didn't exactly 'click' when we first met, but I would have to say that meeting you has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I can't imagine my life without you," he had unconsciously chosen to speak French; probably so no one could hear if he got rejected, "I really meant it when I said that you are my sunshine. I umm…" He had forgotten the rest of his speech. She was smiling and there was a strange twinkle in her eyes that made him even more nervous.
"Yes," she said simply when he paused to take a breath. He stared at her for a moment, unsure of what she meant. She looked ready to laugh, "You are going to ask me to marry you, and I accept." He felt so relieved that he realized just how stressed he had been. He had worried for nothing. He took the small box out of his pocket, took out the small ring, and placed it on her finger. And, as he and Catherine started to walk to find T.K and Kari, he thanked his friend for giving him the courage he needed.
Tai sneezed for about the thirtieth time in the past hour. He didn't have a temperature, or a cold, he was just sneezing. It was starting to get annoying.
"Whoa… someone must be thinking about you a lot," his mother commented from where she and Mrs. Takenouchi sat with magazines open in front of them. He was sitting in the living room of the apartment he had lived in his whole life except for his time on the island. His parents had been surprised and very, very pleased when he and Sora had arrived at the airport. Mrs. Takenouchi had moved in with his parents after Kari, T.K and the twins had moved out, and so it had been a little confusing for a while when Sora and Tai moved in. His parents were eager to tell Kari and the others about Tai and Sora being alive, but they respected their decision to keep quiet for a while.
"I'll bet that it's Matt… or T.K. or Kari. I bet that Matt's either asking for Tai's help in some way, T.K's scared that Tai's going to come back from the dead and haunt him, or Kari is just missing him," Sora grinned mischievously as she leant against him. She was sitting on one of the couches with him, whilst the two mothers sat in armchairs across the coffee table from them. At first they had tried to hide the fact that they were a couple from their parents, but it hadn't worked very well. Within a few hours they had told them to drop the act. It had been very weird.
"I'll bet its Matt," Tai said decidedly after another sneeze, "I always said that he talked too much." The doorbell rang before anyone could comment. Tai glanced at Sora. They usually hid when visitors arrived, but he really couldn't be bothered. It was cool where they were seated, and he was really comfortable. Sora seemed to share his sentiments. In fact, if anything, she seemed to settle down as though she wanted to sleep. Mrs. Kamiya got up and answered the door.
"Good afternoon Matt, Catherine. What brings you here this afternoon?" her voice got louder as she brought the couple into the living room. Tai smiled. He hadn't seen either Matt or Catherine yet since the crash. They appeared in the doorway of the living room, and Tai tried to hide his smile and look curious. Sora sat up a little. Matt and Catherine both had the same look in their eyes- something had happened to make them very, very happy. Joe had told them about the relationship between Catherine and Matt whilst he had been examining their health. Tai had felt happy about it. He had always wanted Catherine to find her someone special, and he wanted Matt to be happy too. He had been afraid that Sora wouldn't be as happy, as it meant that Matt really wasn't available anymore, but he hadn't needed to have worried. She had almost gone crazy with excitement. Joe had raised an eyebrow at her enthusiasm. But now they were seeing the relationship Joe had told them about. And he was still happy about it.
"We're sorry Mrs. Kamiya. We didn't realize that you had guests. We can come over later if you like," Matt offered as his eyes fell on Tai and Sora on the couch. Mrs. Kamiya just waved her hand dismissively.
"No, no don't leave. These two live here. I must have forgotten to tell all of you about that. Now, what news do you have for us? You look so excited," Matt and Catherine were almost pushed onto the other couch. Matt gave Tai and Sora a quick glance, but Catherine didn't even seem to notice them.
"We're engaged!" this announcement brought squeals of excitement from the two mothers and Matt and Catherine had to endure many questions and complements from both parents. Sora and Tai barely managed to keep themselves silent. After all, they weren't supposed to know Matt or Catherine.
"I'm sorry; I must have forgotten my manners. I am Yamato Ishida, but everyone calls me Matt," the blond finally managed to turn to the couple on the other couch. They had strange expressions on their faces- a mixture of amusement and joy. It was a strange look.
"I'm Catherine," the 'strangers' just smiled at them.
"Why are you introducing yourselves to us as though we are strangers? You do know us," Sora informed the couple with a grin. She managed to move her hand so that she was covering the scar on her face. She winked at her mother and Mrs. Kamiya, enjoying the confused looks on the faces of the two blonds. Tai picked up where she left off.
"We are your close friends- I can't believe you have forgotten us!" he managed to look outraged. He tried not to grin. He knew that his grin was distinctive.
"I'm sorry… I really don't know you. Maybe you have mixed me up with someone else that you know," Matt looked as though he was about to find an excuse to leave. Then again, having two seemingly perfect strangers tell you that they are your close friends is a little spooky. Sora took pity on him.
"Do you still have your tattoo of Friendship? I told you it has special powers," as the colour drained from Matt's face, Tai decided to let have pity on Catherine. After all, only Matt, Tai and Sora had ever called Matt's tattoo that before.
"Do you still have that stuffed toy which looks like Fleurmon?" if she hadn't been sitting down, she would have fainted.
"Tai… Sora? But… but you guys… you died and…" Matt continued to mumble incoherently. They heard something about imagination running wild and asking for courage. Catherine was staring at them, her mouth wide open. Mrs. Kamiya was shaking her head.
"You guys are going to give people heart attacks if you keep on telling people like that," she lectured them, a small smile on her face. She was happy that they were finally going to end their isolation, "Why don't you tell Matt and Catherine what happened so they don't think that the pair of you just ran away together and left them to stew for the past years." And so they told their story. They had embellished the story a little since they had told Joe what had happened. They wanted the Island to appear to have been very nice to them- which it had been.
"Wow… I can't believe it. I'm sorry but… wow! A deserted island! Hey… why did you tell Joe that you were here before you told us?" it seemed that Matt was finally getting used to the idea that they were in fact in front of him. Tai shrugged apologetically; grimacing as he did so. His injury had never really healed properly.
"We were told that we needed to go see a doctor, and Joe was the only one we'd trust. We would've told you earlier, but it is kind of weird being back in Odaiba. We haven't even told Kari that we're back yet… although I like to call it mercy. T.K is so dead once I find him," Matt's eyes widened.
"Oh crap! I'm so sorry about that! I promised you at the airport that I would make sure that kind of thing didn't happen… and it did. I'm so sorry!" Tai laughed and Sora waved dismissively.
"As if he'd really expect you to watch for that sort of thing when you thought we were dead! I would kill him if he did expect that. It was Kari and T.K's fault. We're developing a plan to get back at them for that. Do you want to help?" it was then that Matt remembered the talk he had promised to have with Tai when he got back. Well, he was back now. Matt wasn't blind- he could see that Tai and Sora were quite happy together now, but he wanted to make sure that Tai knew that he was sorry for what he had done.
"Hey Tai, can I talk to you for a moment?" his best friend looked a little puzzled, but nodded.
"Let's go into the kitchen then," the brunette led the way, his expression one of pure curiosity. Matt followed, trying to figure out what he was going to say. He had wished and wished that he could have had this conversation with Tai, but he had never actually planned it. He had thought that his friend was dead after all. Tai hopped up to sit on the bench, like he always had done since he had been tall enough to do so. That one gesture reminded Matt how little Tai had really changed. His appearance was different of course- you can't stop your body from growing- but his 'inner self' seemed to be almost the same as when he had left, "So what did you want to talk to me about?" Matt jumped and tried to get his thoughts into some kind of logical order.
"I wanted to apologise," he said, watching Tai carefully for his reaction. Tai just looked plain confused.
"You want to apologise for what? I told you before that T.K's actions are his own- you can't control him. I know you tried, and that's all that counts," Matt shook his head quickly.
"I know that. I'm not apologizing for that. I want to apologise for not realizing that you loved Sora too, before the holiday. Everyone else knew about it, but I didn't even notice and I am your best friend. I should've noticed it," once he had gotten started, the words began to come really easily; "I let you down. I was so caught up in my own happiness that I never saw that you weren't happy. When T.K asked me how I had 'dealt' with the fact that you had feelings for Sora I realized the truth. I am so sorry. Will you forgive me?" Tai assessed the situation carefully. If he laughed at what Matt was telling him, then he might hurt him, even though he did actually find it very funny. So he did the next best thing. He grinned.
"You have nothing to apologise for Matt. Yes, I wasn't overly happy with the situation, but I was happy for you guys. You didn't let me down- in fact it made me happier that you didn't know about it. I don't mind you finding out now about it, but I was almost playing a game. I'll admit it- I didn't want to go on the holiday because I thought that I might say something stupid- like tell Sora that I loved her- and then our friendship would be destroyed. I was more concerned that I would destroy our friendship. So don't worry about it; you have nothing to apologise for. Anyway, everything has turned out okay in the end… You don't mind if I am going out with Sora, do you?" the last question came out hesitantly. It had only just occurred to Tai that Sora was his best friend's ex-girlfriend. Well, it had occurred to him before that that was the case, but he had just realized that usually you needed permission from your best friend before pursuing a relationship like that. Matt gave him a flat look, as if he knew what was going through Tai's mind.
"Of course it's okay! As long as it is okay that I'm with Catherine."
"Of course it's okay! You guys look really happy together. I'm glad that you eventually managed to stop blaming yourself and found her," Tai told him as he hopped down from the bench, "I must admit that Sora and I were worried that you would live in a world of self-hatred and guilt because of the crash. I don't know about the first year or two after the crash, but I'm so glad that we didn't find you still blaming yourself." They began to make their way back to the living room, where Sora and Catherine seemed to be chatting amiably. Matt blushed as he remembered the times he had come so close to giving up. He hoped that Tai and Sora never heard about those times.
"We're brainstorming ways to get back at T.K and Kari," Catherine told them as they returned to their seats, "We have a couple of good ideas too." Both Sora and Catherine looked very evil at that moment and so unlike their normal selves that both Tai and Matt paused before sitting down. But then they really wanted to get back at the youngest of the original digidestined too, so they sat down, and as they listened to the plan so far, their expressions changed until they too looked evil. Payback was going to be very fun after all.
Kari absently wiped some spaghetti from her son's cheek as she listened to Mimi's story about something that had happened in one of her latest modeling shoots. They were at her parent's apartment. It was a celebratory dinner for Matt and Catherine's engagement. Her parents, along with Mrs. Takenouchi, had planned it all very quickly. Matt had already thanked them several times for opening their home for the event, but the Kamiyas would have nothing of it. They were happy to help. Kari could have sworn that they almost believed that Matt was their son.
"Mummy, can we go and play?" her daughter asked her quietly, squirming in her seat. The digidestined had been gathered at the Kamiya apartment practically all day, and the twins had disappeared all afternoon. She had been a little worried at first about where the twins had gone, but her mother had just told her that they were probably playing with the two young adults who were renting the spare room. Kari had wanted to meet these two strangers- if the twins really were playing with them she wanted to make sure that they weren't dangerous- but her mother had told her that she would go and watch them. After all, Kari was supposed to be spending time with her friends. The twins had come out at dinner time, but the two strangers were nowhere to be seen. The twins seemed to be disappointed about that.
"Oh alright. But don't bother those people, okay?" the twins were gone before she could blink. The four year olds were very energetic and fast. Mimi had finished her story, and Mrs. Kamiya had started to clear away the dishes. Joe offered to help her, and she accepted his help with a small nod. Once the table was clear and Joe and Mrs. Kamiya had returned, Catherine stood.
"Firstly I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya and Mrs. Takenouchi for organizing this dinner. It has been a very fun day and we appreciate it very much," the table burst into applause and Mrs. Kamiya bowed her head to accept the thanks, "Secondly, we have a surprise for everyone. We have managed to locate two very special guests whom I am sure you will be glad to see. I think the twins just went to get them, so they should be here- ah, there they are." Tai and Sora walked into the room and stopped near the door.
"Hi guys," Sora said. There were a lot of puzzled glances at the table. Everyone except for Matt, Catherine, Joe and the parents was wondering who these two guests were. There was a silence. Joe was the one to break it. He had been let in on the plan of course.
"Hey guys, I was wondering when you would turn up," he grinned and pushed up his glasses. Everyone was staring at him as though he had two heads. They wondered how Joe knew them, "T.K, if I was you, I'd be running at this moment." T.K looked completely baffled. Why should he be running? It wasn't as though these two looked very dangerous. Well, the scar running down the girl's face did look a little menacing, but he still couldn't see what was wrong. Then again… there was something familiar about the two of them that made him sure that he knew them. But where did he know them from? The twins came into the room at that moment.
"Uncle Tai, Aunty Sowa, you pwomised that you would play!" little Taichi exclaimed, saying the words just as Mr. Kamiya had coached him to say them. The world seemed to freeze. T.K didn't hear what the two newcomers told Taichi, nor did he notice when he absently picked his daughter up and set her on his knee. The twins had called them 'Aunty' and 'Uncle'. Okay, so they called all of the digidestined that. But their names… he looked at the even harder. They just stood there, grinning as everyone watched them in some kind of shock.
"T-Tai?" Kari whispered her eyes wide and her face very, very pale. She looked as though she were about to faint.
"Yes Kari? Wait, I have to say something first. You made a very important promise to me at the airport- well, it could be called a couple of promises- and you seem to have broken both at the same time. If I do my Maths correctly, you would still have been in school and you weren't married. Oh, and of course, you promised not to do that sort of thing whilst I was away. So it was three promises. What did I tell you I would do if you broke the promise?" Tai didn't care that most of the people at the table were confused. He laughed as T.K quickly placed his daughter on the floor and bolted. Kari still looked wide-eyed at him, and Matt, Catherine and Joe were laughing so hard that they were crying. He heard Sora sigh beside him. They were finally home. He knew that they had a lot of explaining to do, but he didn't care. They had survived to make it home. They knew that they could now get through anything the world threw at them.
"Hey guys… don't you think that you should tell T.K he can come back now?" Matt asked when he had managed to get his laughter under control. Tai and Sora exchanged glances.
"Nah… he'll come back eventually. Ooh, now Sora and I made the dessert… we know that you'll love it!" Mrs. Takenouchi, who had snuck out when T.K had disappeared, now re-entered the room carrying… a pile of leaves. Tai and Sora felt that they were never going to stop laughing. Yep, home was definitely where the heart is…
The End
Litanya: Well… that definitely turned out differently to what I expected, but I'm happy with it. I know the ending is lame but… I couldn't help it. This is the end of the fic. It's kind of sad in a way. But I might write a sequel to it one day. It depends on how I feel. I've never written a sequel before… anyway, please review and tell me what you think (even if you only want to say that the ending sucked!). I appreciate all feed-back. Anyway, good night/day/afternoon/morning etc!