A/N: This is the first chapter, just revamped. Please enjoy.
Broken
BoarderKC
They were bumped and jostled as they stepped off the plane. People in a hurry, unnoticing of the five teenagers looking lost in the crowds, huddled close together, clutching carry-ons with wide eyes.
"Gennai is suppose to meet us here?" Matt spoke first, standing at Tai's side. He spoke in Japanese with an aggravated tone that caused one or two passer-bys to stare at him. It annoyed him more then he already was.
"Yeah," was all Tai replied.
Matt continued, his words fed by frustration and annoyance. "Why did we have to go to America? Why does Gennai want us here?"
"I don't know," Tai replied curtly. He searched the crowds with his eyes while his friends stood at his back. "We were just sent here."
"Yeah that's my biggest problem with this. Gennai says jump, we jump. Find your crests, go to America," Matt growled. "And why us? Why not Mimi or Joe or Izzy?"
"You think I know!" Tai demanded, finally turning his eyes from the crowd to the blond that couldn't seem to control his mouth. "I know as much as you do. Just keep an eye out for Gennai."
"How do we know it's really Gennai?" It was TK that time. "Couldn't it be Benjamin or Jackie?"
"At this point, we know nothing. There he is." Tai gestured to a middle-aged man in a business suit walking in their direction. It was his younger version, the man who had appeared to them almost Jedi-like a few years back.
"Hello children," he greeted them in their native language. They nodded their response. "Welcome to America."
"Yeah, thanks, Gennai," Tai replied.
He turned to leave. "Let's go."
Tai stepped forward, but gestured for the others not to move. Sora, Matt, Kari and TK remained rooted where they stood. "Where exactly are we going? You've gotten our families to send us here, but no one really seems to know why. What's going on?"
He turned to face them again. "You'll find out soon. Don't worry." His eyes, soft brown orbs, met each of theirs. "Let's go." He turned again and without another word they followed. They grabbed their suitcases and duffle bags from the churning, moving conveyer belt before following Gennai out of the bustling airport and into the parking lot.
It was night when they stepped out. The air sweltered and they grumbled about the heat, mostly to fill the silence. Gennai led them to a monstrous SUV and they clambered in. "This is Tucson, Arizona," Gennai spoke up as he started the car. He pulled out of the parking lot and the five teens stared out the window, taking in the strange city in silence. This was the first time Tai and Sora had been to America, but none of them had been to this side of the country.
The lights of the city began to thin out and the high-rise buildings gave way to houses. They pulled onto a dark road after driving in silence for a long time. They passed a few houses, but not many. Wide, empty lots of land sat between each of them. When the SUV slowed, everyone turned their eyes to a large two-story house, the windows glowing brightly. Gennai pulled into the driveway that held two other cars.
"This is it?" Sora spoke for the first time since they landed.
"Yes," Gennai answered. He looked up at the house with affection in his eyes before climbing out of the car. The five hesitated to follow, but slowly they filed out and followed the man into the house, lugging their suitcases with them.
The house was cool, a relief to the heat outside which Gennai cut off by closing the door behind him. The five stood in the foyer, looking around with weary eyes. There was sound everywhere: music streaming from more then one direction deep inside the house, and the sound of a television yelling incomprehensible words in English.
"Welcome to my home, children. Follow me." He ushered them through a door just off of the foyer they had stood in. He didn't automatically close the door. "If you will give me a moment, I have to go talk to the others."
"What others?" Tai asked, an edge in his voice making him sound paranoid.
"The other children that live here," the older man clarified. "I have five others who are already here under my care. I need to inform them of your arrival." With that he shut the door, leaving them in an awkward silence.
"I don't like this," Sora said as she set down her suitcase. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. They stood in an office. A row of bookshelves was inset in the wall, and at the end of the small room a large desk sat covered in papers and books.
"None of us do," Matt replied sourly. He let his duffle bag slide off his shoulder to hit the floor with a thud. The others let their bags fall as well. No one spoke. There was nothing to say. They were scared, but no one could voice that.
The door opened again after a few minutes and Gennai stood in the doorway. "Come on out, children. The others are waiting to meet you." They picked up their bags and followed him out of the room. The house was now silent, the music gone and the television turned off. It was eerily quiet. They crossed the small foyer and passed through a large doorway into a silent living room.
The living room was simple; two couches, one with its back to the entranceway, facing the TV at the far end of the room, and a second couch against the front wall under a window looking out into the dark night. The TV was in the opposite corner, and on the far wall a fireplace sat cold and empty. Four people were seated on the furniture, two on each couch. Three girls and a boy. A second boy sat in a wheelchair next to one of the couches. The five watched them as they entered. The five looked like they were all close in age. None of them spoke just sat there waiting.
Finally, Tai broke the silence. "Hello. My name is Yagami Taichi." He gestured to Kari, who stood just to his left and then began to go down the line. "This is my sister Hikari. This is Yamato, his brother Takeru and that's Sora." No one spoke at first, and Tai glanced at the four other kids as the ones on the couch looked confused. Finally one of the girls, a thin brunette, chuckled lightly, leaving the DigiDestined looking confused. "What's so funny?" Tai demanded.
"You're speaking Japanese." Her accent was crude, but every word was pronounced clearly and naturally."They can't speak Japanese. Only me and Gennai can."
"You've got to be kidding me," Matt growled. She shook her head and the DigiDestined turned and stared at Gennai while the kids on the couch stared at the girl. "You speak English then?" Matt asked in English and the girl and her friends nodded.
The tan-skinned, black haired boy that sat at her side elbowed her to get her attention. "What's going on?"
She shook her head. "It's nothing. He," she pointed to Tai, "just said that his name is Taichi. That's his sister Hikari. That's Yamato and his brother Takeru. And she's Sora." She had gone down the line just like Tai had. She turned back to the DigiDestined and reverted back to Japanese. "I'm Tera. This is Aaron," she gestured to the boy who had elbowed her. "This is Taylor," she pointed to a thin blonde on her other side. "That's Natalie," she pointed to the ebony haired girl at the end of the couch. "And that's Elijah." She ended with the boy in the wheelchair.
Matt turned with a glare towards Gennai, "Why didn't you tell us they couldn't speak Japanese?"
Gennai grinned. "You seemed to handle it fine yourselves."
"Well, this is America." They looked back over at Tera, who was speaking again. "I wouldn't go to Japan with the expectation that everyone should speak English. Can anyone aside from Yamato speak English?" The rest of them shook their heads. "Oh this will be fine." Her friends looked at her with questioning eyes. "They can't speak English, just Yamato."
"Why don't you take them to get settled in?" Gennai suggested from the entryway.
Aaron nodded and stood. "Tell them to follow us, Tera."
"I'll tell them," Matt replied. He turned to the others. "They're going to show us upstairs. Bedrooms, I guess." Tera nodded behind him. The others nodded and Aaron stepped past them. They followed him as Tera and Taylor brought up the rear. Natalie and Elijah remained in the living room, dipping their heads to whisper softly to each other. They followed the tan-skinned boy up the stairs until he reached the top. He turned back to them. "Yamato, you speak English, right?" Matt nodded. "Good, we'll have at least one English interpreter in each room. We're sharing rooms." His tone held annoyance. "You and the other two boys are with me. The girls will follow Tera and Taylor."
"Four to a bedroom?" Matt demanded.
"Hey, we don't like it either." Aaron raised his hands as if to defend himself. "We didn't even know you were coming until tonight."
Matt rolled his eyes and turned to the others. "Alright, Sora and Kari, follow Tera and the girl." He gestured to the pair who brought up the rear. "Tai, TK and me are with Aaron." They nodded and Aaron went to the left at the top of the stairs while Tera and Taylor went right. There was a door at each end of the landing.
"Come on," Tera called to the two girls as she opened to door at the end and slipped inside. Sora and Kari followed her without a sound and stopped just inside the doorway.
The room was huge. Two bunk beds sat in the two far corners of the room and two desks sat between them. Along the wall over the desks sat wide windows that looked out onto a vast of black skies. Pushed against the same wall as each bunk bed were four dressers, two on each side of the room. The walls were blanketed in posters and pictures, the soft beige of the paint barely peeking out.
"That's your guys' bunk." Tera pointed to the left side of the room. "Those two dressers are yours. There's a spot in the closet for you." She pointed to a door by Sora and Kari's dressers. She grinned. "Welcome to our humble abode." Taylor walked past Tera and sat on the bottom bunk of the other beds. "You hungry or anything?"
The pair didn't answer at first, and Tera wasn't sure if they had heard her. They looked scared and small, their eyes traveling the vast room with uncertainty. Finally, Kari looked back at her and with a soft voice that hadn't been used that evening, "No, we ate on the plane."
"Cool," Tera replied in English before turned her back to them and joining Taylor on her bunk. "Where'd I put my book?" Taylor, the smaller of the two, held out a book to Tera, who grinned as she took it. "Thanks." Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled softly at Sora and Kari, still standing just inside the doorway. "You don't have to stand by the door. You look like you're about to make a run for it. Put your stuff down and get comfortable."
Sora blushed as if chastised and Kari nodded, and they approached the beds Tera had been pointing to. "Do you mind if I sleep on the bottom? I'd rather stay close to the ground," Kari requested softly.
"No problem," the redhead agreed.
"When you unpack you can put your suitcases in the hall closet, or up in the attic. Our room gets pretty messy, 'specially now that it's four girls sharing one room, so it would be best to get clutter out of the way."
Kari turned back to Tera with an annoyed look on her face. "Why bother? We can't be staying here very long. School starts in a month and we'll just be on our way back to Japan."
Tera didn't look fazed by Kari's attitude, just cocked an eyebrow and leaned back on the bed, supported by her elbows. "That's not really how it works. You're here until Gennai says you go. You don't know what's going on here, do you?"
Sora shook her head. "No. Why? Do you?"
She sighed. "I know Gennai is being an ass, dumping you guys here without an explanation to us or to you. He'll explain it all in the morning. Don't worry. It's not so bad here." She left the pair with that last statement hanging over them. Glancing at each other, the shrugged thin shoulders and started unpacking in silence.
Tai lay awake for a long time. Sleep didn't seem appealing, although the dark ceiling he had been staring at for hours was starting to become hazy in his tired eyes and sleep tugged at him to give in. Underneath his bunk, Aaron's light breathing was the only sound that filled the static air. On the other side of the room, he knew Matt still lay awake, staring up into the darkness at the bottom of TK's bunk. "What do you think, Matt?" he whispered, shattering the darkness with his soft voice and it hurt his ears.
Silence greeted his question for several seconds. Finally, "What does it matter?" he retorted bitterly. Tai could hear his breathing coming in painful gasps, like he was struggling with his body to keep up the action.
Tai turned on his side, his back to Matt's bunk. "Yeah…I guess you're right," he replied sadly. He didn't want to sleep, but Matt didn't seem to want a conversation. Sleep still pulled him, but he knew what lay in wait for him there and he did not want to face it.
On the other side of the room Matt rolled over, and Tai closed his eyes with a sigh. Like Matt said, what did it matter?
Sounds of crying pulled Kari from a fitful, monster-filled sleep. She opened her burning eyes, silently praying she wasn't the one crying, and awoke to a strange room, glowing in the soft light of a nightlight. She sat up quickly, barely avoiding hitting her head on the top bunk. Panic surged through her entire body as she looked around wildly. This wasn't her aunt's house.
"Sorry," a voice made her jump, and she caught sight of a thin girl with disheveled brown hair climbing down from the top of a bunk on the other side of the room and her mind cleared. She was at Gennai's. "Taylor cries at night. Sorry if she woke you."
Kari rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over at Taylor, who was tossing and turning in the bottom bunk. She was the one who emitted the childlike sobbing that woke Kari. "What's wrong?" she found herself whispering in a tired voice.
"Nightmares," she answered simply before sitting down on the edge of Taylor's bed. She took hold of the other girl's arms and began to gently shake her awake, whispering soothing words in English. Kari sat in her bed for a long time, just watching them. She had no interest in sleep and the bed hurt her back, leaving her entire body stiff. She watched Tera whisper to Taylor, listening to Tera's soft voice while Taylor cried for a long time into Tera's nightshirt. When Taylor seemed calm, Tera lay her back down and stood up. "You're still awake?" she asked in surprise, looking at Kari with a drained expression. "You should probably get some sleep, Hikari." With slow movements she climbed the ladder to her bed.
"Call me Kari," she whispered as she lay down, turning on her side to look up at Tera. The other girl nodded. "Does this happen every night?"
"Yes." Tera crawled across her bed and collapsed onto her pillow on top. The bed squeaked at the movement. She stretched and yawned.
"Why?"
"Because no one wants to wake up crying alone," Tera whispered softly. Kari didn't say anything in response, but found herself silently agreeing with Tera's words. She wondered about all the times she had woken up alone. "Good night, Kari," Tera whispered, voice half lost to sleep already, interrupting Kari's thoughts.
"Yeah, good night, Tera." Tera's breathing slowed quickly, like she had fallen asleep the second her head had touched the pillow. Kari noted it sounded labored, but paid it little heed as she thought about her own nightmares. She dreaded another fitful sleep.
A/N: Make a young author just trying to tell a story some love and review! Heh. Also, special thanks to my beta, Mr. Write1. Go check him out.