The Return home: Tale of Survival
A/N: I'm back people, sorry about the super long hiatus. I am sad to report that some stories like, "our brother, our friend" from my digimon creations would not continue, and would probably be torn down, due to lack of ideas and inspiration. While I was gone, I became a US Marine. Upon hearing the accounts of the marines in my unit who've been to Iraq, it has given me some idea to what it was like. Obviously it wasn't pleasant and shouldn't be taken lightly. Disclaimer, I do not own digimon.
Summary: This Fanfic is set in an alternate universe, where the digidestineds (Post Season 2) have moved to the United States during the last few years of high school. The majority of the older boys is in the Marine Corps and was involved in Iraq. Upon returning home, they suffer through flashbacks of the war as their friends and loved ones back home help them through their troubles. P.S Tai, Matt and Izzy are 20. The girls back home are 19 respectively, while all the season 2 crew is now 16-17 (Kari, TK, Yolie, Cody, Davis etc)
Chapter 1: The Aftermath
Tai regained consciousness some time later, a little disoriented and unsure where he was. He was in a bed, and within a few moments, he pieced together that he's in some sort of hospital. He listened to the faint beeping of the IV equipment as it operated the pump, keeping his body hydrated with the clear solution in the bag suspended on his right hand side. He looked to his left, and saw another marine, who was in a deep sleep. Tai looked to his right then, and found Izzy sleeping in the other bed, with his leg elevated. Tai too realized that his leg was slightly elevated as well. It didn't hurt much, so he figured he was quite dosed up with pain meds. "Izzy! Izzy!" He called to his friend but his friend was obviously still exhausted.
Matt was just returning from the mess hall as he walked outside the hospital room of his two friends. He could hear Tai's voice inside calling Izzy's name. "Tai must be awake, damn…he been out cold most of the time since we were rescued." Matt was wearing a hospital gown; apparently he was also a patient. He felt fine though, but the medical team insisted he stay out of the battlefield for a while. He walked into the room and greeted his friend. "How are you feeling, man?" he said as he took a seat on a chair beside Tai's side.
"Odd, knowing I should be in pain, but I'm not due to these pain meds. What did they give me?" Tai joked a little. "How about you? You look pretty alright to me." Tai asked Matt as he cracked his fingers. Matt sighed and smiled. "Pretty good, other than the fact that my head's a little banged up by the blast of the IED earlier. They think I have a slight concussion and perhaps some kind of noggin damage they haven't been able to figure out." The blonde friend muttered. "So, they holding you for observation?" "Yep." Tai chuckled at that and replied, "Well, I'm sure you're alright buddy, is Izzy going to be okay? He looks pretty fine to me." "Yeah he's just like you, injured leg. The round narrowly missed an artery, so he's lucky he didn't bled to death." Matt told his friend. He poured himself a glass of water from the bedside counter and took a sip. He spoke a moment later, "The unit's giving you a bronze star commendation dude, for bravery and selfless service. You continued to drag a wounded comrade even though you've been hit yourself." Tai shook his head. "Izzy's our childhood friend, there's nothing I wouldn't do to get him to safety. You would have done the same." Tai replied. Matt just smiled and stood up. "Want me to find the nurse and get you some chow?" "Damn straight man, I'm starving." "Alright, sure thing, Tai." With that, Matt stood up and walked outside the room and told a nurse to get Lcpl Kamiya some food.
A week later, the 3 friends received word that their injuries have concluded that they were to be sent home for recovery. Their loved ones were only just notified recently about what happened to them, so there were quite a bit of concern for their state of health. Izzy and Tai were feeling much better, and were now mobile by wheelchair. Matt on the other hand was fine on the outside, and his brain was in no immediate danger. All 3 of them however, had been suffering from nightmares and night sweats, as they relived that ambush in their sleep. Tai received his medals just prior to boarding a plane headed back home to the states. Matt had already gone aboard to help seat Izzy. While waiting for Matt to return to help him aboard, he wondered about home. "Sora…she must be absolutely worried. I don't think they know what really happened to us here. I think as far as she's concerned, she doesn't know if I'm going to be okay." He said to himself as he looked up as Matt walking over to fetch him.
"Well, it's my turn now." He muttered to himself, looking towards Matt. He saw matt stop a bit as he suddenly stopped and leaned against the wall, suddenly breathing hard as Matt started uttering words Tai couldn't comprehend. The look on his face told Tai that Matt was having another flashback from that ambush in Fallujah, on the streets. "Matt! Snap out of it, you're okay?" Tai said as he rolled his wheelchair closer to his friend. Matt regained control as he tried to comprehend where he was. "What happened Tai?" he said, a little shaken and confused. "You fell into a relapse, I think man. You're alright?" Tai said as he rolled even closer and placed a hand on his friends arm. "Let's get home man, we'll keep an eye out for each other in case these relapses get worse, okay?" Tai spoke a second later, as Matt nodded and offered to help him board the plane. The trio soon waited for the plane to Taxi out of the runway, and take off to home.
One Week Ago, 24 hours before the Ambush:
Sora had just finished working out at the gym and was going into the locker room to shower. Sora is now actually quite attractive, at the age of 19. Her yellow tank top was drenched in sweat after a long session at the gym. Her hair is still the same, auburn in color, but a tad longer now, which she wears it in a variety of ways. For now, she had it tied in a ponytail. She and Tai had been going out ever since a few days before he left for boot camp. Some time before that, Sora was with Matt, and the two friends had some rough times dealing with each other. Some kind of situation happened, and Sora realized that Matt wasn't the one, and she did what she had to make sure Tai knew how she felt. The two shared the same feelings and quickly became deeply in love. Tai had made peace with Matt shortly after that, and miraculously, the old friends shook off their disagreement and remained friends till this day.
Sora at first was very uneasy about Tai joining the Marine Corps in the first place. Especially the fact that she just realized that she really loved him. Matt noticed that discomfort in Sora and as an act of goodwill, vowed to join up as Tai's buddy on his buddy program, where they'll be trained together and they'll keep watch over each other. Matt still cared for Sora, and if it means that much to her, he will safeguard the life of the one she cares about, after all, he cares greatly for his old friend and would die side by side with him in battle. She asked them both at first not to, but reluctantly agreed.
From that day since, the relationship was forged by distance and faithfulness between the two, strengthened by time. Sora loved Tai to death. She thought about him in the shower as she washed herself. Once in a while she would get a thought about him and her, and she would flush blood red. "Guess that will have to wait until he gets home…ooh damn, I can't wait. Just a few more months." She was concentrating on washing herself when she heard a familiar voice singing in the shower stall next to her. "Mimi?" She called out.
Mimi, now 19 as well, was a lot more mature than how she was a few years back. Her hair was now no longer hot pink dyed, but her natural color again, and it reached down to her lower back. She was singing in the shower next to Sora's as she was washing her long hair. Mimi's love life had been a special one. She had been secretly harboring feelings for good old Izumi, although everyone still calls him Izzy, she's the only one that continued to call him by his real name. Like Sora, she had revealed her feelings to Izzy just days before he left for Boot camp, following Tai and Matt after they have already left for a month. He wanted to be with those guys, as the 3rd member in their so-called trio, to watch their backs. She reluctantly let him go, begging him to be careful. The feelings were exactly what propelled Izumi to be an outstanding marine that he is today.
Hearing someone calling her name, Mimi averted her attention and replied, "Who's there?" When Sora said her name, she spoke up again, "oh hey! What a coincidence, had a good workout?" She asked. The girls finished their shower and dried themselves up, while chatting with one another for a few good minutes. At the door of the gym, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, saying they each had things to do.
Sora walked down the street on her way home, stopping by at the convenience store and buying two small rolls of meat. She wanted to feed Agumon, who she promised Tai that she'll help take care of him while he's deployed. She stopped temporally at the Kamiya's knocking at the door. Agumon's voice could be heard from inside, "Just a minute." A few minutes later, Agumon finally got the door open, after trying to stack some stools on top of each other for him to reach the doorknob. "Hey Agumon! Where's Kari, she's usually here to open the door for me?" "She's out on a date with TK." Agumon said as he jumped off his makeshift step. Sora smiled and handed a roll of meat to Agumon. "Good thing I decided to stop by with this then, you must be hungry." She smiled as the digimon reminded her of her sweetheart. A digimon and his/her partner are very much alike, she noted. She said good-bye to Agumon, saying she must be going and left the house.
Sora entered her apartment, closing the door and locking it. She sliced a portion of the roll of meat she had left and served it on a plate for Biyomon. "Hey Sora!" Biyomon called as she flew into the living room from the bedroom. "Hey Biyo, I brought lunch." "Great. Hey, the mailman brought mail while you were gone. There was a letter from Tai." Sora immediately got excited and asked where it was. Biyomon told her where it was and Sora went to retrieve it. She opened it and started reading.
Hey honey, I hope you're doing all right. It's been a tough week here. Things are really heating up around here. I've seen a lot of marines die lately. There are times when I really felt like I want to be home. Things are rough here. I miss you, Sora. I really do. Matt misses you too. And don't worry, I didn't beat him up for saying that. He's a brother to me, you know? The situation is getting quite rough lately, and they're calling for extra patrols around the firm base. Camp Fallujah just isn't as safe as it seems. Babe, I'm not gonna let the negative things bring me down though. My tour is ending! I bet you knew about it too. Just 2 more months babe, and I'm home for a long time to come. Matt and Izzy are coming home too around then. Izzy been telling me how much he misses Mimi. The poor guy hasn't slept a wink during the week when Mimi didn't had a chance to write back for some time. I can't wait to see your face when I step out of that plane at the airport and hold you in my arms, for the first time in months! I can't wait to run my hand through your hair, to let you know how much you mean to me, to feel your touch. I have to get some sleep honey as my watch is in a few hours. I'll write again when I can. I love you. Signed, Lance Corporal Tai Kamiya.
Sora held the letter to her chest as she smiled happily. She loved him dearly, and it was really good to hear from him. She just couldn't much wait till his tour is over in the next 2 months. She went on to do what she had to do, taking care of her studies and cleaning up the apartment that she shared with Biyomon. She had dinner a couple hours later, took a shower and prepared to go to bed. As she laid in her bed, she read the letter again to herself before drifting off to sleep.
"Izzy!!!" Tai yelled as he ran into the street to drag his wounded friend away from fire. A few moments later, as Tai was dragging him, Tai can be seen being hit by a shot. Tai dropped to the ground in pain, seemingly unable to get up. "Tai! No!" Was then heard a moment later.
Sora suddenly woke up with a start, sweating and panting as she recalled a nightmare. It felt so real for some reason. She saw Tai and the others in danger, but she couldn't comprehend what. She shrugged it off and dismissed it as a dream. "yea, its probably nothing. Probably just scaring myself. I can't even watch the news about the war anyways. He's probably fine. If anything did happened to him, I would know by now…no, what am I'm thinking, of course he's fine, nothing happened." She spoke to herself, trying to calm herself down. She slipped back to sleep a few moments later, thinking of him.
The next couple days, Sora was being paranoid, as she hadn't received a single letter. Then again, Tai was in Iraq, and letters do take time to arrive. Oddly, she kept having a feeling of uneasiness about Tai's wellbeing. Something was telling her that something happened, but she just didn't know what. She was watching the news and it broadcasted about an major roadside bombing that claimed the lives of several marines. She shut the tube off at that point, and couldn't help but scare herself. What if he was one of those marines? What if he's dead? She asked herself. She stopped herself, trying to reassure herself that he's fine.
Near the last day of the week, she received a phone call. It was Kari. From the sound of her voice, Sora could tell something was wrong. "Kari, what's wrong?" She asked, concerned. "Its Tai! Something happened! The Marines just called mom and dad and they called me!" "What?!" Sora exclaimed, not believing her ears. "You sure? Is Tai okay? Is he okay?!" Sora asked with equal worry. "We don't know. As far as the marine representatives could say, his unit was involved in an ambush on the streets of Fallujah!" Kari stammered on the other line. She was very upset, as she didn't know if her brother was alive or dead. Kari told Sora that the marines will provide more info as they find out more with those that are over there. Sora replied that Tai is probably all right, and told her not to jump to conclusions, afraid of thinking of the worse scenario. Kari promised as they find out more, they will contact her immediately. Sora said thanks briefly and said goodbye, hanging up the phone. She slumped down against the wall as she sat there, as she started having worrisome eyes. Soon tears began to well up around her eyes. "Please be okay…" She muttered to herself, as her heart ached as she thought of the possible worse outcomes.
A/N: And that's the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Please, Read and Review and give me some input on what you think. The second chapter will be coming soon, so stay tuned! James Out!