NOTE: First off, to all of you who have reviewed the last chapter, thank you so much! I'm sorry I couldn't reply to them personally, but there was something funky going on with the system...but thank you very much for your review!
I've been on a roll writing up these chapters. Why? Not sure...maybe because this was the moment I had been waiting for. ^_^
Speaking of which...This chapter is FINALLY going to reveal the item Matt gave to Tai in the prologue. WOO! Be excited people. ;) I just hope it does itself justice.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11. Tears of an Angel
"Matt, T.K.," their mother started. Matt sat next to his brother on the couch and looked at his parents intently. They sat in front of them and looked very serious, which made Matt rather nervous. "We need to talk to you boys." She bit her bottom lip nervously, and then looked at her husband. He nodded and took over.
"Mommy and I…we've decided to get a divorce," he said.
Divorce? Matt didn't like the sound of that.
"What is that?" T.K. asked.
"It means that Mommy and I decided not to be with each other anymore," he sighed.
"What?" Matt spat out.
"Boys, daddy and I have tried really hard to not fight anymore," their mother tried to explain. "But, we saw that things were not working out. We think it would be better for everyone if we lived in different houses."
"We love you two very much," their father picked up. "And this is not your fault, you need to know that. But the thing is: mommy and I don't love each other anymore." The young family sat in silence.
"I don't like this," T.K. pouted.
"We know this is hard on you kids," their father said. "But just know that we will still love you." He then turned and looked at his wife, a little more coldly. "No matter what." Matt stared at both of his parents. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and ran to the door.
"Matt!" his mother called. The young blonde threw the door open and ran out.
"Matt, please come back!" his father called out, but Matt didn't care. He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't believe it. How could this happen? He knew that they were fighting a lot more than before, but he and T.K. fought too! It wasn't fair! This couldn't happen!
Matt continued to run, not really sure where he was going and finding himself not really caring either. He ran and ran, until he felt like his little heart was about to explode from exhaustion. Finally, he slowed down and tried to catch his breath. He looked around and saw that he was in the playground. There was no one around, which was totally fine to Matt. He didn't really want to be with anyone right now.
The small blonde tried to fight the tears that were starting to fall down his face as he started climbing the jungle gym. He crawled through the tunnel where he found Tai so long ago crying about his sister. Once he reached the center of the tunnel, he pulled his legs up to his chest, and buried his face in his knees.
"It's not fair!" he whimpered. "It's not fair!" He repeated that over and over again. He wished that things could just go back to the way they were before. Before his parents started fighting. Before the dragon attacked. Before…
"Matt?" The blonde flinched when he heard the familiar voice echo from the tunnel. He slowly lifted his head and saw Tai crawling towards him in the tunnel. The memory of watching Sora kiss Tai came flooding back into Matt's memory and he buried his face in his knees again. "Matt, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Matt lied.
"Did Bobby beat you up?" Tai asked, obviously not buying what he had said.
"No," Matt muttered. "It's nothing, really." The blonde looked back up at the brunette, who still looked very worried. He looked like he was struggling to tell something to him, and it was making Matt nervous. "How come you're here Tai?"
"Well…I was looking for you," Tai murmured. "Because…I need to tell you something." Matt's heart was starting to feel very scared.
"What?" he asked slowly. Tai opened his mouth, but then closed it. "What is it Tai?" Tai stared at Matt long and hard, sorrow filling his eyes.
"…my family is moving," he finally whispered. Matt gasped at the news.
"…W-where?" Matt barely whimpered.
"I…I don't know…Odaiba I think…" Tai shrugged. Both Matt's stomach and heart dropped at the news. Odaiba? That place was so far away!
"Why are you leaving?" Matt asked.
"Kari got sick again," Tai frowned. "Really sick, and the only way the doctor said she can be better is if we take her to a special hospital. But the hospital is far away, and Daddy said it's better if we just move closer incase anything happens." Matt stared at the ground, trying to take in everything he was hearing. "I tried telling Mimi, but when I went to go visit her apartment, she was gone."
"Gone?" Matt gasped. "Mimi is gone?"
"Yeah! The new people that lived there said they left after the—" Tai stopped himself, and then thought of what to say next. "…After the airplanes accidently hurt the roads next to the apartments." The blonde pulled his legs close to his chest. First, he found out his mommy and daddy weren't going to live together anymore, then Tai said he was moving; now Mimi was gone too? "…Sora was sad when I told her too you know."
…What? Sora? Sora knew about all of this before he did? Why? Tai was Matt's husband! Not Sora's! Why was this happening? Why couldn't things be back to the way they were before? Matt closed his eyes and covered his ears.
'It's not fair!' he cried in his head. Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes. 'It's not fair! It's not fair!'
"Matt? What are you doing? You look kind of funny—"
"Go away!" Matt spat. Tai stared at him in shock.
"Matt?" he said. "What's wrong?" He crawled forward and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Matt's eyes snapped open and he glared at the intruder.
"Don't touch me!" Matt growled and pushed the boy away. He scooted away from him and buried his face in his knees again. Tai was the last person he felt like talking to at that moment. He wanted to be with a witch instead of a prince.
"M-Matt…what's wrong?" Tai whispered. "Did I do something?" He scooted closer to Matt once again, and that made Matt angry. He pushed Tai away harder.
"Why did you let Sora kiss you?" Matt shouted out. The brunette stared at him in shock.
"You…you saw that?" he asked.
"I'm your husband!" Matt continued. "I thought we were supposed to love each other no matter what! But then, you let Sora kiss you! Why?"
"Matt…I'm…I'm sorry," Tai frowned. "I didn't know you were there."
"You shouldn't have let her kiss you anyways!"
"I'm sorry Matt!"
"Just go away!"
"Matt!"
"I hate you!" Matt raised his hands to push him again, but Tai caught both of them. The blonde tried to fight out of the other boy's clutch, but it was useless. Finally, Matt gave up and lowered his head.
"Matt?" Tai spoke.
"I hate you…" Matt whimpered softly.
"…I'm…really sorry Matt," Tai whispered. "I know it was bad for me to let her kiss me but…I'm sorry…I'm really, really sorry." Matt slowly looked up at the brave knight. Tai's brown eyes showed that he really felt terrible for what had happened. "…Please don't hate me…and please don't push me away again…" The young blonde stared at the brunette for a long while. Finally, he allowed his arms to go limp and he leaned into the other boy. Tai in return wrapped his arms around his young prince and held him tightly.
"I don't hate you…" Matt whispered. "I just hate all of this stuff that is happening…I…I'm sorry Tai." Tai nuzzled his face into the crook of Matt's neck and sighed.
"It's ok," Tai murmured. "…I have something for you, Matt." Tai let go of Matt and started searching his pockets. "Mommy said that I could give a sort of going away present to you." Matt curiously watched Tai as he searched for the item, then frowned.
"I'm sure you gave one to Sora too then, right?" Matt muttered. Tai paused momentarily and stared deeply into the blonde's eyes.
"No," he answered. "Only you." Tai continued his search, and finally, from his right pocket, he pulled out a small item.
The object was something Matt had not seen before. It had a silver ring and a small chain that was attached to a silver star, which dangled loosely at the end. Tai held the silver object with his fore finger and thumb and held it in front of Matt.
"…What is it?" Matt asked in awe.
"It's a star keychain," Tai explained. "Mommy said that I could pick something out that would remind you of me, and when I saw this, it made me think of the time we went to go look at the stars together."
"After I waited for you?"
"Yes." Matt smiled at the keychain and also of the memory. "Matt…I know that I haven't been the best husband ever…but I want to make you a promise, ok?"
"What Tai?" Matt asked. Tai took Matt's hand and placed the keychain in his palm. The brave knight stared into his prince's eyes.
"I promise…that as long as you hold on to this, I will remember you…" Tai gently made Matt close his hand around the star keychain. "…and love you." Matt stared down at his small fist, holding the object of promise, the stared up at Tai.
"Thank you Tai," Matt choked out. Tai gave a half smile before his lower lip began to tremble slightly. Finally, Matt couldn't hold it any longer. He wrapped his arms tightly around his love and started to cry. Tai held him tightly as well.
"Please don't cry Matt," Tai whimpered. "Or else…you'll make me start crying too!"
"I'm sorry!" Matt sobbed. "I just…I don't want you to leave because...because...I love you!"
"I love you too Matt!" Tai held his prince tighter and Matt could feel some tears falling on to his own shoulder.
oXoXoXoXo
One Week Later…
Matt sat next to his younger brother on the sofa, and waited for his dad to come back from loading the van. In just one week, their father managed to pack everything all up to move out. Before they announced the split to their children, their father had found a few places that he could stay in for a while. Their mother was going to do the same, but their father suggested that until she was financially stable on her own, she should stay in the apartment.
"Matt?" T.K. muttered. "Why is Daddy taking all of your stuff to the van too?"
"Because," Matt said. "I'm going to live with Daddy from now on, and you're going to stay with Mommy."
"Is this because of the thing they told us?" T.K. frowned.
"Yes," Matt murmured. Their father walked into the apartment once more, and Matt feared that he would say it was time to go. Instead, he went to the bedrooms and took out more boxes.
"Just these last few things Matt," he said to the eldest. "Then we'll be off." He disappeared once again and suddenly Matt got an idea.
"Come on!" Matt whispered as he took T.K. by the hand and led him to the door.
"Where are we going?" T.K. asked as he was led outside and down the hallway at a quick paced speed.
"We're running away!" Matt declared as they made it in to the elevator.
"Running away?" the younger brother gasped. The elevator descended and then opened up at the main floor. Matt took T.K.'s hand and led him to the park. "But what about Mommy and Daddy?"
"They will be too busy to notice," Matt grunted as they entered the park. "By the time they see that we're gone, we'll be far away! We can go to some faraway place where no one would find us!"
"But Matt, I'm getting tired already." Matt stopped and looked at his brother. He was panting and trying to catch his breath.
"Ok T.K.," the elder brother sighed. "We can take a break." T.K. smiled happily and plopped himself down on the closest seat, which was a swing on the swing set. Matt leaned against one of the poles and started thinking of places where they could stay while they ran away.
"Hey!" Matt looked up and saw a familiar group of boys head over towards the swing. "What do you think you're doing on our swing Pip-squeak?"
"I was just taking a break," T.K. smiled happily.
"Bobby, leave my brother alone," Matt glared. Bobby looked over at Matt.
"Well, if it isn't Mattie!" the leader of the older boys smirked. "And he's alone. What happened to that big haired freak of yours?" Matt clenched his teeth and said nothing. Bobby turned back to T.K. "Get off!"
"But I'm just taking a break," T.K. blinked in confusion. Bobby turned to the shorter one of his friends, who nodded and went behind the smaller blonde. With a mighty push, T.K. went crashing to the ground. "OW!" The older boys laughed and T.K.'s bottom lip started to tremble. "That really hurt!"
"What a cry baby!" the shorter kid of Bobby's gang laughed.
"Yeah! Just like Mattie here!" Bobby snickered and kicked some sand at T.K. The young boy covered his eyes and started to cry harder.
A spark was set off inside of Matt when he saw his baby brother being bullied by boys that were much older than him. He went charging right at the leader and knocked him to the ground. Matt lifted his small balled up fists and made them crash down on to the older boy. Bobby let out screams of pain but his two friends simply stood there, unsure of what to do. With each punch Matt gave to the older boy, the more his anger grew.
"MATT!" Two large hands pulled the angry blonde off of the older boy. Matt looked up to see his father dragging him away. He watched as Bobby sprang up and ran away crying, his two goons following closely behind. Matt was set down away from the playground and close by to where his mother and younger brother were. Matt's father stared down at his son. "Matt, I am very disappointed in you."
"B-But Daddy!" Matt started to protest.
"You know better than to start fighting with the other children."
"But Daddy, he—"
"Don't argue with me young man!" Matt opened his mouth to protest once again, but then closed it. It was no use in trying to say what happened or how he felt about all of this. "We shall talk about this later, alright?"
"…'kay," Matt murmured. His father stared at him for a while longer and slowly walked over to T.K. Matt's mother walked to Matt and lowered herself to his level.
"Matt," she spoke softly. "I want you to know…that I love you very much, ok?" Matt frowned at his mother, even though she smiled at him. If she loved him, why were they splitting up? Didn't she want him anymore? She hugged her son tightly and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Matt…And you will always be my little prince." His mother stood, and walked over to T.K. She took T.K.'s hand and started leading him back to the apartment, not looking back.
"Let's go Matt," his father grumbled grimly. He took Matt's hand and led him the opposite direction of his mother's. He also didn't look back. The only ones who did look back were the two brothers. One was confused to why he couldn't thank his savoir from the bullies, and the other saddened over the fact that he wasn't able to say good-bye.
Matt's father placed Matt in the van, buckled him in and then started the drive off to who knows where. The young blonde sadly watched the familiar apartments slowly passed by him and wished he could stay here. But he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't be the same without his parents being happy, or Mimi, or even Tai…
Their van pulled up to a stop light and they waited to turn left. Matt watched as a small car pulled up beside them and waited for the light to turn green so they could go straight. A man was sitting in the driver's seat, and behind him, sat a small child. The child pressed his face against the window and looked up at the van next to him. Suddenly, the two children made eye contact.
"Tai!" Matt gasped. Tai perked up when he saw his friend in the neighboring van and placed a hand on the window, as though he was trying to reach out to him. Matt placed his hand on the window as well and pressed his face against the window. If he could just touch Tai again, tell him that he would always love him…
The van started rolling towards the left and the small car started its journey forward. The young prince's heart sank deeper than ever before as he slowly watched his bushy haired, knight disappear from sight…forever.
Ok, confession time...Star keychain? Yeah...kind of inspired by "Kingdom Heart" and their paupu fruit theory/thing. ^_^; "Tears of an Angel"? Big inspiration to this chapter and I highly recommend you go look up the song! Also, I probably could have made this chapter longer...but then it might have been TOO long. :P
Anyways, please let me know what you think of this chapter! Constructive criticism is super helpful as it helps me to fix things and keep things in mind for future stories! Thanks for reading!