With every paddle, Matt's heart sank. The closer he got to the other side of the lake, the further he got from the restaurant, his heart thudded faster in dull fear. Fear that he was too late to find TK, fear that Digitamamon would do something horrible to Joe, fear that Gabumon would realize what a terrible friend he was.
Fear that if he turned around right now and went back to the restaurant, Joe would give him that same smile and say it was ok that Matt had left.
His boat thunked against the beach, tearing him from his thoughts. He looked up with heavy eyes, clambering out into the stretch of sand. He wasn't sure how close he was to the amusement park he'd left his brother at, but it couldn't be too far away. Gabumon was looking around, trying to reorient himself, when a wonderfully familiar voice cried out.
"Matt! Matt!"
In the forest just past the pixelated sand, TK came running, barreling past the debris and flinging himself into his brother's arms.
"TK," Matt breathed, clutching TK to his chest. Tears flowed hot and fast down his cheeks and he fell to his knees, trying to pull his brother as close to him as possible. The child didn't mind the crushing tightness, his own small arms wrapped around Matt's neck with all he had. Somewhere in the back of their minds, they noticed Gabumon and Patamon reunite themselves, a much less emotional affair.
"TK," Matt cried, "I'm so sorry... I never meant to leave you..."
"It's ok," TK sniffled. He wiped his nose on Matt's collar, something he hadn't done since he was a baby. "I had Patamon with me." Suddenly he pulled away, boyish enthusiasm overwhelming him. "And you'll never guess who we found!"
But Matt could guess, if the joyous Agumon running up to them was any hint. Following him from the forestline was...
"Tai."
The spikey haired brunette waved, his whole body moving in excitement. Despite his absence, he looked no worse for wear, and even looked cleaner than before. The crest around his neck gave off a strange light, though it could have just been the sun glinting off the metal. Matt reached up, shamefully wiping away his tears in what he hoped was a nonchalant movement, and struggled to stand. He didn't want to let go of TK for anything, and his brother seemed just as adamant about staying firmly around his neck.
"Tai," Matt repeated, barely over a whisper. "I thought... We thought that..."
"Aw, come on," Tai laughed, flicking his thumb across his nose. "You can't kill me that easily."
"Tai protected me!" TK chattered happily in Matt's ear, his chin resting comfortably on his brother's shoulder. There was a warmth between them as TK's crest glowed with the same strange light as Tai's. "He found me and Tokomon and protected us from the bad Digimon and got me food and didn't let me eat the bad food and then Tokomon evolved and Patamon started beating up the bad Digimon..."
Matt wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life listening to TK, so he shifted the child into a better slump on his hip, holding him close and letting the gabbing continue.
"Tai," Matt said, trying to be heard over TK. "What happened? You were fighting Etemon, then you vanished. It's been months, man!"
Tai furrowed his brow and chewed his tongue, thinking over his words with more care than he usually did. Matt waited anxiously, and even TK slowed his chatter to listen to their once-leader. Agumon shared a look with his Tamer and, after a thoughtful pause, Tai scratched the back of his head with a laugh. "I'll explain when we find everyone again."
Matt sighed and TK resumed his babble happily. He began walking up the beach, unsteady at first but quickly learning to move with the extra weight at his side, and Tai smiled at him like he hadn't seen Matt in ages.
A smile Joe would give him every time before...
Matt shook the thought from his head. There was no way Tai would look at him like that. They were just friends.
"So where have you been?" Tai asked as they headed back to the amusement park. "TK said you were gone for a while."
Gabumon looked up, happy to respond. "We explored the other side of the lake."
"That's what took you so long?" TK asked skeptically as they sat on a bench. The sun was already well in the sky, but a small fire still burned in a hollowed out area that might have, at one point, held a tree. Still skewered on sticks and stuck in what remained of the dirt, were several fish – obviously the two boys' breakfast. Matt and Gabumon's stomachs gurgled, reminding them that they hadn't eaten since the previous night and hadn't eaten well since they'd began working at the restaurant. Tai laughed and held out a fish, the cloaked Digimon eagerly accepting it. Only absolute love for his Tamer made him offer the small meal to Matt before he ate it.
Matt smiled, a sad thing that didn't reach his eyes, and shook his head. His stomach was in knots and he didn't think food would help.
"What happened over there?" Tai asked. Matt wasn't sure how long Tai had been back, but if TK's current speed of talking was any indication, he had already been caught up to date and more.
Gabumon made to answer, but Matt quickly shoved another fish in his mouth, hoping Tai wouldn't notice, and said loudly, "We got attacked by some Digimon while we were over there. They took our boat and we only just got it back." Gabumon was choking, and Agumon ran over to slap him on the back. "We didn't see any of the others while we were there."
Gabumon spit out the stick that had tried to go down his throat and looked at Matt, who found himself unable to meet the creature's gaze.
"Woah, dude," Tai was laughing, oblivious to Matt's inner turmoil, "slow down. It's like you haven't eaten in ages! With a cook like Matt around, you should've been eating like a Digi-king."
TK shifted himself and sat in Matt's lap. His talking had finally left him breathless and he yawned, warm and content and finally safe in his brother's arms. He nuzzled into the base of Matt's throat and, with Patamon flapping up to lay next to him, one wing-ear stretching over him like a blanket, fell fast asleep. Matt wanted to go, to leave this place and all his memories behind, but more than that he wanted to spend time with his brother and pretend that what he'd done was justified.
Tai was laughing, hugging a rather uncomfortable looking Gabumon, and crying out how much he'd missed them all, as though he was the one who'd been left behind. He looked up at the display of brotherly love and grinned. "I was going to suggest we get going to find the others, but it looks like we might have to stay the night." Matt must have made a face because Tai waved him off. "It looks like you need some time off anyway."
"How are we going to find the others, anyway?" Matt asked, gently covering TK's ears so he wouldn't wake.
"With this." Tai pulled his Digivice from his belt, showing the blonde the screen. It had a grouping of small red dots in the center. "This is how I found TK – it'll start beeping when someone else is nearby."
"Mine didn't do anything when I found..." Matt swallowed the name. "You."
"Really?" Tai walked over and reached for Matt's Digivice. Matt bit the tip of his tongue, telling himself that the look in Tai's eyes was just his imagination and guilt running wild.
But the brush of the other boy's fingers on his hips as he grabbed the device couldn't mean anything other than that.
As though he hadn't noticed what he had sparked in the other boy, Tai compared the two screens intently. "Weird. I wonder if it had something to do with the vortex?"
Once again, Tai began touching Matt, replacing the Digivice amongst other things. Matt shifted TK in his lap in order to act like he wasn't being affected in a way that made his face flush, his chest warm.
And his stomach growl.
Tai laughed and called Agumon over. "Let's go get some food, it should be safe enough for you guys to stay here."
Matt couldn't even make himself look up as Tai walked away with Agumon, discussing the best fishing spot on the coast. He'd only begun feeling this way recently, and no matter how much Tai looked at him like that, there was only one name his heart called out for.
"Joe..."