Chapter Nine: Blood is Thicker Than Water

Tia's P.O.V.

I never noticed it so much when I was really young, but I've thought a lot about it lately. Random strangers would come up to me when they saw me in the store with my dad. Well, I'm guessing they were friends of my mom or dad's, but they were random strangers to me. Anyway, they would gush over how much I looked like my parents.

I never understood it, even when I first began to pay attention to them. Of course, my first thoughts were, Well, duh! Who am I supposed to look like?

The most recent one happened about a week before Aunt Sora came to visit. This old lady introduced herself as one of my mom's friend's mother. It may just be me, but that seems like a bit of a stretch. People with those sorts of connections have full rights to not staying in touch.

She greeted my dad. He responded back politely, but my observation was cut short once she noticed me. She just stared for a moment. Then she got a strange look on her face, but only for a second.

After that second, she started in just like every other friend who I never met did. "You look just like Jalissa!" Then she turned to my dad. "I'm sure she's her mother's child!"

I'm not sure if either of them saw the look I shot her. My dad answered her politely, but I'm sure he was thinking something along the same lines as me.

I have my mother's eyes... and that's as far as the resemblance goes. I am my father's child. Ask anyone who's taken the time to know me.

Thinking about it later, I understood why I'd heard this same comment so many times. People felt the need to tell me this because my mother was dead. Like I needed that reassurance. I'd never known my mother. I hadn't even been able to talk before she was gone.

I'd never called anyone mom. I'd never seen more than an old possession or a picture of her's.

I didn't need to be told I was like my mom. I couldn't miss someone I'd never known. Though I'd never tell my father this, I couldn't love someone I'd never known.

I am my father's child. And it is because I'm my father's child that I'm crawling through the attic, looking through the vents, just 'cause everyone thinks I'm asleep.

I finally reach the one I've been searching for. The one that peeks into the guest bedroom. I'd brought friends up here before and we'd imagined out scenarios of what could go on in this room. But we'd giggle and move on because we knew nothing interesting was going to happen in an old, unused room. Until now at least.

I knew I'd succeeded when they kissed. I'll even admit to squealing a bit. But hey, I'm a little girl, I can get away with it without being given any strange looks. My plan had worked!

Well, I suppose I can't really say that because I never really got to put my plan into action. They'd come to the conclusion I had in the beginning: they were meant to be together. So maybe I hadn't done anything special, it still ended up with the same result.

Things were going perfectly... until Uncle Matt showed up and completely ruined the picture. Somehow, I'd managed to plan out a scheme with my dad and Aunt Sora... and had somehow managed to block out the fact that she was his wife completely.

Sora pushed away from my dad. She seemed horrified that she'd done such a thing, but that was nothing compared to Matt's expression.

He didn't even say anything. He just took one last look at his best friend and his wife and then left the house as quickly as possible. Faster than I'd ever seen him. Uncle Matt never ran away from anything! Until now. With a sinking feeling I realized that now the two beneath me may be his ex-best friend and his soon to be ex-wife.

Dad seemed to be in shock.

Aunt Sora had turned away from him. She had her eyes squeezed shut in an effort to keep from crying. Finally, my dad regained his composure. Some of it anyway.

"Sora..." he said, "I-"

But she cut him off. It started out barely more than a whisper, "Get out, Tai." and morphed into a yell as quickly as Matt had left. "Just GET OUT!"

Dad backed out of the room and Sora broke down.

That was as much as I could take. I scurried back down to my room. I was in bed again faster than I could blink. Well, not really, but you get the gist of what I meant.

I wish I could just sink down into darkness. But my brain wouldn't shut up. I was remembering something else that the old ladies would always say.

They go on and on about my parents and something about love at first sight.

I never said anything but I can remember my thoughts perfectly well. You don't know the first thing about my parents, lady. Dad and Jalissa couldn't have been love at first sight. Why? Because Dad loved someone else first.

...

Matt's P.O.V.

I can't remember ever leaving a place quicker.

I was struck with a memory of when I was a kid. It was in the very beginning and Tai and I were arguing. Back then this wasn't such a strange thing. Tai and I were arguing constantly.

As usual, Tai had wanted to charge right in. Even at twelve, he hadn't mastered the whole 'think before you act' concept. It was clearly smarter to retreat. We had every reason to. I was no coward. I never retreated without a reason.

Damn... did I ever have a reason now. All the reasons I've ever had to run away from something... this one topped it all.

So I didn't think about it. I just drove away like I was still sane.

Without thinking at all, I drove to Sora and my house.

I didn't even realize my mistake until I'd opened the door to my empty house. The feeling was like a newly healed wound being ripped back open.

I staggered a bit as I reached my couch and collapsed onto it.

Oh god, I thought with horror, is this what Sora feels everyday when she gets home?

Thankfully, the phone rang, sparing me from having to think out that answer. "Hello?" My voice wasn't much more than a croak.

"Matt?" came my little brother's worried voice. "You haven't been answering your cell phone. Where are you?"

I almost chuckled at that. T.K. was usually a pretty good about using his head, but sometimes he could be kind of dense. 'Where are you'- he'd just called my house phone!

"I- uh... I went home for a little while."

His voice was a bit more gentle. "What happened?" Judging from the way he'd been acting ever since I got here it hit me that he'd probably been expecting something like this to happen. How long had this been going on?

I slowly told him the whole story. I felt a little guilty unloading all this onto him and T.K. must've guessed what I was thinking because the next words out of his mouth were, "Don't worry about this, Matt. You took care of me for all those years; now it's my turn."

He hung up so I did too. Then I was left with the internal darkness once more.

...

T.K.'s voice may have been gentle and soothing when he was talking to his emotionally racked up brother, but on the inside he was fuming.

When Kari walked in and saw the look on his face she had a bit of trouble hiding her emotions. "It's finally happened, hasn't it?"

The fact that she seemed almost excited didn't help T.K.'s attitude any.

"Yeah, it happened." he practically spat out the words. "And it shouldn't have and never would have if you hadn't invited her to stay at your brother's house!"

It wasn't like Kari to have a temper, but these were no ordinary circumstances.

"Chill, T.K.! We all knew it was going to happen eventually!"

"No!" T.K. shouted. "Not all of us! Matt had no idea what was coming and he's the one who'll have to deal with the pain afterward!"

"Oh? And what about Sora? She'll be feeling this too!"

"I'd hope so, it's all her fault!"

"Things happen that shouldn't every single day, T.K.! Maybe she shouldn't have married your brother when she was in love with mine!"

T.K. was seething. "Matt would do anything for Sora! He loves her!" T.K.'s voice had gotten to the range where it could be classified as dangerously low, but Kari took no notice.

"That's great! In theory! In reality he was never there when she needed him!"

"You're right! People do make mistakes everyday! I never should've asked such a senseless, immoral person to marry me!"

The tears flooded Kari's eyes. "Then get out!"

The only response was their door slamming.

T.K., like Matt, wasn't totally sure where he was going until he got there. Matt's house was quiet, but the silence was anything but peaceful.

Matt looked up in surprise as T.K. stormed through his front door. The first tears fell as his younger brother slammed the door to the guest bedroom behind him.

Review please! Sorry it's taken so long to update! ^^'

I don't own Digimon. It broke my heart having to write about T.K. and Kari fighting. :(