In-Between-Time
Chapter Seven: All Together Now
a/n: Hey! I posted a chapter in under two months! Um….barely. But at least this one hit the page length I was going for. Big shout out to Necessitating Love, while I'm thinking of it. Talk about your loyal reviewers. Oh, and everyone needs to go catch Meet the Robinsons while it's still in theatres. Absolutely brilliant. I'm in love with Wilbur Robinson. In other news: For a good read, visit Bri and Rain's masterpiece. (I've got it linked in my profile, but I can't get it to show up here.) You won't be disappointed. Well, that's all I've got. Enjoy! Oh, and Happy Easter, everyone.
The light faded, and there was the massive and shaggy-haired Ikkakumon, something in his expression desperately grateful for a moment, and then wicked, and he shook himself all over, settled into his new form, and turned to Tai for instruction. Tai stopped bludgeoning their attackers long enough to look up at Ikkakumon, swiping his forearm across his face in a distracted gesture and leaving a smudge of dirt on his nose. Suddenly, he was tired, exhausted, because he knew this wasn't the end of the fighting—not really. Ikkakumon would win this battle, and they'd all have time to rest, but Tai knew he was just the doorway back to the beginning. A fighting chance is just a chance at more fighting, after all.
I should have known the Digital World would never let me go.
"Looks like you've got a bit of a pest problem, Tai," Ikkakumon rumbled.
"You noticed that?" Tai said, and swung the pan hard. The small black Digimon disintegrated on impact.
"You want me to take care of it?" Ikkakumon asked.
Tai straightened, gripped the handle of Matt's heavy frying pan. When will the fighting stop? When can I just go home? When can I sleep with both eyes closed, get those years back, be-
He pushed those thoughts away firmly, made a choice, and settled in for the long haul. He still had a job to do. Tai smiled, slow and tired, but ready now.
"You can do anything you want..."
"You can be whoever you want…"
"…big guy."
Tai pulled one of their small attackers off of his arm, tossed it aside with a look of disgust and yelled for Sora.
"I'm here," she said, and he turned to find her standing, feet planted, the walking stick clutched in her hands. There was a small cut high on her cheekbone, and the stubborn set of her mouth made his heart ache for the time he'd missed. The big things, sure. Starting high school, birthdays, all those clichéd milestones—but the little things too. Haircuts. Sprained ankles. Those subtle changes that made her the young woman he was looking to now, with a confidence so absolute that it caught him off guard, to safeguard lives he felt responsible for—a gesture that somehow went beyond putting his own life in her hands. He remembered, would always remember, her scrappy young self in yellow, laughing and crying and standing beside him, and he saw now, with no small amount of pain, the person she'd become. But he'd missed the time in between. The day her cheeks stopped looking like round freckled apples and got that exotic, almost haughty sharpness. The first time she wore a skirt to school and blushed when Matt bit his tongue at the lunch table, staring at her, thinking for the first time that maybe they weren't kids anymore. Tai always thought he'd he there for those milestones.
Tai always thought he'd be one of them.
"Get everyone out of here," he said, and felt a little betrayed by his unsteady voice.
"Okay, Tai, but-"
"Sora, get them out of range!"
And she looked like she wanted to argue, eyes narrowed, that trickle of blood on her cheek, but something in his face changed her mind and she sighed, nodded, turned her back to him, and did what he asked.
Izzy turned to take in the blessedly welcome sight of Ikkakumon and nearly cried with relief. Finally, a break. Finally, something going their way. Thank God for Kari and her strange brand of magic, her deep connection to the Digital World.
"Kari, how did you—Kari? Kari!"
Something was very wrong. Kari was on her knees, almost completely buried in the swarming Digimon, but she didn't seem to notice. There wasn't a trace of light around her. No sign that she was aware of her surroundings. He couldn't tell from this distance, but he thought she was crying.
"What's wrong?" he called, fighting his way toward her. "Kari, what's-"
"Joe!"
Izzy stopped so abruptly that he nearly pitched himself headfirst into the ground.
Damn this curiosity.
He whirled and followed Tai's wide-eyed line of sight, and there was Joe, standing at the edge of the forest, gasping for breath, wearing a completely impractical white oxford dress shirt, a nice pair of gray slacks…and slim laced athletic shoes with a green stripe up the side.
"Son of a bitch," Izzy said.
Joe was looking at Tai with an unflinching amazement, his blue-black hair disheveled and falling in his eyes, a grin making a brief gleaming appearance on his face. Izzy thought he made a rather heroic figure with his mismatched footwear and his white bag over one shoulder. Joe's glasses slipped from his nose and hit the sand at his feet.
"Tai," he said. Izzy saw the word on his lips, even though he couldn't hear it over the commotion. Tai must have seen it as well, because he tipped Joe a quick nod, his eyes gleaming, and turned to take back the beach.
The ground was a roiling mess of parasitic Digimon now, deep enough to bury Sora to mid-thigh, but she waded through steadily, sweeping them aside brutally with TK's walking stick, sweat breaking out on her forehead. She saw Izzy up ahead, trying to drag something up from the ground, and her stomach tightened. They were everywhere. They were all around her like bugs, like beetles, and she felt her calm slipping away, felt the first stirrings of panic. That was when she stepped one of their tiny bodies and it exploded into data with a crunch she both felt and heard. Sora screamed and danced backwards, demolishing two more in the process. The last of her composure dissolved. She felt another scream building inside of her, and then Mimi was beside her, a small cool hand resting on Sora's elbow, her hair free from its ponytail, a wry smile on her face.
"Next time, I'm booking the vacation," Mimi said lightly, but her eyes were grave, searching.
"Sure thing, boss," Sora said, and fought down the sudden urge to cry.
"Let's go," Mimi said firmly, and her hand traveled down to grab Sora's and tug her forward. "Izzy needs help."
When they reached him, Izzy was struggling to stand a listless and unresponsive Kari on her feet. One of the inky Digimon was clinging to her hair, and Sora brushed it away with a quick, jerky movement, feeling sick.
"What's wrong with her?" Mimi said.
"I don't—ungh—know!" Izzy said, pulling the small Digimon away from Kari's body, getting an arm around her waist. "Help me!"
Sora shot a quick look back at Tai—oblivious, thank God—and got on the other side of Kari.
"Tai wants us out of here," she said.
"What about him?" Izzy said.
Sora rolled her eyes and helped Izzy haul the mercifully tiny Kari back towards the forest. "Oh, you know Tai. He can take care of himself."
Izzy didn't say anything, just stared blankly ahead and kept moving.
Stumbling and aching all over, kicking the swarm aside without ceremony, they finally reached Joe, who was waiting at the edge of the forest. There was an awkward silence, and then Joe held out his arms and said, "Let me."
His hands were shaking and he looked completely beside himself with anxiety, but he accepted responsibility for Kari readily.
Izzy and Sora handed her off gently and turned to hold the line, but Mimi stopped in front of Joe and stared at him long and hard. He tried to say something, anything, tried to apologize, but nothing came, so he just busied himself with Kari, trying to make her comfortable.
Mimi crouched down in front of him. "Joe."
"Mimi, can we do this later? I know I let you down. I just-"
"Look, you're here now," she said firmly, and Joe looked up at her, surprised. "That's what matters."
She picked up his glasses and set them back on his face, and then she reached out to take his left hand in her right, gave it an encouraging little squeeze and said, "So, go do your job."
"Mimi-"
"Joe, don't argue. Just go."
They stayed like that a little too long, eyes locked over Kari's still form, and then Joe straightened, dropped his bag next to Mimi and took off after Tai and Ikkakumon. He wasn't ready, he'd never be ready, but that wasn't the point. He should have remembered that. What you thought you were capable of wasn't half as important as what you had to do.
Sora watched as Joe flew by, his neatly laced athletic shoes kicking up sand, and that's when she realized that Matt and TK were missing.
Ikkakumon was ready for him, and lowered his head with a low rumble of welcome, and Joe leapt most of the way into his old perch at a run. He scrabbled aboard, took a moment to stroke Ikkakumon's surprisingly soft fur and then looked down at Tai. "I've got this. Take cover."
"Good call," Tai said, and ran for the huddled group at the edge of the forest.
"Did you miss me?" Ikkakumon asked.
"I missed you," Joe said softly.
"Let's clean up this mess."
Tai jogged up to the others and turned to stand between them and the attacking Digimon. He was still clutching the frying pan, and began sending stragglers flying, the pan ringing like a gong.
"Where the hell is Matt?" he called over his shoulder. No one answered him, and he stopped playing baseball and turned around. "Guys? Where is he? Where's TK?"
Sora looked at him with wide terrified eyes, and that told him everything he needed to know.
"They're still in there, aren't they?" Tai dragged a hand through his tangled hair. "Damn it."
He took a slow deep breath, and plunged back into the fray.
Ikkakumon roared.
The beach went up in a flurry of explosions.
And then Sora felt herself waking up, felt the bark of TK's walking stick digging painfully into her hands, felt the ground shaking.
"Keep them here!" she yelled at Mimi, and went after Tai.
Sora felt less like she'd stumbled into a war zone and more like she was standing in the middle of a fireworks display. There was the falling whistle and whine of torpedoes, the booming explosions, and all around her, glittering falls of data as the horde thinned. She screamed for Tai, but her voice was swallowed up. Something was crawling up her leg, and then she felt teeth sinking into her side. She yelled and swatted it away, but then there was another, then three, five. She fought down a rising wave of panic and pressed forward. She was about to call for Tai again when her shin bumped against something soft. A leg.
"Oh, Jesus," she said, and dropped to her knees, grabbing handfuls of the small Digimon and hurling them away. "Be okay, be okay, be okay."
It was TK. He had curled up and tucked himself most of the way underneath a fall of driftwood, arms shielding his head. She gently pulled one of his arms away from his face, her heart thudding painfully in her chest, and when TK opened his eyes she nearly cried with relief.
"Hi honey," she said, and brushed his hair back from his forehead, knowing she'd never get away with such a motherly gesture under normal circumstances. "You okay?"
"I'm good," he croaked. "How are you?"
Sora laughed.
"Come on," she said. "Let's get you out of here."
When it was over and the last flurries of digital snow had fallen up and cleared the air, Joe lifted an exhausted Gomamon in his arms and carried him to where the others were waiting, TK kneeling at Kari's side, Izzy and Mimi like a matched set, standing quietly, and Sora, her arms wrapped protectively around herself, looking at something over Joe's shoulder and finally, wearily, bursting into tears. He turned, alarmed, and then he found himself laughing, overcome with relief. They were all alive, all safe, all together. Matt and Tai were coming up behind him, both a little worse for wear, but Matt was smiling faintly, and stole a glance at Tai, who grinned back at him, and Joe was reminded of so many quiet moments, back when they were all a little younger and Matt and Tai seemed to know something the others couldn't even begin to guess at.
Then he realized that Kari was sitting up with TK's help and blinking around in bewilderment, and he forgot all about Matt and Tai, rushing forward to fuss over her, but careful not to jostle Gomamon, who was long asleep against his chest.
Tai held back, suddenly unsure, and watched with mild discomfort as Sora opened her arms to Matt, who went to her gratefully and buried his head against her shoulder. Sora's hand stroked the back of his neck and Tai looked away. His eyes rested for a moment on Mimi, who was talking quietly to Izzy. Izzy shook his head and looked like he was trying not to grin, but lost that battle when Mimi punched him in the arm lightly and then tossed her hair over her shoulder in an effortlessly feminine gesture. Izzy blushed.
To the left and farther away, Joe shifted his weight, and Tai caught a glimpse of TK leaning forward to touch his forehead to Kari's, his eyes closed tight, and then pulling back, but Joe shifted again and they were lost to him entirely. It didn't matter. He'd seen enough to know that they'd all come out okay.
But then he realized he was standing in the middle of the beach watching them all from a safe distance, and not for the last time, realized how much everything had changed. The sudden feeling of loneliness, the ache for the past, the absolute and mindless regret, were almost worse than the years of not knowing, and for a moment he just wanted to turn and walk away.
And that was when Matt and Sora disentangled themselves from each other and turned to find him, looking like they understood and wanted him anyway, and Sora held out her hand. Some part of Tai wanted to run, but he crossed the distance, let Matt ruffle his hair and Sora hug him so hard he could barely breathe, and he almost forgot that he really wasn't one of them.
He used to be, but that was a long time ago.
"I'm fine, TK, stop fussing," Kari was saying, but her voice was light and cheerful, and she brushed away several concerned hands and got herself to her feet. "I just overdid it, that's all."
TK and Tai exchanged not-so-subtle glances and Kari rolled her eyes.
"I'm serious, boys. I'm fine."
"What happened?" Sora asked. She was barely tolerating Joe's fussing over the cut on her cheek, and the look she gave him when he whipped out a band-aid to cover it with stopped him in his tracks. He tucked it away meekly and smiled.
Kari shrugged, suddenly shy. "I was trying to boost Gomamon's energy a bit. Help him Digivolve."
The small aquatic Digimon was still out, and had been passed on to Tai's care so that Joe could mother hen everyone within an inch of their lives.
"And then TK got hurt, so I was protecting him." Kari looked embarrassed now. "And then Matt…I guess it was just too much."
"What do you mean, you were protecting him?" Izzy asked eagerly, and Mimi sent him an exasperated look that went completely unnoticed.
Kari shrugged. "I was pushing them back. Making a bubble."
Everyone stared at the admittedly unscathed TK and then back at Kari.
"Can we talk about something else?" she said softly.
"How about this," Joe ventured. "What now?"
"Now we save the rest of our Digimon," TK said, and there were nods and sounds of agreement all around.
"Who's next?" Sora asked.
"Palmon." This from Mimi, who was alive with anticipation. "Crescent Island."
"But how do we get there?" Joe asked, ever the optimist. "I don't think Gomamon's in any kind of shape to-"
"Just leave that to me," Tai said, and there was a certain familiar gleam in his eyes.
"Oh God, please tell me it's not a raft," Matt said. "We've had nothing but bad luck with rafts."
"It's not a raft," Tai said, and turned to walk away from them, not even checking to make sure they would follow.
"Is it surfboards?" Matt called after him. "I seem to remember surfboards being another of your brilliant plans."
"Matt, just shut up and come with me," Tai said.
Matt grinned and did as he was told.
a/n: A review is worth a thousand words.