Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Only You ❯ Tell Me On A Sunday ( Chapter 2 )

Warnings - This fic will contain: yaoi, language, and a suicide attempt. Read at your own risk. It's rated R for these same reasons - which means if you're under 17 then you really ought to turn around and go read something else. Also: ANGST! SERIOUS ANGST IN THIS CHAPTER!

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Kali: How much worse can it get?

Caitlin: So much more! Hence the angst warning. Can't talk! Must write before I chicken out.

Zoe: purrs. All you rabid lawyers can put your briefcases away. She still doesn't own Digimon or the song the title was taken from.

Pairings: This is mainly a Taichi/Yamato fic (or Tai/Matt for all us North Americans). But there's definitely TK/Kari, Mimi/Joe, and hints of Davis/Ken and Sora/Yolei.

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Chapter 2 - Tell Me On A Sunday

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(Kari)

Kari watched her brother walk away. She could feel…nothing from him. And it scared her. She turned wide eyes up to TK, who was looking rather angry himself and it was directed at Matt.

"TK. I have to…" She trailed off. He nodded and pushed her gently in Tai's direction.

"Go. Keep him from doing anything stupid, Kari. I'm going to go knock some sense into my older, supposedly wiser, brother." He stalked towards Matt and his friends melted anxiously out of his path. They had never seen the Child of Hope so angry.

"You." He grabbed Matt's hand and unceremoniously began dragging Matt along behind him. Patamon hovered overhead and Gabumon hurried along side them. "Come with me. I think we need to have a little chat, Yamato."

Kari picked up Gatomon. "Come on Gatomon. We have to find my brother." She turned to leave, ignoring the sudden burst of questions from their friends.

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(Sora)

"Ok, now I know I'm missing something." She muttered to herself. She was torn. She wanted to go after both of them and help them fix this but somehow she got the feeling she'd only make things worse.

"Does anyone know what the hell is going on?" Davis was looking completely confused.

"I don't think this was the usual Matt vs. Tai argument." Ken said quietly. He thought he knew what was going on, and could only sympathize with Tai.

The others looked at him. "What do you mean? They'll get over it and make up and be friends again in no time. Won't they? Ken?" Cody looked really worried. He hated it when his friends fought.

Sora pulled Mimi and Yolei aside. "Yolei, remember when you asked me earlier what I was thinking?"

"Yes."

"Look inside yourself, Guardian of Love and Sincerity. Tell me what you see when you think of Tai and Matt."

Yolei frowned and concentrated. Mimi's eyes widened in sudden understanding.

"My God." Yolei suddenly went pale. "Tai loves Matt." She looked off in Tai's direction. "Oh, Tai."

"Yeah. I don't think that's all that's going on here. But I think that's part of it."

Mimi nodded, tears forming. "Oh, Sora! I think you're right. Kari was a little too concerned about Tai than she would have been if there wasn't more to it."

"What do we do?" Yolei demanded. Her friends were hurting and she wanted to fix it.

Sora gave them a sad smile. "There's nothing we can do right now, but wait and hope Kari and TK can do something. We'd only get in the way."

Mimi sniffled and wiped her eyes. "She's right, Yolei. We can only keep the boys here from interfering."

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(Kari)

"Tai! Tai! Please answer me!" Kari called, tears streaming down her face. "Gatomon, would you digivolve and see if you can spot him from the air?"

"Of course, Kari." Gatomon purred sadly. "Gatomon digivolve to ... Angewoman." She flew up and scanned the area for Tai and Agumon.

"There! I see Tai's goggles!" Angewoman called down to Kari. They hurried towards him.

When Kari finally saw him, her heart gave a wild lurch. He was standing on the edge of a cliff. A really, really high cliff.

"Tai! Oh please don't! Tai you know he didn't mean it!" Kari ran up to him, being careful not to trip or slip on a rock.

But Tai either didn't hear her or didn't want to because he stepped forward.

And plunged off the cliff.

"TAI!" Kari screamed in horror. She dropped to her knees and wept brokenly.

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Kali: Hey! You're not stopping here are you?

Caitlin: Well…

Zoe: purrs. Keep typing Caitlin. Keep typing.

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"Kari!" She raised her tear-streaked face to Angewoman's voice, and her heart clenched in relief. Her partner had caught Tai on the way down and had carried him back up. The angel of Light gently lay Tai down on the ground and Kari threw herself at him.

"Tai you big jerk! How could you do that?!" She yelled furiously. "You can't leave me, Tai! I need you!"

He looked at her. And she gasped. There was nothing there. In his eyes, she saw no part of the spirit of courage that was Tai.

"I want to go home now, Kari." He said, dully. Kari swallowed and nodded.

"Yes. Ok." She looked up at her Digimon partner. "Will you and Agumon go get our stuff and come back here?"

She nodded. Agumon stood nearby. He was crying and wringing his clawed paws.

"I'm sorry, Kari. I wanted to stop him but he told me to stay here and…"

She shook her head. "It's alright Agumon. You couldn't go against his wishes. Just go help Angewoman, please?"

He nodded and allowed the angel to pick him up.

"And tell the others Tai wasn't feeling well so I'm taking him home. Nothing else, though." Kari pulled her brother into her arms and rocked him. "And tell TK I'll talk to him soon and let him know…everything."

Angewoman flew off towards their camp, Agumon in her arms.

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(TK)

"Ow! Hey! Come on TK! Let go!" Matt, surprised at his little brother's strength and sudden fit of temper, allowed himself to be pulled along back to camp and shoved into his tent. "What is the matter with you?" He gave TK his patented 'Yamato glare' that would have normally made TK back way off.

Not this time though.

"You absolute idiot!" TK threw his hands in the air, then returned Matt's glare with one of his own. "You have no idea what just happened, do you? How ironic that you should be the Child of Friendship, Ishida Yamato!"

Matt was taken aback. He'd never ever seen TK so enraged. "Care to explain that?"

The Child of Hope's eyes glittered with rage and unshed tears. "Let me ask you, Matt. That fight aside, how do you really feel about Tai?"

Frowning, Matt blew out a sharp breath and muttered, "He's my best friend, TK. I care about him."

"Yeah? Well you're blind as a bat, Matt. Look, I'm about to break a confidence here, so you're going to keep quiet and listen to me for a while. Got that?" TK waved a finger at him.

"There once was a group of children who got taken to a strange world and met some strange creatures who would become their friends and companions. One child in particular became the leader of the group - his courage, strength, and desire to protect his friends made him perfect for the job.

"Now this child had a friend. Someone who became his best friend, despite arguments and fights. And though they were very young, the leader discovered he cared for his friend more than he'd ever thought possible.

"Time passed. They all grew up and went through many adventures together. And still remained the best of friends throughout it all. But the leader's best friend and one of his other friends, a girl from their group, began dating. The leader was hurt and sad. He'd decided to make his feelings known but had waited too long. Now he could only stand back and try to be happy for them; they seemed to be in love and happy. The leader would give up his feelings for his best friend as long as both he and the girl were happy."

"TK…" Matt's eyes had started to water. He was beginning to realize where this was going. And now he could see, in foresight, the last two years and the effect it had on Tai.

"Shut up. I'm not done yet, Matt." TK snapped. Matt flinched, but didn't say anything more.

"So he threw himself into his classes and his soccer practices and games. All in an effort to distract himself and to distance himself from his best friend and the girl who just happened to be his oldest childhood friend." TK paused and gave up on the story mode. He knew Matt was getting the point. "Two years, Yamato! Tai's been slowly wasting away for two years! Do you know what Kari told me a few months ago? Before you and Sora split? She told me how worried she was about Tai because he'd come home exhausted. He'd eat just enough to keep his parent's happy, then he'd go to bed. She said, Matt, that he would cry himself to sleep most nights.

"When she finally had enough, she forced it out of him. He told her how much he loves you. And he told her that even though he could never tell you that, at least you were friends. But his greatest fear…the one thing he said he'd never survive…he told her he would die if you should ever decide to stop being his friend."

Matt was crying openly now. Oh God! And I…I said… A look of pure horror went through him. TK nodded grimly.

"Yeah, Matt. You just made his worst fears a reality - whether you meant to or not."

"God! TK! What have I done?" Matt choked back a sob and stood, intending to go find Tai and do whatever it took to fix this. But TK slapped a hand on his chest and shoved him back down. "I have to go to him!"

"No. Right now would not be a good time to see you Matt." TK sighed. His anger had begun to drain away and he just felt ill. "Kari's with him and she'll take care of him." TK collapsed next to his brother and drew the sobbing blonde into his arms. "I'm sorry Matt. I was a little harsh."

Matt just clung to TK. Now he could see it. The glances, the blushes, the pain, and the sorrow. All of it. But what he now realized was that there was something more in him - something pure and warm and beautiful.

I ... I love him. Oh, God, Tai! I love you. And I've just wrecked any chance for us. He sobbed harder.

TK felt tears sting his eyes. It was hurting him to see Matt like this, but there was nothing to do but let him cry it out.

The tent flap suddenly flipped open and TK looked up to see Angewoman and Agumon. They looked sad, worried, and ... scared.

TK sucked in a breath. "How bad?" He asked. Angewoman sighed and answered quietly.

"Very. Kari is taking him home. We came for their stuff. She said she would talk to you soon to tell you everything."

TK nodded and rubbed Matt's back. "Just take their bags, Angewoman. I'll bring their sleeping bags back myself."

Agumon had already grabbed Tai's bag and was avoiding looking at Matt or Gabumon. He looked up at Angewoman. "Can we go? I have to get back to Tai. He needs me."

"Let's go. Oh, and TK? Would you tell the others Tai is sick and she's taking him home."

"Yeah. I'll take care of it. Go on."

They left and it wasn't long before someone else came to check up on them.

Ken came in and took one look at Matt, then sighed heavily. "I though so. What a mess TK."

"Yeah. That's one way to put it." He stroked a soothing hand through Matt's hair.

"May I speak with Matt?" Ken turned sad, emotion-filled eyes to TK. "I know it's not my place, but I…"

TK shook his head. "It's fine Ken. I've got to go talk to the others anyway."

"How bad is it, TK?" Ken asked, taking one of Matt's hands in his own and squeezing. Matt looked up at his question, watching his brother for the answer.

"Bad. I don't know exactly how bad but it's bad enough. Kari is taking him home. I'm supposed to tell the others he's sick."

Ken shivered. In his memories he could feel the emptiness he'd once felt. And the Child of Kindness had sensed that same emptiness in Tai as he'd walked past. "I'll stay here with Matt, TK. Go tell the others whatever you need to. I won't say anything."

"I know." TK got up and went to the tent's open flap. "I'll be right back, Matt."

Matt nodded and curled up on his sleeping bag, clutching Ken's hand.

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As soon as TK appeared he was bombarded by questions.

"HEY!" He yelled. Everyone stopped and stared. "Enough! I've got a bad enough headache as it is."

Sora lay a hand on his arm. "They're not alright are they?"

TK sighed. "So you know then?"

"Some. Enough, I suspect." She hugged him. "Tell us, TK. We're all worried."

"I can't. It's not my place. I just came to let you all know that Kari is taking Tai home. He's…sick."

Davis sniffled. "Should we go home too? I mean, things have kind of gotten sad around here."

TK shrugged. "It's up to you. Right now, I have to take care of Matt and Kari has to take care of Tai." He turned and walked away, shoulders slumped.

Izzy coughed and gathered himself together. "Well, in the absence of our friends, I think we should pack up and head home. Davis is right. Things are just too sad right now."

Everyone agreed. When they got back, TK, Matt, and Ken were already packed.

"Alright. All Digidestined and Digimon accounted for." Izzy began handing out chores and eventually they were all packed and ready to go. They all kept their distance from Matt, who looked terrible, warned away by TK's looks and Ken's firm, "Leave him alone Davis." When the goggle-head had tried to talk to Matt.

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Caitlin: wails. AH! I can't believe I managed to write that!

Kali: hands her a box of tissues. Here, Cat. Blow your nose before you drip on the keyboard.

Caitlin: Thanks.

Zoe: purrs. R/R! And as always:

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Lyrics for Tell Me On A Sunday from Tell Me On A Sunday

Lyrics: Don Black

Music: ALW

Don't write a letter when you want to leave

Don't call me at 3 am from a friend's apartment

I'd like to choose how I hear the news

Take me to a park that's covered with trees

Tell me on a Sunday please

Let me down easy no big song and dance

No long faces no long looks

No deep conversation

I know the way we should spend the day

Take me to a zoo

That's got chimpanzees

Tell me on a Sunday please

Don't want to know who's to blame

It won't help knowing

Don't want to fight day and night

Bad enough you're going

Don't leave in silence

With no words at all

Don't get mad and slam the door

That's no way to end this

I know how I want you to say goodbye

Find a circus ring

With a flying trapeze

Tell me on a Sunday please

I don't want to fight day and night

Bad enough you're going

Don't leave in silence

With no word at all

Don't get mad and slam the door

That's no way to end this

I know how I want to say goodbye

Don't run off in the pouring rain

Don't call me as they call your plane

Take the hurt out of all the pain

Take me to a park that's covered with trees

Tell me on a Sunday

Please.