Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

Well kids, here we are in the last chapter. : ) I am considering writing a sequel, with a whole new hosts of adventures for the characters who remain in the end (And you thought I would give away who might die and who might live). ^.^

"1, 2, 3… a hundred! Ready or not here I come!" The tiny boy squealed and took off into the large house. "I'm gonna find you Oji!"

Yamato stood behind the living room curtains and made sure he left his shoes peaking out from the bottom. No need to make the game hard for his little friend. The pretend dinosaur growls Takato loved to create joined the other noises of the room, alerting Yamato that his nephew was definitely nearby.

The boy couldn't see through the curtain, but he could hear the squeaks of Takato's sneakers on the wooden floor growing louder as the boy edged closer to the screen. Then suddenly the noise stopped. The blonde wondered for a moment if he had truly outsmarted the child. Takato was a pretty bright kid, shouldn't he have been able to spot his uncle's shoes sticking out from the curtain? Yama pulled the curtain aside and stuck his head out of the hiding spot.

"Boo." The smiling faces of Taichi and Takato greeted Yamato as he peeked out into the living room. Tai held a giggling Takato on his hip and leaned in to give Yama a kiss. "And you thought we weren't good at this game."

Yamato laughed along with his friend and nephew, feeling a comfortable warmth grow in his chest, "Maybe you have some skil… Do you hear that?"

"Hear what Oji?" The young boy wrapped his pudgy arms around Tai's neck and joined the coach in giving Yama a curious stare.

"That beeping noise…" Yama turned his head to the left then the right and started to notice the room around him was beginning to fade away. "What the hell…"

"Maybe," Taichi leaned forward and whispered into Yamato's ear, "It is time to wake up."

Bright lights took the place of his loved ones kind faces as Yama opened his eyes to the real world once more. Aside from a sore throat the boy felt a strange lack of pain. It had been a rather long time since he had felt this comfortable. He lifted his hand to rub some of the sleep out of his eyes and found the entire palm was covered in some sort of gauzy wrap. Out of curiosity, he turned his attention to the other hand and found that multiple IVs were pumping various fluids into his body.

Beside the IV poles was some type of heart monitor that beeped continuously faster as the entire situation came back to his mind. The last thing he remembered was Tai fighting Maro and having his hand pierced by something. Was this place another one of Maro's secret hideouts? The crazy guy did have quite a large amount of medical supplies, so it couldn't be that far fetched that he had access to a hospital. Had Tai lost the fight and they were sent here?! Who else would stick this many wires and bandages on his body?

The boy wasted no more time thinking and began pulling the wires off of his body and out of his wrists. As the heart monitor was disconnected a loud screech filled the room and brought forth two sizeable male nurses at his door. Fearing the newcomers may be in cahoots with a more wicked power, Yamato began to quicken his attempts to get out of the bed. It wasn't until he tried to lift his leg that he realized a cast was coating a large section of his left leg. How had he not felt that?

"Yamato Ishida!" Sora's voice broke through the calamity as she rushed to his side in hopes of pushing him back onto the bed. "You are in no condition to be moving around like that."

"Ma…Maro…" His dry throat screeched out in desperation, "tak…taken. Tai…"

"Calm down Hun." She stroked his hair and tried to keep his attention focused on her as the nurses began fixing the boy's painkillers and heart monitors. "You need to calm down before you overwork yourself."

"B…but Tai… where?"

Sora sighed and held up a finger to keep Yama quiet for a moment. She slipped away from the bed and stuck her head out the door, "Yagami, get in here."

"It wouldn't have taken me so long if you hadn't ordered such a complex coff-" As the boy entered the room his eyes caught sight of a newly awake Yamato. A large smile covered his lips and he shoved the cardboard coffee holder into Sora's arms. "Yama, you have no idea how long I have been waiting to see those blue eyes."

The brunette rushed to Yama's bedside and clutched the boy's non-bandaged hand tenderly. As far as the blonde could tell, his friend was no worse for the wear. A hairline cut graced Tai's cheek and there were a few bruises on his exposed arms, but Taichi was still in one piece. If Taichi had been the one shot, he was doing pretty well in Yamato's drugged opinion.

"Mar…Maro. Where is… Where… Maro?" A hack like cough escaped his throat as he tried to get used to using his voice after such a long absence. Truthfully he wasn't sure how long he hadn't been using his voice, but he hypothesized it could have been quite a while from the soreness.

"Maro is in another hospital being treated for a rather unpleasant gunshot wound to the shoulder." Tai squeezed his friend's hand gently and mumbled under his breath, "Should have let the jerk die in the forest if you ask me…"

"He did it…" Yama was gaining a little more control over his voice after sipping from a glass of water Sora held up to his mouth. "He did it… Don't trust him."

"It's okay Yama," Tai sat on the edge of the bed and grasped the boy's hand with both of his tanned ones. The gesture was greatly appreciated by the blonde who was currently craving any physical touch that would remind him he was actually awake and no longer dreaming. "We know the whole story. There are guards stationed in Maro's room and he doesn't have any chance to escape. He can never hurt you again. I promise."

Sora watched the boys in silent respect. During the few days that Yama had been unconscious she had thought quite heavily on what Hikari had told her at the beginning of the search. Even if she and Tai didn't see eye to eye on what method was the best option, Hikari had pushed her towards the realization that the only thing that truly mattered was that they shared the same goal. They both wanted their friend to be safe and healthy once again. Even if Tai was a bit headstrong, she had to respect his desire to ensure Yamato's safety. The singer was lucky to have so many people who loved him.

"Really?" Yama stared into Taichi's deep brown eyes and felt relief wash over his soul as that little crooked grin spread across Taichi's face and the boy kissed his forehead.

"Trust me, Sport."

The kiss surprised Sora, but she had little time to react verbally since the rest of the small group decided that was exactly the moment to enter the room. Takato ran in ahead of his father and stepmother to be. In his tiny hands was a rather big teddy bear holding a fake balloon with the inscription 'Feel better bear-y soon!'. The small child climbed onto a nearby chair and leapt onto the bed.

"Oji's awake!" The boy cheered and knocked into Yama's leg accidently. Thanks to his nephews handy work, the young man suddenly became very aware of the fact his leg was indeed a painful spot. The man let out a whimper and scrunched his face into a rather unpleasant expression. Takato tilted his head unable to understand just how sore his uncle really was. His tiny fist knocked on the hard plaster waiting to see what kind of sound it would make. "What's that made of Oji? Is it like a rock or something?"

"Looks like you might need a few more ccs of the good pain killers bro." Takeru scooped the child off the bed before he could do any more accidental damage. "It's good to see you awake Yama."

Unsure of his voice's stability, Yamato nodded his head affirmatively and offered the small family a smile.

"We gots you a present!" Takato held out the stuffed bear and waited for Yamato to grab it with his good hand. "They didn't have any Digimon plushies, but daddy said you would like a bear."

Taichi took the item from Takato and placed it next to Yama in the bed. Although one of his hands had broken their embrace, he managed to keep the other one glued to the singer's good one. It felt as if years had passed between the last time Yama's warmth was so close to him and Tai was going to soak in every moment.

"Where did ya go Oji? You were gone for so long! And then you were asleep for a long, long, long, long, long, long, lon-"

"I think he understands it was a long time buddy." Takeru laughed and patted the kid's back gently. "Don't you remember what Kari and I told you? Oji wasn't feeling well so he had to sleep in order to get better. Just like you slept after catching that cold, remember?"

"Yeah," The child nodded his head quickly and pointed back to his uncle, "But I didn't get one of those thingies on my leg. It looks like a robot daddy. See the big grey thing on the white rock stuff?"

"Trust me." Yama cleared his throat and rested his head against the pillows. "You don't want one… I'm… I'm not even sure why I have one."

"They had to do some extra work because you had a compound fracture and an infection from being in the dirt and leaves for so long." Sora spoke up and tried to silently convince Yama to drink some more water from the plastic cup.

"You," He swallowed some of the cool liquid and felt the scratchiness of his throat lighten a bit, "know about bones?"

Taichi rolled his eyes and patted the boy's hand, "She is just good at listening to the doctor explain things every time she pesters him with the same questions."

"I wasn't the one who shook him down each time he walked through the lobby."

"Hey," Tai furrowed his brow and pointed a finger at her. "I only asked because we didn't know anything then. It wasn't my fault they would only let Tk and his parents in at first."

"M… my parents?"

"Yeah. They came in to watch Takato." Sora patted his shoulder then snapped back to Taichi. "Either way, the poor man looked pretty frazzled after you finished with him. I merely asked him to explain what was going on with Yama."

"Th…they saw each other?"

"It doesn't matter anymore. We already have a diagnosis so just forget it."

"They were… civil?"

"That is what I said in the beginning. Why are you so stubborn?"

The two stared each other down from opposite sides of Yamato's bed. Had it been an anime, Yama was sure little sparks would be flying between their eyes. Of course, real life seemed to always lack those little artistic details. Instead, he found himself glancing between the two faces and wondering what it must have been like for them when he was gone. If this was a preview of those days, it was amazing the two weren't black and blue.

"Stop this." A new voice entered the room and Yama found himself staring at a sight he hadn't seen in a few years. "I can hear you two arguing all the way down the hall. Yama needs quite to try and recuperate."

"Mom?" The boy rasped as his bedside companions looked away in slight embarrassment.

"Hi Yamato."

Natsuko Takaishi walked up to the boy and sat on the end of the bed. She was dressed nicely, but it was obvious from the wrinkles surrounding her lips and eyes that she had aged since their last encounter. Had he not been in such a state, Yama wasn't sure if the same emotions would have come over him. But sitting in the hospital bed, surrounded by his loved ones was bringing a bit of joy and guilt to him. It began to dawn on him that spending so many years avoiding his parents was possibly not his best idea. Maybe he should have tried a little harder to bridge that gap. Coming so close to losing everything he cared about in the world, just to be scooped off of death's doorstep was an eye-opening experience Yama could barely wrap his mind around.

"Hi son." Hiroaki Ishida entered the room holding what looked like another tray of coffee. "You have no idea how glad we are to see you awake."

"You've been asleep for so long." Natsuko patted his non-injured leg and offered her eldest son a kind smile. In the back of her mind she hoped that if this were some dream, she would never wake up. Her relationship with Yamato had never been perfect, but that was the past. When the cops had originally her alerted that her son was missing and considered in grave danger, something snapped inside of her. The kidnapping gave her the grave reminder that she did not have the luxury of ignoring the strained relationship with her son. She had her child back and she was not going to let any of her boys or grandchildren grow apart from her again. Yama was just going to have to deal with a more determined mother. Which surely would do him good, at least she believed it would.

"That's what I told him Gram Gram!" Takato chirped cheerfully from his father's arms.

"I bet you did Tak." Hiroaki ruffled the boy's hair playfully.

"He can come home now right? He can live with me and daddy again?"

"Maybe you should stay with your father and I?" The blonde brothers were struck silent as their mother offered to spend time with their father. "We can take some time off work and help you get back on your feet again."

"You two… together?" Tk blinked in surprise, but offered his parents a small smile. "That sounds nice. Like the old days."

"I don't need a sitter." Yama tried to break into the conversation but no one seemed to be listening to him anymore.

"Tk has a great deal of room at his house. Maybe you two could stay there once Yama is released from the Hospital? Then you could help with some of the wedding preparations and be near Yama."

"I have… a house."

"Wouldn't that be a lot of people in one house?" Tai joined in keeping his hand intertwined with Yama's but letting his ears block out the boy's protests. "I'm sure there are some other places he could stay while he recovers."

"Just gonna move to Alaska…" The boy sighed and sunk down into his bed as the group continued to debate each option like squawking hens.

A knock on the doorframe interrupted the large congregation's discussion and brought their attention to the head nurse on the floor. The woman smiled at the group and mentally tallied how many people had managed to worm their way into this suite. The boy had a big family, but he was a celebrity so crowds were not surprising. The hospital already had to work double time to keep the hundreds of fan girls out of the lobbies.

"I know that you are all very excited to see Ishida-san awake, but he needs his rest. You can come back tomorrow and visit with him. Though, maybe not all of you at one time."

"She has a point." The middle-aged woman rose from Yama's bed and walked between Tai and her son. She noted the boy's never broke their handhold and made a mental note to ask the brunette about that once they left the room. "I'll be back, son. I promise."

Hiroaki watched his wife take a sharp breath, then push her nerves aside as she wrapped her arms around Yamato's neck. Both mother and son seemed unaware of what to do in the quick hug, but the man was sure he spotted a small smile on both their faces. Even though his own relationship with Natsuko was strained, he had never meant to force the same strain on his children. This time together would do both mother and son good. As long as they didn't tear each other apart first.

"What are you laughing at dad?" Tk raised a curious eyebrow as his father ignored the question and ushered the rest of his family members towards the door.

Once the rest of the clan had offered their goodbyes and gotten a few hugs from the resident patient, Sora and Taichi met each other's gazes. Neither wanted to be the first to leave, but they also didn't want to say their goodbyes in front of the other. Sora reached out and pushed a few strands of hair behind Yama's ear. Silently the duo thanked their lucky star that Yama had not asked to see a mirror. His swollen face and body were probably not something the recovering patient needed to see at this moment in time. At least the painkillers seemed to be doing their job very well.

"Sora," Yama reached out and touched her arm with his gauze-covered hand. "Thanks for everything."

"You don't have to thank me." She placed his injured hand back on the bed and kissed his cheek gently. "I'd do anything for you. That's the joy of having a best friend."

"And family member." Yama offered her a genuine smile but noted a strange disappointment flash through her bright eyes.

"You should get some sleep Hun. I'll be back bright and early." She offered the boy a tighter then expected hug and gave Taichi a look Yama couldn't understand. What had happened to the two of them? She gave the brunette a sad smile and excused herself from the room rather quickly.

"What did I miss?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Tai scrunched his forehead as he tried to remember anything he might have said to set her into that mini funk. She didn't seem depressed, but there was obviously something troubling her. Had Sora realized there was something between him and Yamato? If that was it, why did she not say something or make a fuss? Either way Tai was going to have to deal with that later, or he knew it would bug that annoying little side of his personality that craved justice. For now, he was going to focus on spending time with the man he had been searching for.

"You scared me Yama." Tai sighed softly and sat on the chair beside Yamato's bed. "I didn't know if I would get to see you again."

"I know Tai." He disliked the fact that all of his friends and family had been forced to suffer, but in the depth of his soul he appreciated the fact someone had missed him as much as he had missed them.

"So I think it is only fair that we put a tracking device on you."

"Oh, hell no." The blonde chuckled then broke into a coughing fit.

"Just a suggestion." Tai's lopsided grin shown brightly, as he offered Yama his glass of water. "Anything I can get you? You deserve at least an ice cream cone, a trip to a theme park, or a nice dinner date with an attractive brunette…"

"I'd settle for a cigarette." Yama smirked at the frown Tai offered him.

"Beep! Ohhhh, I'm sorry that is not the right answer. Thank you for playing and we hope you love your parting gift."

"I get a gift?"

"One designed just for you, Sport." Tai's grin shifted slightly and he leaned in to capture Yama's lips in a deep kiss.

As the familiar warmth began to spread over Yamato's body he tilted his head and tried to deepen the kiss. He had never realized how addictive Taichi's mouth could be. Then again, he had only gotten a few chances to experience such a sensation. Which was the main reason he tried his hardest to hold back the dry coughs attempting to escape his lungs.

When Taichi pulled away from the kiss Yama tilted his head away from the brunette and let out a massive cough. Taichi patted the boy's back gently and tried to lighten the situation, "I never realized those were so powerful."

"Excuse me young man," The head nurse stuck her head back into the room and seemed to be in a slightly more talkative mood. "I believe there is something you should see. And afterwards, it is officially the end of visitation hours."

"Yes mam." Taichi held onto Yama's hand and watched as the nurse flipped on the television to one of the major news networks.

"This is Yuki Mata reporting live from the hospital housing the recently discovered Ishida Yamato. Millions of fans have been coming to pay their respects to one of their favorite celebrities by leaving various trinkets near the front of the main building." The newswoman gestured towards a rather large amount of flowers and gifts left in front of the hospital's main sign. Around the many gifts were multiple men and women of varying ages. Their positioning seemed a little too organized to be the average hospital visitors.

As if on cue, almost every member of the crowd lifted their left hands into the air to reveal that Yamato's initials were written on their palms. The boy's in the hospital room stared in shock as the group stood silently in front of the hospital. In the back of the crowd, Tai could see two members holding a sign that said something along the lines of 'Hurt but not broken, the soul will go on'.

"You inspired a whole country to gather with one of your song lyrics posted on a board and their hands coated with your name?"

"I didn't realize they cared that much." The boy mumbled, still in shock from the size of the support group. "It does make a pretty flashy ending though."

"No," Tai kissed the boy's lips and offered him that lovely smirk. "It makes a pretty flashy beginning."

Well kids, this story is over. At least this section of the story is finished. We can't let Maro get out that easy and leave Sora in limbo. Not to mention there is always the question of what happened to Miyako. I promise the next section of Trouble Sings Backup will be coming to a fanfiction website near you soon lol. And hopefully it will have a better title this time. ;) Oh and, if there is anything you love or hate about the story please feel free to drop me a review or PM. Even if it is just a suggestion for something you want to see happen in the sequel. I love reading the notes you guys post. ^.^