..CHASING THE SUN..
[crossposted from Ao3]

I. Into the Night - loc. The City (Chapters 1-10)
II. Through the Clouds - loc. The City/The Beach (Chapters 11-17)
III. Beneath a Different Sky - loc. The Beach/The Digital World (Chapters 18-21)
IV. Dawn of a New Day - loc. The Beach (Chapters 22-23)

..INTO THE NIGHT..
(01-10)
He hides away in darkness, she tries to keep the light aflame.

Sora copes with the loss alongside her friends, but she struggles to get through to Tai. It worries her, just enough for everyone else to do the same for her.

Into the Night - Part I

Years passed since the Digidestined saved the Digital World as well as their own. The years flew by for them, including Sora, who just finished her first year at university along with Tai and Matt. Everyone remained in close contact with each other, living their lives normally and happily, though with the hope that the portal to the Digital World would open once again.

Little did they know, the next time it did open that they would be seeing their beloved partners for the last time.

It happened in a matter of days. Their Digimon partners sprouted in appearance to their human counterparts, warning them of the impending attack on their island. It was up to Tai and the others to come up with a plan to keep the evil Digimon at bay while keeping the people and cities safe. Their plan was foiled when the Digimon raged into the real world sooner than expected.

Everyone was still ready to fight, ready to face the consequences that would befall on them.

It was hard to watch for Sora and the others, who were all behind a concrete wall to protect from the blasts and destruction before them. She watched Garudamon get ambushed by three other Digimon. MagnaAngemon rushed to help but was pummeled into a building by another. The evil were too strong, the Digimon friends were outnumbered, and were forced into fighting defensively. Yet, the Digidestined refused to give up, yelling encouragement for their Digimon partners with their fighting spirit.

Their energy would last only for so long…. Sora watched in horror as her Digimon let out a painful shriek, blood spilling from her side before de-volving. And one by one, every one of their Digimon de-volving into their weakest forms before falling to their fate.

"GARUDAMON!" Sora screamed. Tears flew back from her eyes as Tai grabbed her by the waist to stop her from running out. "No!"

"We can't go out there…" Tai said, his voice cracking from behind her, his whole body shaking as he held her while she tried to break free. They had just watched Wargreymon's eyes widen in shock as another mon struck him with a sharp-edged sword through his chest, then fall to the ground, de-volving before going limp.

Matt dropped to his knees in disbelief, tears already streaming down his face. Kari passed out from the stress, and TK held her in his arms, sobbing. Mimi hid her face in Izzy's shirt as she bawled, while Izzy and Joe both stared speechless at the devastation before them.

"You have to let me go.. let me…" Sora gave up struggling out of Tai's grasp, then fell onto the ground, her loud cries echoing through the area.

They were quickly dampened by the line of military jeeps zooming past and the fighter jets flying overhead, towards the monster massacre. Guns blazing and rockets blasting, dust flew around, blinding them all from viewing what happened next. Soldiers appeared before them all the while, shouting commands that went deaf on their ears, and they picked up the Digidestined and helped them flee the area.

The day was June 15, 20XX, the day the Digimon friends were no more.

Not a word was spoken from any of the group as they were taken by caravan to military base outside the city. Kari was taken to the medical facility next door, and the rest of them sat together in the lobby of the front office, too distraught to speak.

"A group of kids, no one older than 20," Sora heard one officer say to another. "Civilians all over the place, running away, but these kids ran straight into the line of fire."

"Takaishi Takeru," came a woman's voice. T.K. looked up with his red, tear-stained eyes, looking as though he was ready to cry again. The woman was in a fitted suit and wore glasses with a clean bun atop her head. Her voice was calm yet stern. "It must have been frightening for you out there. Can you tell me what happened?"

Sitting next to him, Sora, with her eyes stinging from her own tears, watched him hesitate. He opened his mouth but then quickly closed it, as though struggling with how to answer.

"We were trying to run away," Sora said, and the woman turned her head to her. "I was trying to stay calm and lead us to safety, but all the screams and the explosions were overwhelming, so we took a wrong turn…"

The woman stared at her, curiously, and Sora stared straight back. The Digidestined had an unspoken promise that they would never reveal their bonds to anyone outside of the group, aside from their parents, who they already were forced to tell in the past. They had already seen the news talking about the so-called evil monsters, regardless which side they were fighting for. Sora took T.K.'s hand and squeezed it tightly. She was not about to let that that promise break now.

"You led everyone into danger," said the woman.

"Don't blame her."

Everyone turned to Tai, who sat at Sora's other side. He looked down at the floor moodily in front of him. "It wasn't her fault that we ended up there."

"He's right," added Matt. "The city was under attack and we all happened to be outside. It would be hard to believe any of us would be thinking straight."

"Well, you're lucky we got you out when we could." The woman stepped away from T.K., then turned and walked away. A collective sigh of relief.

Not long after, T.K. put his head down and broke into tears again. Heart sinking even lower from the day, Sora moved closer to him, her arm now around him as she rubbed his shoulder in comfort.

"It was mine…" Tai muttered, but only Sora heard it. She looked over at him, still with his brooding expression. In no way did she believe that, but there was nothing left in her to argue. At a loss of what to say, she took her free hand and put it over his. Then he turned his palm to meet hers, interlacing their fingers when he held it back.

She looked around the room, seeing the rest of her friends with their heads down, quiet but shedding tears of their own. Tears streamed down her face freely, the stinging less apparent from crying so hard.

Tai wasn't crying at all.

June 18, 20XX

Ring, pause. Ring, pause. Ring…

"Hey, there! You've reached the mailbox for Yagami Taichi. I'm busy right now, so if you could leave a message, I'll be sure to call you right back! See ya!"

That was all Sora heard from dialing Tai's number the last few days. She had been at home in her bed, underneath her blanket, laying in a fetal position for most of the time. Her mother, Mrs. T., would enter the room every so often to check on her, sometimes to leave food at her bedside table, sometimes to just kiss the top of her head, knowing her daughter just wanted to be left alone.

Sora still dialed her friends even without leaving her bed. She found out that Izzy and his family were forced to leave his damaged home, and they relocated to the giant stadium in the city, where a shelter had been set up. Joe was still choked up when she talked to him, but he mentioned that the hospital he worked at was being shut down, and they were scrambling on how to deal with all of their patients.

All Mimi could do was cry while she vented to Sora. T.K. was too emotional to talk, but they exchanged messages to each other to cope.

Matt said, right when he answered her call, "I don't want to talk right now."

Sora expected his cold nature, but she knew he didn't mean to be that way. "I guess we'll talk later then," she replied.

He must have taken notice of the sadness in her voice. "If you want to talk, though, I'm here," he said.

"No, I'm okay."

"Very well. Just thought I'd remind you, anyway. I know you've been worrying about all of us. Just remember to worry about yourself too, okay?"

"Thanks, Matt."

It wasn't until the next day that Sora finally got out of bed. Joe sent a mass text to everyone about the emergency health clinics set up at every school gymnasium in the district, and that they all were in dire need of extra hands.

Biyomon wouldn't want me to mourn forever, she thought to herself. If she were here now, she'd be running alongside me to help.

When Sora showed up to the clinic at her old high school, she signed herself up as a volunteer at the table in the hallway and was handed a nurse uniform. Once she was dressed and she opened the doors to the gym, all she saw was chaos.

The majority of the floor was lined with cot beds and medical equipment, and people young and old already in them, some unconscious, most screaming or crying. People in white doctor coats and uniforms matching hers rushed past her left and right. She dodged out of the way as a team of medical staff zoomed through rolling a gurney for a woman wailing in pain. Sora headed to the nearest nurse station, clueless on what she should be doing, and overheard two nurses quip about the surge of patients they had to help treat as a result of the attacks.

"Excuse me, what-" Sora began, but a doctor quickly pulled the two nurses saying something about patients needed replacement IVs.

Just then, she felt a hand grab her arm, and it was a woman who looked to be in as much as a panic as everyone she'd seen so far.

"Dr. Kido! Have you seen Dr. Kido? There're more patients coming in from the hospital they just closed. I need him to see them!"

I should have known he was working here, Sora thought. "I'll find him," she said.

"Hurry," said the woman with urgency.

Sure enough, weaving her way through the clinic, passing by other nurses and doctors running in the opposite direction, through more painful screams and cries, she found Joe hidden at another nurse's station, crouched on the ground and hugging his knees. His eyes were wide with fear, and he was trembling.

"Joe…" Sora bent down crouching next to him.

"I don't know what to do—I thought I was ready for this, Sora," he said, "I couldn't let all that medical schooling go to waste, not at a time like this. But the moment I got here, seeing people that are dying… I can't stop seeing Gomamon…" Joe closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. "I couldn't save him. Why couldn't we save them?!"

Sora rubbed his back in comfort, feeling her eyes watering, then leaking. But she wiped her eyes, knowing she didn't want to dwell on what happened right now.

"It's been hard for all of us, Joe," she said, breathing deeply. "You shouldn't be pushing yourself if you aren't ready. But as hard as it is, these people need help right now. You and I are here because we couldn't just sit and watch things get worse. Our Digimon wouldn't have wanted that, anyway."

"You're right…" Joe was now rubbing his eyes. "We can still help. I can still help. I'll do what I can."

"One of the assistants is looking for you. Do your best, Joe. Just don't push yourself, okay?"

When they both stood up, Joe hugged her tightly and expressed his gratitude. Before he ran off to see his patients, he flagged down another nurse to give her a rundown of tasks to do while she was there, and she was determined to help as much as she could.

The hours flew by as she helped keep the nurse's stations stocked with bandages and gauze among other things, and made sure the medicine stock was kept full. She helped different doctors, including Joe, take medical notes and administer medicine, even if it meant holding a patient down for injections while they screamed in protest.

Those few short hours were enough to bring Sora back to the streets-turned battlefield, hearing the cries of terror surrounding her as the attacking Digimon chased anyone who was running away. It was a reminder that everyone else in her city suffered that day, too.

On her way out, she passed a grieving father at the front desk, with a nurse comforting him. "Let me go to my daughter!" he exclaimed, crying over the nurse's shoulder. "Let me go to her! Why did she have to…"

With a heavy feeling in her chest, Sora walked quickly out of the hallway to the front of the school, wanting to be as far away from the gym as she possibly could. She kept her head lowered as tears were already forming in her eyes again, and it was to the point where she had no more strength to hold them back.

She expected to be alone at the front gate of the school entrance, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw him standing up from leaning against the tree facing her. She started walking closer to the tall, messy brown-haired boy who was now walking towards her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice shaking from crying, knowing he could see the wetness of her cheeks.

Tai's hands were in the pockets of his shorts as he walked, his face expressionless. "I saw Joe's message, and I had no doubt you'd be here. I was waiting for you."

Before she knew it, his arms were wrapped around her shoulders and back as he held her tightly. "You always put everyone first," he continued, "but you forget to pay attention to how you feel until it's too late. I was worried about you."

Sora rested her forehead onto his chest, letting her tears flow more freely as she hugged him back.

"Where have you been?" she whispered through her quiet sobs. "I've been worried about you."

"I've been horrible," he said gently. "I wasn't around for you like I needed to be. I need to be better."

They stood there for a while, Sora crying onto Tai's shirt as he gently rubbed her back. She felt better the more she let her tears escape. When she finally stopped crying, she found herself leaning against him, feeling comfortable being cradled in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Sora," he said. "I just couldn't face you or anyone else. Not about what happened."

"But you're facing me right now, aren't you?" Sora lifted her head up to look at his face. He was looking back at her, no longer looking impassive but worried. His eyes were still dry but lines showed he had been losing sleep.

"I…you're important to me," he said with a moment's hesitation. Sora furrowed her brows when she took notice. "I'd rather come to you first before anyone else. You get it, don't you?"

Sora watched him thoughtfully as he gently wiped her tears away, then took her hand to hold as they started walking away from the school. Did he mean because they were dating? Did he mean because they had been close friends since childhood? What he said left her a little confused.

Still, she felt like a small weight was lifted off her shoulders, and even with his sudden appearance, she had him to thank.

"I'm glad you showed up, Tai. You're important to me, too." She gave him a small smile, then she watched his cheeks suddenly turn red.

"Well." Tai laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head with his other hand. "I'm happy to hear it."

"What is it?" she asked, still staring at him with confusion.

"Don't worry about it." He turned to her with a grin.

It was another thing he wasn't telling her, she thought. Another thing he was keeping locked tight in his head right now. It had only been a couple days since the attacks happened, but she sensed that Tai was the one who took it the hardest. As he put his arm around her shoulders, and she put his across the back of his waist, she walked alongside with him, knowing he'll tell her everything eventually.