Litanya: I do not own digimon, but I do own this plot. Please note that basically none of this fic contains any true events. This fic is fiction and none of the battles described actually happened. Please enjoy.

Wars of the Heart

Chapter 3

They say

That I should learn to kill before I can feel safe

But I

I'd rather kill myself than turn into their slave…

                                      -- The Rasmus 'In the Shadows'

They arrived at Tai's apartment after only a small problem. Izzy's wheelchair had been difficult to get up the stairs, so Matt had offered to carry the boy upstairs whilst the others dragged the chair up. Izzy had apologised a million times, but the others did not mind. They knew that it was not the intelligent boy's fault that he was in the wheelchair.

"So Tai, what's your story?" Matt asked once they were all settled. Kari and Tai's parents would not be home for a few hours, so they had the apartment to themselves for a while.

"Well… I'll tell you all that I remember. These guys can help me if my memory fails," he gestured to Joe, Izzy and Mimi who nodded and let him begin his tale…

FLASHBACK

Tai sat on the ship, bored out of his mind. There was no one on board that he knew and everyone else seemed to be a lot older than him. After all, he was only sixteen and most of the others were over twenty. He was about to give up searching for someone to talk to when two people caught his eye. They were around his age and for some reason they looked interesting to talk to. He stood and stretched before walking around to where the two boys were sitting quietly.

"Hi, my name is Tai. You guys look just about as bored as I feel," he introduced himself and the other two looked up and smiled, obviously glad that someone had poked them out of their boredom.

"My name is Joe, and this is Izzy. It's nice to meet you," the taller boy of the two introduced, being extremely polite. They began to talk of their homes and anything that really came into their minds. They became friends fast, noticing that they all had things in common…

END OF FLASHBACK

"And so we became friends…" Tai was interrupted by T.K.

"But you guys don't really look like you are alike in any way. I mean, you are even different ages," T.K had been watching them closely during the story so far and he couldn't see anything that they had in common.

"Yeah, we are all twenty one, right?"

"Actually… I'm a year younger. I just lied because I didn't want to seem too young. But that doesn't really matter…" Tai rushed on, cursing T.K for opening his mouth, "But now onto the rest of the story otherwise we'll be here until midnight…"

FLASHBACK

They arrived in Egypt firm friends.

"Hey Joe where are you staying?" Izzy asked his friend as they read through the list which told them where to go.

"That way," Joe pointed to his left.

"Me too."

"Same here."

"Cool!" all three exclaimed, glad that they were not going to be split up.

"Let's go and put our stuff down before we explore the city!" Tai was eager to be going. He felt revitalized now that he wasn't on the ship.

"Sure, I guess I can't complain with that idea," they quickly went to their camp and dumped their small amount of baggage…

END OF FLASHBACK

"What was Egypt like?" Kari had always wanted to travel. Even though it technically took months to get to Europe, she had often dreamed of visiting those countries.

"It wasn't all that great really, and telling you about it now would be a waste of time. I'll tell you later, okay?" Kari nodded at her brother's promise. As long as she heard about it sometime, she didn't mind.

"Yeah, if you ever go to Egypt, you'll probably hear stories of the Australian soldiers over there… and they aren't very flattering stories either," Izzy added.

"Yeah, I heard some of those stories when I was there… you weren't involved in any of that were you Tai? I know you and it sounds like what you might have done," Matt waited for an answer.

"Nah, I wasn't involved in that. Joe and Izzy kept me from joining in that… and besides it wasn't really my type of thing," Tai dismissed the subject and went back to his story, "Okay, I'll get to the fighting part now because T.K really wants to hear about it." He took a deep breath and continued…

FLASHBACK

The bangs of gunfire could be heard everywhere. Men lay injured, dying on the ground at the base of the hill, having rolled down when they were hit. It was to this area that Tai's squad was being sent. The scary thing was that the men dying on the ground had only been sent there a few hours before Tai's squad.

"I think I'm going to be sick guys," it was Joe that had spoken and his face was green, to back up what he had said.

"Come on Joe, just don't think about it. Think of… daisies inst- Hey, you can't be disgusted! You are going to be a doctor when you get back, so don't get all squeamish now," Tai joked, although he could feel his insides squirming around too.

"Guys, stop messing around. We're going to need to concentrate now," Izzy warned them. They feel silent and watched as the land came closer.

"Now!" the whisper sent a chill down the spines of all of the men on the ships. It was their command to begin running up the beach to the secured areas. As far as Tai could see, there were no secure areas. The three friends stood from their crouch and began to run after the others. The results were horrible. Men were falling down all around them and they had no idea how they made it to the base camp. A quarter of their squad had not made it even to there. Most of that quarter was lying on the beach, waiting to die or for the few men that were carrying stretchers to the injured. Not many of them had a chance of survival.

There was a silence as they arrived at the trenches that were to become their home for the next few months. No one wanted to talk; they did not want to think about the people they left behind.

"Guys, let's stay here," Tai pointed to an empty spot in the trenches. They agreed silently, and they put the small amount of things they had managed to hold on to down. A few paces away from them were two boys, around the same age as Joe and Izzy.

"Did you arrive just now?" the leader of the two boys asked, obviously having arrived earlier in the morning.

"Yeah," there was nothing else to say. Izzy introduced himself and the other two before the strangers introduced themselves.

"My name is Davis Motimya and this is Ken Ichijouji. We arrived earlier this morning…" they went on to explain what they had found out when they had arrived…

END OF FLASHBACK

"Did you say Davis Motimya?" Jun asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he's my little brother. He's about the same age as you… but a little older I think. He went to war about the same time you did. Do you know if he's okay?"

"No, we didn't see him after we were injured," Joe replied, looking a little sad. He had gotten on extremely well with Ken, but sometimes Davis had tried his patience.

"Actually, he came around here after the war. He was the one who gave us Tai's journal. I thought that we told you who had done that," Kari looked thoughtful, remembering that visit with a small shudder, "I didn't know that he was your brother though. He was a little injured, but not much from what I could tell. Ken was on crutches, but Davis seemed fine other than a small limp."

"Oh, thank God! I haven't heard from him in a while. I was starting to get worried," Jun looked very relieved, as did Tai, Izzy and Joe. Ken and Davis had been their close friends after all.

"Isn't it funny how everyone seems to be connected," Sora mused before turning her attention back to Tai, "What happened next?"

"Well, the fighting began. And it continued for weeks. It might be easier for me just to explain what happened on the day that Izzy, Joe and I 'disappeared.' The other details would bore you and they would take me forever to explain," Tai's eyes had a haunted look in them that only appeared when he was talking about fighting in the war, Sora noticed. The fighting must have had a huge toll on him. She stored the thought in the back of her head and listened to the rest of his story.

FLASHBACK

Tai, Izzy and Joe were sitting cramped in one of the trenches, with Ken and Davis keeping them company. It was day time and the rattle of the guns never seemed to stop.

"What time do you guys have duty?" Ken asked as they cringed at the sound of a small bomb going off.

"In about two or three minutes. Hopefully they will keep the gas to themselves this time," the last time that they had been on duty the 'enemy' had used guns that poured out poison gas. The results had been horrific, mainly for the ones using the guns. The wind had changed halfway through the small battle and the gas had been blown back onto the ones firing it. Many had died needlessly that day.

"Ken and I have late duty. We're supposed to be getting leave tomorrow for about two weeks, but I bet it won't happen. You're lucky that you're on duty when you are; it's no fun fighting at night."

"It's not fun fighting at any time of the day. It isn't fair to anyone. If only the bloody governments would get their act together then we wouldn't need to fight at all!" to say that Joe was angry would have been an understatement. He wanted to save people's lives, not destroy them.

"Come on guys, we'd better go. We'll see you later Davis, Ken. Have fun on leave if we don't see you by then," Tai, Izzy and Joe grabbed the machine guns they were forced to have on them at all times and stood. They made their way through the maze of the back trenches until they were finally at their post.

"You three, over here!" they obeyed the command, knowing that they would be in a position worse than death if they did not, "You're going over today. Join in the last row formed." Tai closed his eyes and began to move in the direction pointed out. Izzy bit his lip and Joe looked ready to faint. The phrase at Gallipoli that everyone feared to hear was 'You're going over today.' It had finally happened to them. Before they had always fought from the trenches, but now they were going to be fighting on the ground in between their trench and those of the 'enemy.'

"Good luck guys. We're all going to need it," Tai whispered to Izzy and Joe as he took his place in the line.

"You too," was the whispered reply that he received from both of them. There was a small signal at the front of the column of soldiers. It was the sign that the front row had to go over. There was a collective intake of breaths before the first row threw themselves over the top of the trench. Immediate gunfire was the reply. There were screams and cries of pain. One man fell straight back over the side of the trench as soon as he had gotten up. The second row went over at the next signal. It kept on going until finally Tai's row was at the front. The signal fell and they charged over the side of the trench.

There was a volley of bullets aimed at them as soon as they were over the side. Izzy, Tai and Joe fought together, trying to aim their shots at the guns rather than at the people firing them. Tai was the first to get hit, but it was only a deflected bullet. It hit his leg, but the force was not enough to drive it very far and the result was that the bullet fell out, leaving only a small mark. All around them men were falling, crying out with pain and dying. It was a sight that they never wanted to see ever again.

"Izzy, watch out!" Joe dived and saved the boy from getting a bullet in his head. Then the two climbed back up and made their way again, with only a small "thank you" from Izzy. After all, they did not have much time to do anything else. They continued on their way and soon they had managed to get halfway across the ground they needed to cover. Unfortunately, they were only three among a group of about seven. That meant that there were more bullets headed for them.

"S!" Joe cried as a bullet pierced through his leg. Tai and Izzy rushed over to see if they could help. Joe was on the ground, his leg having collapsed. Tai turned around so that Izzy could help Joe and not be threatened by bullets. Or at least he tried to keep them safe. He shot at whatever gun seemed to point their way, but in the end he could not stop the inevitable. A bullet pierced into his side, causing him to fall to the ground to. A second later, Izzy was shot in the back, literally. It seemed like they were going to die there, as there was no one left to help them.

"Izzy, Joe, are you guys okay?" Tai tried to keep his fears away by thinking of something else, but it did not work.

"I think so. It's only my leg that is screwed," Joe answered, trying to keep the pain out of his voice. He had already vomited after seeing his leg and he knew that they were in trouble if they did not move quickly.

"I-I'm okay I think. I can't move my legs though. From the sounds of what happened, the base of my spine has broken," Izzy too knew of their great peril. Their lives hung on the line and yet they could not do anything. They were all injured and in the middle of a battlefield, where no one could help them, "What about you Tai?"

"Me? I'll be perfectly fine," his vision blurred for a second and he was scared. The thought suddenly came to him that he didn't want to die on a battle field because he had given up, "Do either of you think that you'll be able to move? We need to get out of here if we're going to live."

"I think I might be able to crawl somewhere," Joe sounded doubtful, but Tai's attitude was contagious. He refused to even think of the possibility of dying without a fight, "What about you Izzy?"

"If someone could drag me along somehow, I might be able to. My legs won't move, so I won't be able to crawl by myself."

"That's okay Izzy, I'll help you," Tai pushed himself around until he was lying on his stomach. His side was killing, but he ignored the pain. He grabbed Izzy's arm and began to pull, trying to find a way that they could get somewhere that could help them. Joe grabbed Izzy's other arm and the two of them pulled the disabled boy across the ground. They did not head back to their own trenches or to the ones the 'enemy' had. Instead they were heading in the direction that Tai thought he had seen a hospital in. One of the people in the 'enemy' trenches had seen them begin to move. Tai was the closest to 'enemy' lines, and his right arm was pierced with a bullet. He automatically dropped Izzy's hand, as it had been his right arm he had been dragging the boy by. But instead of giving in to the pain in his arm and his side, he just used his other arm to drag Izzy by.

"Tai, are you alright?" Izzy asked, having seen the bullet hit the boy. Tai did not reply and continued to drag him along. They did not know how long they had been going, but finally they could not move any more.

"How far are we away from help?" Joe asked drowsily, feeling very, very tired.

"I'm not too sure," Tai admitted, "But it's too far away, wherever it is…" he closed his eyes and felt himself drift away somewhere. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Tai, don't fall asleep. We can still make it to help," Izzy could see that Tai had lost a lot of blood, more than both Izzy and Joe had combined. He was scared that if Tai went to sleep, he would never wake up again.

"But I'm so tired…" but he opened his eyes again, seeing the blurry word that had quickly become his reality once more.

"It's okay, we're almost there. I can see lights up ahead," Izzy lied, somehow knowing that Tai would believe him. Without another word Tai grabbed Izzy's arm again and Joe grabbed the other. They slowly began moving again until finally even the excess energy they had obtained from the hope of being close to help ran out. They now had no energy left at all, and night was falling quickly.

"I'm sorry… I need to sleep now," Tai mumbled and he closed his eyes…

END OF FLASHBACK

"And that's basically all I remember until I woke up in the hospital," there was a stunned silence. Tai's story had enraptured his audience and they had had no idea that they had gone through all of that just to survive.

"I remember more. Once Tai fell asleep, Joe fell silent and I wasn't sure if he was sleeping, dead or just not talkative. About a few minutes later, I heard some footsteps and then a couple of voices. I'm still not sure who they were, but someone came and rescued us," Izzy added, breaking the silence.

"That was a stretcher crew from another squad. I remember that they told the nurses on the ship to Imbros from the battlefields that they had found the three of you on the beach somewhere. They had almost left Tai there because they had thought that he was dead, then they realised that he was still breathing. That was very lucky," Mimi piped up, finishing the story off, "And then Joe got sick with typhoid fever and Tai just stayed unconscious for a while and Izzy was worried sick about them… and then they got better and here they are!" It was a rather quick end to the story, but it was good enough.

"Whoa, that is a very scary story. How did you manage to do all of that?" T.K had been expecting an extraordinary tale of survival, but even his imagination had not thought of such an escape.

"I don't know. I guess that I just wanted to get home," Tai shrugged with his left shoulder only, making sure to keep his right one still.

"I'm sorry Tai. I shouldn't have let you go in my place."

"Don't be silly Matt; I made it back in one piece, right? And it ended up working out for everyone. Besides, I'd never have made friends with Joe, Izzy and Mimi if I had stayed here and the pair of them may have died. I'm actually happy with the way that everything turned out," Tai did not seem all that concerned with his situation and he grinned at Izzy and Joe.

"Umm… we'd better go now Tai. We'd better go and see our parents. We'll see you later next week, okay?" Joe stood up with Mimi and the pair of them, along with Izzy, left after saying their goodbyes. Then Tai was left with his old friends and Jun. Matt looked from Tai to Sora to Jun.

"We'd better go too. I promised my father that I would help him cook dinner. T.K is eating with us tonight, so he'd better come too," Matt, Jun and T.K left, leaving Kari and Sora alone with Tai.

"Uh… Mum told me to wash the dishes. You guys stay here and I'll go do it before she gets back and yells," Kari lied before she disappeared into the kitchen. Now Sora and Tai were alone. There was a small silence.

"I read your letter," Sora finally broke the silence, partly nervous at what she was going to say and what his reaction would be.

"Yeah, I thought that you would have read it. I meant every word in it you know," it almost felt like he was meeting her again for the first time. Almost. His heart was jumping in his chest, overwhelmed at seeing her again. Whilst he had been dying it had been thoughts of Sora that had kept him alive, not thoughts of getting home. He wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her, and it had been that desire that had kept him alive.

"I know," the gap between them was growing smaller as they both took a step forward.

"I'm sorry that you and Matt broke up by the way."

"No you're not," it was the truth, after all. They were finally close enough that they could feel the other's breath softly on their cheek, "And neither am I." The kiss was hesitant at first, but then they forgot about everything else and lost themselves in each other.

"Never go away again," Sora whispered after they had broken off the kiss.

"There's no chance of that happening, ever," he whispered back and they kissed again, completely in their own world. And at the doorway Kari was peering around into the room.

"Maybe this war had a good side to it after all," she whispered to herself before she crept quietly to her own room, leaving the two lovers in peace…

Litanya: Okay, that was the conclusion to this fic! I hope that you enjoyed it. I don't think that it was one of my best works, but still, it was satisfactory. Please drop a review if you wish and I'll see you around. Bye!