Sunflowers: Hey, hey, hey!

Matt: And the title of 'Procrastinator of the Year' goes to…

Sunflowers: Can it! Procrastination is the reason I actually got this chapter out before summer.

T.K.: Because, although your exams are in two weeks-

Sunflowers: Stupid French school board.

T.K.: (ignoring the interruption) your hatred of Chemistry 11 was strong enough to break through your writers block and finish the chapter you had promised everyone nearly six months ago.

Sunflowers: And I am really very sorry about that.

Matt: At least Digimon doesn't belong to you. Then there probably would have been only one episode per year.

Sunflowers: And I probably would have written you out of the show. (continues before Matt can open his trap) READ ON!

FICTIME!FICTIME! FICTIME!FICTIME! FICTIME!FICTIME! FICTIME!FICTIME! FICTIME!FICTIME!

Chapter 3: An Explanation (Sunflowers: somehow, I prefer the chapter titles of A Whole New World)

T.K. bolted so quickly, the door was already swinging shut before anyone else moved. Let me tell you, that boy can run fast.

" T.K.!" I yelled after him. Uselessly, of course. I'm not really sure why I did that, maybe it was just reflex; it's not like he would hear me and come back. I started after him, but my dad clamped his hand down on my shoulder. I wasn't going anywhere.

The room was silent, just as shocked as I was. Tai turned to his best friend. "You said it was just you and your dad. You never told me you have a little brother." He said quietly. If my mind wasn't so preoccupied, I'd have felt sorry for Tai. This was obviously not what he expected. He'd wanted his friend and our family to like each other or at least be civil. Not like this.

Matt looked away, just shrugging his shoulders. "I had forgotten all about him." He said, the 'him' emphasized.

Let me tell you, my cool flew to Aruba at that. "You forgot about him? He's your brother! He was nice and happy and you suddenly pop up, get right in his face and pretend you don't know him? And, by the way, you were doing a pretty piss poor job of it. " My father's grip tightened on my shoulder, a silent way of telling me to watch my mouth. I ignored the warning and glared at Matt. Just who did he think he was?

The blond scowled at me. "I wish I didn't know him. Everything was fine before he came along. Just me, my mom and my dad. We were together! We were happy! Even the little while after he was born was perfect. But then my parents find out he's deaf. Deaf! Dad wanted to just put him up for adoption and get over it, but Mom insisted on keeping him. 'He's still my baby' she said. HE was her baby, I didn't matter anymore. And then the fighting started. They began yelling and screaming at each other, they never stopped. And I listened to them every night. Every night for six years! HE was lucky, HE couldn't hear them. Finally, Mom can't deal with it, saying that Dad didn't love her or the baby enough to accept him, handicapped or not, so she took him and left us. She left me! He broke my family! He's the reason my dad drinks. He's the reason I haven't seen my mother in nearly ten years. It's his fault and I'll never forgive that- that CRIPPLE!" He was screaming at me, his fists clenched hard enough to whiten his knuckles.

I was stunned. T.K. had never told me about his family. Sure, I was curious before as to why it was just him and his mom, but I never imagined this. And to see your brother after almost a decade. T.K. must have felt- T.K.!

I yanked myself out of my father's loosened grip and ran out the door. I had to find T.K.. The flying field was my first bet. I ran the whole way to the Sportsplex, the wind was whipping at my face, as if it was trying to slow me down. Cars brakes squealed and horns honked when I raced across the streets, far beyond caring about proper pedestrian traffic laws.

I finally got there, my breathing ragged and my side in pain. I looked around the green turf of the flying field before spotting T.K. sitting on the ground, his chin resting on his knees. As I slowly walked up to him, catching my breath, I remembered what he said about this place. That he could "always fell detached from everything. The rest of the world disappears." If I had just seen what he did, I'd want the world to disappear too.

I sat down beside him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He must have been expecting me, because he didn't tense up or anything. He hugged me back. We just sat there for awhile, hugging in the middle of a field of artificial turf.

When he pulled away, his hands made a sign. His right hand open, fingers spread wide, and his left index stood alone. "Six." I must have looked as confused as I felt, because he elaborated. "We left when I was six years old."

"T.K.," I signed back. "You don't have to tell me." I didn't tell him that his brother already had.

He shook his head. "Yes I do. I have to tell s-o-m-e-o-n-e, and I'd rather it be you." I was so touched by his trust; I nodded and let him continue. He signed slowly, spelling out words that I wouldn't know. "It's weird. I can barely remember my father. I was too young and hardly ever saw him. When I did, he was fighting with my mom. I didn't understand what they were saying, I hadn't been going to school long enough, but I knew it was about me. Sometimes it would get so loud that I could feel the floor shake, or even hear yell if my hearing aids were in. That's how bad it was. But I remember M-a-t-t perfectly. I remember always wanting his a-p-p-r-o-v-a-l, his acceptance. I wanted him to love me. The first picture I ever drew was for him. I saw him reading a book about wolves, so I tried to draw one for him. It ended up looking more like S-n-o-o-p-y, from 'P-e-a-n-u-t-s', but I was so proud of it. I took it to him, but he just pushed me away. He didn't want me. It didn't matter what I did or what I tried, nothing changed. He wouldn't even look at me. He hated me." His hands were starting to shake, making it hard to make out his words. I took them into mine to steady them. It was so hard for him, to tell me about a past he wanted to forget, a brother who never wanted him. He managed to calm himself and smile weakly before continuing.

"One day, my mom came to me and signed that we were going on a trip. I was so exited; I didn't notice she was crying. She just took my hand and led me out to the car. We were half way to grandma's when I realize we weren't coming back. We were never coming back." He didn't continue. He didn't have to. I scooted even closer and wrapped my arms around him and held on, my mind whirling.

There was a lot of information to digest. I had always taken T.K.'s smiles for granted, thinking he was happy and well adjusted. I never even considered that he could have felt so much pain. I knew that he suffered prejudice because of his handicap, Davis was proof of that. But there's a difference between a random jerk and a member of your own family, someone you loved and respected, rejecting, blaming and hating you for something you had no control over. I couldn't even imagine how I would feel if Tai did that to me. All I could do for T.K. was hold on.

"Hey there Kari girl!" Oh. Great.

Davis came bouncing across the air field in full soccer gear, something swinging on his finger. As he (regrettably) got closer, I saw that it was a keychain, with a key on it. I felt T.K. tense up unconsciously. Way to ruin the moment, Davis.

I sighed. "What do you want Davis?"

"I came to practice some of my new moves before the next game when I saw you here! Great luck, huh?" Yeah, lucky me. It was like vomiting on a pile of doggy doo. He was grinning at me, completely ignoring T.K., as usual.

"I wanted to talk to yah earlier, but your mom said you were out. So, anyway, my folks got me a car for my birthday!" He said brightly, still swinging the keychain. He probably thought it made him look cool. He was wrong. "An SUV. It's no Porsche, but it'll do till Christmas. So yah wanna come for a spin?" He was seriously going to poke his eye out if he keeps swinging that stupid key.

"I'm sorry Davis, but I can't." I said, knowing full well that I didn't sound sorry at all. More like extremely irritated. He just kept on looking at me.

"Why not? You don't look busy." Okay, now I know that Davis wasn't just being stupid. That was a deliberate dig at T.K.. As if he didn't have enough to think about without Davis's bigotry.

I was just preparing a verbal onslaught that would probably make his ears bleed when T.K. took care of the problem. He stood up so that he was at (a few inches above) eye-level with Davis and smiled a great big Brady Bunch smile at him.

"So you've got an SUV?" he signed to him. Davis looked just as confused as I did. Davis couldn't tell sign language from the Heimlich maneuver. T.K. was still smiling, the picture of innocent friendliness.

"What year is it?" He signed, still directed at Davis. Davis looked to me.

"What the heck's he doing? What's he talking about? He's making fun of me, isn't he?" He asked, looking kind of perturbed. T.K. started signing again before I could open my mouth, this time at me.

"I was just asking about his car. That's why he came here, isn't it? Is he i-n-c-a-p-a-b-l-e of polite c-o-n-v-e-r-s-a-t-i-o-n?" T.K. asked, his head inquiringly cocked to the side. Davis's gaze spun between the two of us.

"I don't get it! Get him to speak like a normal person!" Davis demanded. I finally got what T.K. was doing. I grinned and started signing to him.

"I have no idea, let's ask him, shall we?" Davis took a step back.

"Not you too! That's it! I'm out of here!" T.K. and I were smiling at each other throughout the whole episode, enjoying Davis's discomfort, but we burst out laughing when he scrambled across the field. I know it was a little mean, but Davis was being a jerk and shouldn't stay were he's not wanted.

Once my laughter had subsided, I looked to T.K. and signed to him. "Are you feeling better?"

His raspy laugh cut off abruptly. He bit his lip for a minute, his hands still. I was beginning to regret asking when he started signing.

"I am still shocked. It is not something you see everyday." I nodded as he continued. "Still, watching Davis trip while running away perked me up." He finished with a smile.

I smiled back. Out of the blue, I remembered an old Chinese curse. May you live in interesting times. The first time I had heard it, I didn't get it at all. How would that be a curse? But now, as I looked at T.K. and thought of his estranged elder brother, who was going to be living in my house for the next two months, I realized that during this summer, we would indeed be living in interesting times.

FICOUT!FICOUT!FICOUT!FICOUT!FICOUT!FICOUT!FICOUT!FICOUT!FICOUT! FICOUT! FICOUT!FICOUT!

Sunflowers: This was really only an explanation of my version of the Takaishi/Ishida clans past. Sorry for making it sound so soap-opera-ish.

Matt: Y-you

Sunflowers: I?

Matt: You made me a- I'm a- a

Sunflowers: YOU'RE A DAVIS! (Matt runs away, screaming at the horror)

T.K.: That was very cruel.

Sunflowers: I know that he's a great older brother; he's just not a very nice muse. AND this is interesting!

T.K.: May we live in interesting times.

Sunflowers: Reviews please! Just click the button and you'll have brought a little more sunshine into my day! And if that's not satisfying, I made pie!