Part 4: Waterfall
Mimi collapsed in the grass near a riverbank. "I'm so tired," she murmured.
"We have to find Tai!" Agumon cried. He had been left behind when Tai disappeared, and he didn't like it one bit.
Kari smiled slightly. "Agumon, we've been looking non-stop!"
T.K. sat next to the river, his blue eyes haunted. He was the one who had made Matt leave. And what would happen if it was true that Matt had kidnapped Tai?
A beeping noise made Gatomon's ears prick up. "That would be the digivices!" she cried.
"Tai's nearby!" Izzy said happily. The digidestined got up and ran in the direction of the signal.
"What happened?" all of them said at once when they saw Tai. He was scratched and he looked like he had been through a war...which he probably had. "Tai!"
The kids darted over to him. "Wake up, Tai!" Joe pleaded when he found a pulse.
Tai slowly opened his brown eyes. "Kari? Sora? Joe? You're all here?"
"What did this to you?" Tentomon asked. "Who took you away?"
"Mekanorimon...and Megadramon..."
"Machinedramon!"
"Him, too."
Agumon looked extremely thoughtful. Then he said,
"Well, at least Matt didn't do anything."
The young leader nodded. For a few seconds everyone was quiet. Then Tai sat bolt upright and shouted, "Takeru!"
It wasn't only the fact that Tai had called T.K. by his full name that made the other kids snap to attention, it was the panic in his voice. They gasped when they saw T.K., too afraid to scream for help. The defenseless child was hanging on to a small branch, and at any moment it could break and send him straight into the river. The river was racing along due to the extra rain, and it ended in a waterfall.
Finally T.K. found his voice. "Helllllllp me! Help!" "What do we do?" Tai asked. He couldn't think straight, and T.K. could be dashed to pieces at any moment...
"Well, are you just going to stand there all day?" a soft voice asked. A young boy with wild blond hair stepped from the trees. He smiled. "And I thought you could take care of him...can't leave for a minute..."
It was obviously Matt. The other kids parted to let him step to the riverbank. He laid on the grass and stretched out a hand to T.K. "Here, little bro."
T.K.'s eyes lit up and he swung wildly for Matt's hand. He missed and clutched the branch even tighter. "Matt!"
"Matt," a cool voice whispered from behind. "Here."
Matt turned around and saw Tai. Tai, holding out his precious goggles, inviting Matt to take them.
"Thanks," Matt mumbled. He accepted the goggles and leaned over once more. "T.K., grab on!"
T.K. grabbed the goggles with one hand. Then he let go of the branch just as it began to crack. Tai stepped forward to help Matt haul T.K. in.
"Thank you, Matt!" Sora cried. Matt looked up and saw...MetalGarurumon and himself, only a few days ago. Watching Puppetmon disappear because of them. Then Sora approached, saying the same thing...and Matt left. He had left again...
MetalGarurumon really was there. Matt looked away from his friends and walked over to his digimon. In his mind, he sang the last few lines of the song:
Who could have guessed that you and I...somehow, some way, we'd have to say good-bye.
Matt and MetalGarurumon disappeared into the forest and the other seven watched them. "Somehow we have to break up again," Mimi said.
"Why?" Tai whispered. "Why?"
"Thank you, Matt," T.K. said softly. "Thank you."
