Shifting Tides

…Reminiscing…

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Authors Note: This really won't make much sense without reading Joyous heartache, but if you want to give it a wiz on its own, you're most welcome too.

This is just a little Joyous heartache vignette to say thanks to all my reviewers who have helped me reach the 100 mark! I really didn't think my story was that great, and without all your reviews I would have stopped writing it a long time ago! Now I even have an idea for the sequel of Joyous Heartache, but I'm not sure if I'll use it or not.

I found the song after I'd written the story and it fit so perfectly I had to add it in!

Anyways, lots of hugs from me to all my wonderful reviewers! Heres a special treat.

Summery: During a seemingly never ending feud there was a small period of peace- a prelude of friendship before hate and memories that are made to stay. Vignette- set before Joyous Heartache. (Thanks to JH Reviewers)

Ages:

Matt, Taichi, and Sora are about 4yrs old during the memory (just before birth of Take and Hika)

It is placed just after chapter 8 of JH (so Matt 16, and Takeru just returned…)

Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine… The song is 'When we were Young' by Human Nature, and the idea and story plot of Joyous heartache is mine... butnot the characters represented within.

Setting: For those of you who haven't read Joyous Heartache, this is set in the Middle Ages, but yeah, its my own alternate universe so things are a little different…

Genre: I really had trouble with the genre, but decided on angst, its a little angst, not too much, but its definitely not romance or action, ne?

Pairings: None, except for a hint of Sorato at the very end, but its really not obvious at all since no names are mentioned.

Spoilers: This story has major spoilers for up to Chapter 8 of Joyous Heartache, so if you haven't read that, I recommend you read it first, because it also won't make much sense with out reading up to chapter 8 of JH…

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Don't you know

People come and go

But as sun after rain

In your heart friends will

Still remain

Let me say

If we should drift away

And your heart feels the pain

Let the good times bring

You back again

Sometimes I wish the

Days we had would never end

Although time is moving fast

Memories are made to stay

Matt looked at his little brother, sleeping soundly, the deep cut on his neck, now slowly fading into a white scar, and the scratches on his face all but disappeared. His little brother had changed, since meeting Tai, he had always known that Taichi was his enemy, and that Taichi hated him, but his little brother had never actually met him. Now that he had met his supposed enemy, Matt could see how it unsettled his little brother, and made Takeru realise that things were a lot harder than it seemed.

The crown Prince realised, unwillingly, that he wanted those days back when he was young, before his brother was born, when he, Prince Yamato Ishida, could play with his old best friend, Prince Taichi Kamiya. When their other best friend, Princess Sora Takenouchi, wasn't the only one not bound by hate and anger, who still kept in touch with both of them, not taking sides.

It made Matt feel guilty, reminiscing of all those things, but he couldn't help it, it just happened.

Sora smiled, wearing her pants and a baggy top matching her two best friends very well, the 4 yr old girl was turning to be an extraordinarily beautiful princess, even in her present attire. She laughed as she watched her best friends, Tai and Matt, play in the water.

"Come on Sor!" Taichi splashed his best friend, who retaliated quickly by pushing the young Kamiya prince underwater.

The small Ishida Prince smiled, "Yeah! Come in Sor, lets gang up on Tai!"

Taichi came up for air just in time to hear the last sentence and sent a mini tidal wave at the blonde haired prince, and the splashing war continued.

"You're both daft!" the little girl laughed at the bemused expressions on her Prince Friends.

"Daft?" Matt said, confused.

"Daft?" Tai echoed, before laughing. "Whatever that means, you're too girly to get wet."

"GIRLY?" she screamed, "I'll show you Girly, Prince Taichi Kamiya!"

Not long later, two dripping wet Princes and a relatively dry and triumphant Princess marched out of the lake.

Sora was really a graceful winner, laughing her head off at the two soaking princes, before she fell down onto the soft grass, looking up at the clouds.

The two boys sat down next to her, annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Don't be bad losers!" she laughed, "I beat you!"

"You didn't win," the young princes explained, "We just let you win, 'cause, well, ya know" Sora giggled happily, knowing the princes well enough to know that meant You won, but we're just not going to admit it.

"Sora!" a voice could be heard from up the hill, which looked quite big from the 3 childrens point of view, "We've got to go soon sweetie." The queen called.

"But Mama! It not passed mid-sun yet!" The little girl said whined.

"I had lots and lots of fun today," Sora said smiling brightly, before running up the hill, grabbing something from her mothers hand, and running back down.

"Where'd ya go?" Matt asked

"I had an idea!" She giggled happily, and dipped a quill into ink, and tried to flatten out the piece of paper, before writing on it.

Yamato, Taichi and Sora, Best Friends forever

"Perfect!" She smiled proudly,

"Wait," Matt said, taking the quill from her hand, and placing and ever after the sentence.

"Now perfect," He said.

"Nope," Taichi shook his head solemnly, "we have to sign it, otherwise it won't be true."

"Yay!" Sora cheered, "We can to make up signatures, Papa's is squiggly, and Mama's is pretty!" She smiled brightly at Yamato.

Yamato smiled, "yours should be a pretty squiggle!" he stated, meeting Soras beautiful innocent eyes and they smiled simultaneously.

When their artwork was finished, they smiled happily, Sora most of all, "Now, even though my kingdom is far away, and we may not all be together for a while, I can always know who my best friends are." She smiled, before they all ran up to their parents.

Sora's mother was the only one who didn't have a bulging stomach due to the last months of pregnancy.

Sora waved goodbye happily that day, not realising that this would actually be the very last time when they were all together.

Slowly Matt walked out of his little brothers' room, closing the door softly, and walking down the royal hallway to the next door, his own room. He reached into his pocket and picked out the piece of paper his girlfriend had given him when they had last parted, not long ago, her family moving on to visit the Kamiya's.

Matt looked down at the piece of paper, with his girlfriends beautiful handwriting on it, Do you really regret it, Yama? It said.

He turned the piece of paper over, to see the words written by Sora's 4yr old handwriting, Yamato, Taichi and Sora; Best Friends Forever (and ever)! And then their made up signatures that they had written on the day, placed in awkward places over the small piece of paper. It was still crinkled slightly, where drops of water had slid down their noses and dropped onto the paper.

He could still hear their laughter in his ears, those children felt so far away now… the innocence that neither of them had had for years, the innocence that had ended that day.

Matt clenched his fist, crumpling up the piece of paper. 'I don't really regret it' he thought, clenching harder as the paper squished into a ball. Slowly he unclenched his fist, and sadly looked at the crunched up piece of paper, before he placed it in the drawer.

'but things definitely have changed, perhaps not for the better, but we can't just simply go back…'

He closed the drawer, and walked out of his room, and away from his childhood.

'No matter how much we want to'

Sometimes I wish that innocence

Would never end

Although memories

Will fade

Time will never take them away

Yesterdays have been and gone

Summer days that seemed so long

All the things we did

When we were young

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A/N: I really liked writing that… (I'm slowly going mad with boredom, im sick at the moment…) Even though Takeru is the main character in Joyous Heartache, I think its important to realise that the war that's going on between them is affecting Matt (and others) as well, so, yeah… I thought it was pretty sweet.

Anyways, please review, I'm not sure how good that was, but you know, its just a little thankyou, and yeah, please review, even if its to tell me how much that sucked, cause it was the first little short story I've done. Oh and tell me if you want me to write more of these things explaining happier times between Joyous Heartache and stuff… cause I got lots of those sort of ideas up my sleeve! This could be like a prelude if you want…

Much appreciated.

Lotsa Luv,

Em

Please review

Wednesday 15th September 2004