I figured I might as well do something for Digimon OTP Week. Friendship, with one-sided Taito.

Quote of the Day:

"The memory of our days is still burning me up inside."

— Guts, Berserk

When he was a boy Yamato's idea of Heaven was a simple one. What he pictured was a golden world in the clouds somewhere far and far away, with that golden world being a place of timeless perfection where the eternal melancholy of his own life would finally only be a part of another Yamato from another world from another time and place. It was a boy's idea of Heaven, and although he wasn't sure if he still believed in it, Yamato still held the thought of it close to his heart.

It was his first day in Shimane, and as Yamato stood on his balcony staring out into the ocean he couldn't help but wonder how long would it take (if ever) for him to get used to this new chapter of his life. He couldn't stay in Odaiba anymore, it was much too painful, and so now the young man found himself living in the small coastal town where his father had grown up, his thoughts clouded by sorrow, nostalgia, and the dark uncertainty of youth.

The sun was shining as bright as ever as he stood out on the wooden balcony of his new home, and the breeze that brushed passed him was a gentle whisper whose words Yamato could still not make out. Maybe he would find out as he watched the ocean? Maybe it would forever remain a quiet enchanting mystery that would become a defining part of his life here? Whatever the truth was, he mused over the soft sound of the wind if he would ever come to know it.

His father had grown up in a sleepy town by the sea. Just knowing his father, Yamato would have never thought that he would have ever come from a place like this. The coastal town was a place that was much too still for someone like Hiroaki, who always moved from one place to another as quickly as he could, the older man searching not only for the small amount of rushes one can find in the already short time that humans have in the world, but also for a purpose that will keep on driving him forward through the moments both happy and sad onto the vague ambiguity of life. Whatever else could be said however, Yamato now understood why his father had left in the first place. Maybe soon enough Yamato would also understand why he had been compelled to return to this dream town.

Although he would have never imagined himself feeling it before, the stillness of this Shimane town being so much different than how he had grown up in Odaiba, there was something he would almost call charming about the drowsy world he now found himself in. For all his life Yamato had become accustomed to the fast paced and noisy facets of life in the city. The clamor of traffic and crowds and the bursting life of the city was absent from where he was standing now, watching the ocean and feeling the calmness of the breeze, and he supposed that it was going to be some time before he was finally used to his new way of life.

After another moment Yamato turned and walked back inside, Taichi waiting for him there.

As he found a pillow to sit on that had been lying haphazardly in the middle of his floor, Yamato looked forward and saw that Taichi had been where he left him. Looking around the room and seeing that the only furniture he had was his pillow, an altar, and a small table and old television that had come with his new home, Yamato figured that there was really nowhere else for Taichi to go at the moment. Rubbing the back of his neck, Yamato wasn't sure if he just wanted to get everything out of the way right now, or if he was just going to wait until tomorrow or maybe even the day after that.

"I really should unpack, shouldn't I?" Yamato asked out loud, mostly to himself.

Maybe the drowsiness of the town by the sea was finally getting to him? It was a much quieter world than Odaiba. It was a universe where time moved more slowly. He wondered what the people of the town were like. Would they remember his father? Would they have any idea who he even was? He supposed that Hiroaki had to have good memories of this place, along with the bad. No matter where a man goes, where he comes from is always a part of his life. He wasn't sure where he heard that before, but he figured it was from something that was just as profound as it was corny. As his gaze settled more closely on Taichi, he couldn't help but wonder if the thought would prove the same for them as well.

"I don't know if Odaiba is still going to be a part of my life," Yamato spoke once more, this time much more quietly, "but no matter where I go, you'll be a part of mine forever."

Kneeling now, Yamato looked at Taichi for another few seconds before he leaned forward and lit the incense that was resting beside a picture of Taichi and a plate of food that Yamato had cooked earlier in the evening. Although it was to no deity in particular, Yamato mouthed a silent prayer for his friend, wherever he was.

He wasn't sure if he even believed in a Heaven, but he hoped it was like the place that he had thought of as a boy. If there was a shining golden world in the clouds, somewhere far and far away, there was no way that someone like Taichi didn't find themselves there. It was a pleasant thought he had in this pleasant town by the sae, and as Yamato continued to pray, he ignored the tear that was now trailing down his cheek.

The incense burned slowly, the smell of iris filled the air, and there was a gentle whisper in the wind.

See you with the next prompt.