I'll Smile To Hide My Tears
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Tai Kamiya sat in booth at the very back of a small café. He wanted to be alone to think before he went to meet his friends. He was thinking about the first time he met the girl that he loved. It had been at least ten years since then and he remembered everything perfectly.
"I don't wanna go Mommy!" whined five-year-old Tai. It was his first day of school and his mother had walked him there. Mrs. Kamiya sighed as she tried to pry Tai's hand away from her own.
"Be a good boy Tai," she told him.
"But I don't wanna-"
"Tai, you have to go to school. All little boys and girls do," his mother said sternly.
"But Mommy!" he whined more.
"Now have fun Sweetie! I'll come back to pick you up when school's done!" Mrs. Kamiya told her son and gentle pushed him inside the classroom. Tai looked around the classroom at all the other kids. Tai whimpered softly and looked at his feet. He was nervous and a little scared.
"Hi!" came a cheerful voice. Tai looked up and saw a little girl standing in front of him. She had brown hair and brown eyes.
"Hi," Tai mumbled.
"My name's Sora, what's yours?" she asked.
"Tai," he answered.
"Wanna play with me and my friends?" she asked.
"Sure!" Tai exclaimed, smiling. He was feeling less and less nervous. Sora smiled back.
"You have a cute smile," she told him.
"Thank you."
"Come on, let's go!" Sora said and pulled Tai over to where she and some other children were playing.
"She was one of my first friends," Tai mused as he took a sip of his hot chocolate. His thoughts drifted to the time when he was first taken to the Digital World. He remembered how he felt when Datamon had kidnapped Sora. He had been an emotional wreck. The two of them had been incredibly close up until recently. They even seemed to be in love. "I guess she only loved me as a friend," he said.
Tai chugged the rest of his hot chocolate and left some money on the table. He left the café and started thinking about what happened before Matt's concert. It had shocked him when Sora told him that she was there to see Matt, his best friend. It was the first time he realized that Sora was in love with Matt. He now knew that she had been for a while. "I guess I was blinded by my love for her," he said as he walked through the streets of Odaiba. He regretted that he didn't tell Sora how he felt about her.
'Would she still have gone to see Matt if she knew?'
'Would she have even returnedmy feelings?'
'Did Ido the right thing by sending her in to see Matt?'
The same thoughts ran through his head over and over. Deep in his heart, he knew the answer to each of the question.
'Yes, she would have gone to see Matt.'
'She would have only returned feelings of friendship.'
'Yes,Idid do the right thing.'
A small smiled formed on his face. He was heart broken and happy at the same time. He knew he had done the right thing. He had sent her off to see Matt with a smile. He was happy for her sake.
"Hey Tai! Wait up!" Sora called, running up behind Tai. Tai stopped walking and turned to face her, smiling warmly.
"Hey Sora," he greeted her.
"Heading to Izzy's?" she asked when she reached him. Tai nodded in response. "Want to walk there together?" she asked.
"Sure," nodded Tai. They started walking in silence. Sora didn't know what to say to him and Tai was thinking of ways to show her his support.
"Tai, I'm really sorry," she said finally.
"What for?" Tai asked.
"For breaking your heart," she replied. Tai stopped walking and faced her.
"Don't apologize for things that can't be helped. You don't decide who you do and don't fall in love with. It's meant to be," Tai told her. Sora stared at him, awed. She was surprised that he was taking things so well. "I'm really happy for you and Matt," he said. Sora smiled.
"Thanks Tai," Sora thanked him.
"Don't mention it!" he laughed, fighting back his tears. He was determined to do this without letting her see that he was still sad. Sora hugged him tightly.
"This means a lot to me, and to Matt too," she whispered. Sora released Tai from her hug and the two of them started walking again. Tai was still smiling happily. "I wonder what Izzy wants to talk to us about," Sora asked aloud.
"It probably has to do with the appearance of the Dark Towers," Tai replied.
"I guess so," she agreed.
"I hope the new Digidestined can handle this," Tai said.
"They'll be able to defeat this together," Sora said reassuringly. Tai nodded and looked straight ahead.
"Hey look, there's Matt!" he told Sora, who looked up.
"Do you want to join him?" she asked cautiously.
"Yeah! Hey Matt!" Tai yelled, gaining his best friend's attention. The blonde stopped and waited for Tai and Sora to catch up with him.
"Heading to Izzy's too?" Matt asked.
"Yeah," Sora and Tai replied in unison.
"Cool," Matt said and kissed his girlfriend. Tai inwardly winced in pain but forced another smile.
"It's good to see you two happy," he said.
"Thanks man," Matt thanked him. Tai just nodded in response, still smiling. He thought he would die from smiling so much. Tai watched his two friends as they walked together to Izzy's house. He couldn't help but smiling even though his face was already sore from it. He was bound and determined to be supportive of them no matter what and if he had to kill his face by smiling, then he would. He would face this with all his courage and try to keep from hurting. He wanted Sora to remember him this way.
He wanted to remember himself this way.