Disclaimer: I do not own digimon.
Dedication: This is for DigitalGirl562 for giving me the idea for this chapter and reminding me that it needs to be finished. To tell you all the truth I was about to give up on this, seeing as I was quickly losing the reviews of readers. Thank you so much, DigitalGirl562! Oh, and guess what? I changed some stuff but it's still you who gave me the idea. Thanks a billion!
Author's Note: Sorry for making this so late. I'd like to give my deepest apologies to those that kept up with me during my writer's block. Here is another healthy glass of Taiora (if you know what I mean ^_^)
Season Without Tai 3
Total Taiora
Seeing Sora again reminded Tai of how important she was to his heart and how he had felt around her when they first met. Three miserable years of hiding made him sick, sick of not being able to help. Sick of everything. He longed to once again be able to hold her, being able to whisper a single word in her ear and feel her relax immediately, and to be able to brush away her tears. He missed the simple things he used to take for granted, like the simple feel of her hair against his cheeks. Most of all... he missed saving her. Although the feel of worry was horrible, and the chance of her getting hurt, he missed her smile. He loved the way her mouth could curve into a smile and make his heart thud faster than if he was locked in a dark room with Myotismon. He loved the way she slept and the way the sun would reflect off her fiery red hair. There was nothing about her that he would change, even if he could. Just thinking about her getting hurt by anyone was enough to bring him into the darkest of moods. No words could express the love he had for her and the way his love grew over the years of missing her.
Then suddenly, he had an idea. His heart lightened as he pulled out a laptop that had taken him all twelve months to earn enough money to get. Quickly typing down some things on his computer, he was on the net in a flash.
"Hey Tai?" Augumon's familiar and curious voice greeted sounding anything but confidant, "What are you doing?" He leaned over Taichi's shoulder in an attempt to look at what he was up to.
"Nothing much, just thinking if I could go on the net and make Sora think that I'm someone else and somehow become her friend." Taichi answered cheerily, "Then maybe she would tell me what she's been up to and then I wouldn't have to meet her, I could just help her over the net."
Looking at Taichi's happy face, Augumon felt his own mood slip, "Tai? I hate to change make you feel bad but... how are you planning on getting her email address and screen name?"
"I..." Taichi mumbled as he realized that Augumon had a point, "Maybe I should just give up, there's no reason for me to live anymore. They have new digidestined, a new leader, and new digimon... maybe they don't need me anymore." His face darkened, "Maybe I should just die... like how I should have three years ago."
Augumon growled exasperated, "No, you can't Tai! They all need you, they still do! Where is your spirit? Want to know something? You've changed, and if Sora was here, I know she'd say the same. You just aren't the same anymore." and for the first time ever, Augumon left Taichi alone in the dark woods.
"But..." Taichi stuttered, anger controlling his actions as he kicked and punched trees. "Why? Why does everyone just leave?"
After minutes of letting his anger out on various objects, Taichi breathed heavily and fell to the ground. He was used up; all his energy was drained by his anger, finally allowing him to think logically. He broke down as feelings of remorse and sorrow coursed through him. He realized how he had been acting, Augumon was right. With his attitude he was no longer the courageous leader but a cowardly boy.
Suddenly making up his mind, Taichi stood up with fresh determination. It didn't matter anymore that Sora might not need him, that Matt might not respect him, or the fact that they might not welcome him back. The only thing that really mattered, he realized. Was that they needed him, they needed a leader and that's what Tai would be. One thing was clear in his mind, no matter what, the digidestined would be whole once again.
It was a strange feeling, knowing that he would have to show himself to them again. He felt relieved, there would be no more hiding, no more holding back himself when he sees Sora. Yet, as all these blissful feelings ran through him, along came sadness, and the fear of rejection. Not only for the fact that Sora might not like him, but also because he was worried that the digidestined might not need him. It was the feeling of being needed, he knew that everyone needed to know that.
Looking at his watch, he realized with a start that it was Christmas. (Author's Note: I know, I like Christmas, but I really do hate that Christmas episode, don't you ever wonder what Sora would have done if Tai weren't there to help her? Well you are about to find out.) Taichi ran through the portal across to the other world. Suddenly he stopped in front of a store, his eyes glued to a ruby necklace with diamond edges.
*Flashback*
"Oh Tai!" Sora pulled on his sleeve, "Look at that! Isn't it just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" she asked pointing to a diamond and ruby necklace.
Taichi glanced at it, distracted, "Oh yea... sure, whatever you say Sora." He was too busy looking at a soccer game on a television set that was for sale.
"Do you think that someday someone will give me that?" she asked, smiling happily.
"Huh?" Taichi muttered, his eyes still on the television, "Oh yea, definitely..."
"TAI?" She shrieked, "There's a digimon here!"
*Flashback Ends*
Taichi smiled as he remembered nearly losing his life trying to save Sora and getting rewarded with a kiss on the cheek in the end. Then as he saw Sora sitting on a bench he was startled out of his memories. By instinct, he quickly ducked back into the shadows and pulled his cap lower down his head. Then he saw that Biyomon was beside her, looking around as if sensing Taichi's presence.
"Did you see anyone?" Biyomon questioned, "I thought I saw someone just walk past us..."
"I don't know..." Sora answered, her voice full of self pity, "I was just thinking..."
"Oh, that." Biyomon said unhappily, "I told you that you should have stood your ground and given Matt his Christmas present."
"I know..." Sora replied, her voice full of misery, "I should have but... instead I lost my courage after ringing the door bell..."
*Flashback*
Sora had made Matt a batch of cookies.
"He has to give us tickets to the new concert after you give him those cookies!" Biyomon told Sora cheerfully.
"I hope so." Sora answered, her mind on a totally different matter. She had lied to Biyomon, telling the digimon that the cookies were for bribing Matt into giving them tickets to a new group. (Author's Note: I do realize that Matt is a singer but I changed it. Since Tai wasn't there to be his best friend in my story some things are bound to change, right? Right, now on with my story.) The real reason she had baked him cookies was so that she could tell him how she had felt. After Tai had left, Matt had been a true friend to her, helping her through all kinds of trouble. Somewhere along the line, she had developed feelings for him. They had seemed to replace her earlier feelings for Taichi.
Sora snapped out of her daydream and summoned all her courage to ring the doorbell. When the door finally opened, Sora became over come by nervousness and quickly ran away to hide behind the bushes.
Gabumon's head stuck out of the door, and Matt's voice rang through the air, "Who would be ringing my doorbell at this time of the day? Gabumon, who is it?"
"There's no one here!" Gabumon answered confused, "No one at all, I wonder who..."
"Probably a prank." Matt interrupted from inside the apartment, "Close the door."
*Flashback Ends*
Taichi felt his heart break, it was hard living only for the hope that one day he could tell Sora how he felt and have her say the same back to him and find out that she liked someone else. Moving deeper into the shadows he thought to himself, Gennai was probably right, to show myself to her is a big mistake.
Then struck by another idea, he sneaked around them and into the store with the necklace. "Hello? Anyone here?" He asked loudly.
"Yes, are you a paying customer?" an middle-aged lady came out from a room and studied him closely, "What do you want?"
"That." Taichi answered pointing to the familiar necklace. "I want that."
The lady narrowed her beady eyes; "You can't have it."
"What do you mean I can't have it?" Taichi asked, surprised, "I have the money." He said pulling out a handful of green bills.
"It's not for sale." The storeowner replied stubbornly, "It's not a matter of money, it's of heart. What do you want it for?"
"I... I... I want it as a gift to my friend..." he answered honestly. "I haven't been able to talk to her in a long time and I hope to give it to her as a gift, she wanted that ever since a child." His expression determined as he remembered the many times Sora had mentioned it in their conversations.
Again, the lady looked at him; it was like a never-ending staring contest between Taichi and herself. Neither of them was about to give in. "It's been in my family for generations," she finally said, "nor I'm not going to give it to a cheating man."
Taichi blinked, "But I would never hurt her." He insisted, wondering how he got himself into this type of conversations. "Never!"
He went on to telling the lady how he felt about Sora, "She... she's like the reason I live and I want to show her how I feel, but she likes someone else... and. like I said before... I would never even think about hurting her." Taichi wondered again why he was saying all these things to a perfect stranger.
"Well..." the woman sighed, she was starting to give in. "Okay, but promise that you will never hurt her."
"I'll never think about it." Taichi promised cheerfully, put down the bills in her, and took the necklace. Running out the door, he turned to thank her, only to find that she had disappeared. He stopped dead in his tracks and blinked. "Wha? She couldn't have gone that fast!"
A blinding light shined in his face when he turned around, "Who are you?" A voice asked.
"I... get that light out of my face first!" Taichi yelled, and when the light was gone, he saw it was a policeman, "Thank you. I'm Taichi Yagami."
"What are you doing in here?" The man asked. "Did you break in?"
"No!" Tai answered, "Of course not, I came in to buy a necklace!"
The man looked at him skeptically, "Would you expect me to believe that after this store has been empty for three years?"
"What? But I just... saw... a..." Taichi's voice faded as he looked around him and found the store completely empty and covered in cobwebs. "But I saw a lady in here!"
"The last owner of this store was a lady who died three years ago. Due to her husband cheating on her, she committed suicide." The policeman answered impatiently, "Now get out of here!"
Taking one last glance back at the store, Taichi ran out. He walked around looking for Sora, occasionally letting his mind drift back to thoughts about the lady. Did I see a ghost? He wondered. Or maybe I'm just seeing things.
"Oh Biyomon... what am I going to do about Matt?" Taichi heard, he quickly turned around and saw Sora beside Biyomon walking home. "I can't go back now."
Tai took a big breath and spoke up, "And why not?" his heart froze as Sora turned around to look at him, already knowing who he was before she turned. Her amber eyes filled with tears as she ran to him.
"Tai!" She cried on his shirt, for the moment totally forgetting about Matt. "I told the others that you were alive. I knew you wouldn't just die and leave us! I'm so glad... I was so afraid..."
"For what?" Tai asked, contently resting his head on top of her's as she cried, "You know I would never leave you. Remember? I told you that I would never let anything happen to you that day in the digital world and I meant it."
"I... just wanted you to be safe Tai," Sora sniffled, "I don't know what I would have done if I knew you were gone for good."
People passing by couldn't help but smile at the sight of them both, hugging each other close, the snow softly floating down to rest on their hair. A parting in the clouds letting through some sunshine, which coincidentally seemed to be aimed right above them. They looked like two angels.
"Sora? I have something for you..." Taichi started nervously, his breath shaky, "I wanted to show you how I felt and I... I wanted to give something to you too."
"Tai... I... I don't know what to say... I don't have anything for you.." she answered blushing slightly.
Taichi grinned as he realized that she was going to except his present, "That's no problem, I just wanted to." He reached into his pocket to get a good hold on it and said, "Just count it as a present for all the birthdays I missed, okay?"
Just then, Matt came rushing down the street and went crashing into Taichi. "Tai, come with me a second, we have some things to discuss... in private." he stressed the last word.
"I... er... um... sure." Tai answered casting a regretable glance in Sora's direction. "I'll give it later, okay Sora? Don't worry, I'll give it to you."
Matt grinned, his blue eyes twinkled maniacally, "Let's go have our talk. And Tai? I wouldn't promise anything to Sora just yet. You never know... life is full of surprises."
"You think?" Taichi said dryly, "Whatever Matt, let's just get this over with. C'mon." They both walked to a dark corner with Tai looking behind him every once in a while to give Sora a reasuring grin. He had really wanted to give her the present before he lost his guts but he knew that Matt wouldn't let him.
Once out of sight, Matt grabbed Taichi's shirt ruffly, "What are you doing back here? Don't you remember that your supposed to be dead? Remember what Gennai told you? You were supposed to stay out of sight or risk hurting Sora!"
"Let go of me." Taichi growled menacingly, "Or you'll be the one who will risk getting hurt. Now how did you know what Gennai told me? And how did you know that I was still alive?"
Matt frowned and considered telling him. After a few seconds Matt decided to, "I knew if from the very beggining. I've been spying on you for a while now. I know everything you did... don't try to trick me. I've been taking care of Sora while you were gone. You know how devastated she was when you left us? I didn't understand why but... hey," Matt grinned widely, "If I could get her to like me by helping her then what the heck."
"Then why did you stop me from giving Sora my gift?" Tai asked, already dreading his answer, "If you want her to be happy..."
"Happy? With you?!" Matt laughed, "Like Gennai said, all you can do is get her in danger. I know how to treat her right. For three long years, I've helped her, listen to her cry about you. And it was all going to pay off... until you decided to come back. Listen Tai, I love her and I'd do anything for her so just get out of the way and let me have her!"
Tai looked at Matt with disgust evident on his face, "You're sick you know that? You think you love her but really? She's just an obsession to you... something you can win, like in a game. Well Matt, take a reality check, she's a real human being and I'd let her chose. If she wants you then sure, I can deal with that... it'll be hard but I can. That's because I respect her."
"Tai? That's just what you think... I have other plans..." Matt laughed, "You'll see Tai... very soon..."
Author's Note: I know, I know, I did it again. I made it a cliff hanger. Well... I have a writer's block right now so give me a break. I'll do the next chapter the first chance I get. Please review, it's always nice to know that someone out there appreciates my stories. I do my best on them and if anyone thinks something is bad in this story then go on, flame me. Also, make sure all the flames have a good point or I'll just laugh like how I did the last time I got one. Anyway... here are the things to look forward to in the next chapter:
What does Matt have in store for Tai?
Will this end as a Taiora?
Who is the mysterious man with the misleading Gennai hologram?
And of course the STILL unanswered question...
What IS Tai's other ability? Other than being able to travel through the dimentions without any form of a digivice.
If I get enough reviews I might end this story at the next chapter. Which means, put on your party hats, no more cliff hangers! Anyway, any other questions that anyone has, I'll answer on the next chapter of my boring story.
Thinking: It really bothers me that some people just read stories and never review, I mean, I work on this for two weeks, trying to break down my writers block and all I ask is for a few sentances on a review and ppl can't even give me that. Geez.
Out loud: Anyway, the point is, no reviews no story. Oh well. I think this is one of my better stories, what do u all think?