So Close, So Far
By Firenze
A/N: I am fully aware that Sora and Yamato have become an official couple in the Japanese version of Digimon. Who knows if the censors (they seem like Taiora fans) will keep this couple in the American dub, but as of now, all us Taiora fans just have to learn to deal with this fact. I forewarn you now of what may come later on in the fic (Sorato), so if you are a rabid shipper and can't stand anything else, don't get mad at me. However, the basis of this fic is to portray Sora and Taichi's relationship (not in the romantic way most of you are thinking, I mean their friendship status and ways of human interaction and stuff) and how it has evolved over years. In my fic, they haven't talked for a long time, and when they suddenly do after all these years, they find themselves thrown into awkward situations and some rather unpleasant ones. Let's all pretend that during this time of their avoidance, Taichi never figured out Sora and Yamato were a couple...or did he? Things just seem more interesting this way, huh? Well, I'll end this extremely long author's note now...with a disclaimer. Digimon is not mine. If you think I'd have Sorato as the official couple -- keep on thinking that if it makes you happy. And finally, on with the fic!
* * *
Part 1: 'Rainy Daze'
The day started off with fairly good weather. Many clouds enveloped the sky, but they were white of color and didn't seem very storm threatening. The sun peeked out behind the clouds, and though the wind was strong enough to blow children's kites up into trees, it simply seemed like normal, blustery, chilly, and gray February days. Or so it was until those innocent looking clouds tinted to dark gray, and the wind howled and roared and rustled tree leaves every which way. A rainstorm, though not particularly dangerous with thunder or lightning or such, was making its way towards the city of Odaiba. And rain was not exactly favorable conditions for playing soccer.
The rain seemed to hit the soccer field the hardest. Sure, the water fertilized the earth and kept the grass nice and green, but it created tons of mud, which could be a nuisance to soccer players. Soccer players, however, were very used to rain and mud. Often, they found playing in the rain more fun than ever. So even as they were being drenched, the athletes kept on.
Taichi Yagami was a soccer player himself, and no exception to being no stranger to rain and mud. As the small droplets hit him, he shrugged them off and kept on playing. Rain wasn't an enemy to him; in fact, he often embraced it. Being out in the rain had always been fun for him, even with the fear of pneumonia or cold. It didn't strike him how hard it was raining until some time later, when he was getting completely soaked and still practicing as hard as ever. He was in perfect line with the soccer goal, and ran as fast as he could, aiming his shot -- and then he slipped.
The soccer ball sailed through the air, veering way off target, and Taichi landed with a hard thump on his back. Pain shot up almost immediately, but faded away just as quickly. Luckily he had not injured his spine, but the nipping winds and relentless rain were starting to give him a cold. He lay exhausted on his back, when his head turned, and he saw it.
Not it, her. And not just any girl, but Sora Takenouchi, the girl who had formerly been his best friend in the entire world. No, they didn't ever decide to stop being friends, the transition into high school just made them hang around different people, make new friends, and drift slowly apart until their close relationship was nonexistent. Sure, if anyone asked, they would still say they were friends. But in actuality, they weren't close at all anymore. They never talked, the very most they could get was a 'hi' as they passed in the hallways, and that hardly happened either. Their paths rarely seemed to cross anymore.
So it was extremely embarrassing to Taichi that the first time Sora noticed him again, he just had to slip and fall on his back like Charlie Brown when Lucy pulled the football away. Feeling very stupid, he brought his palm to slap his forehead. When he removed his hand, a mushy glob of mud was on his forehead, and tons more dripping from his hands. Sora was too nice to laugh, but the fact was, the scene was hilarious. He knew she was laughing on the inside. The thing he didn't understand was why Sora was at the soccer field in the pouring rain by herself.
She was wearing dressy clothes too, but then again, anything more than a plain tank top and worn-out blue jeans was fancy for Sora. Or at least, the Sora that Taichi had grown up with, the tomboy wishing to be on the boys' soccer team, the Sora he would always remember as the real Sora Takenouchi. Now it wasn't uncommon to see her wearing pink and skirts and pink skirts, what she would have called torture back then. Right now, she was wearing a light blue skirt with a floral pattern of butter yellow daisies, a plain white shirt, and a yellow button up that was hardly considered a jacket. She was hugging her shoulders, obviously freezing cold, as she was in springtime clothing in the rain. Her cinnamon colored hair flew wildly about in the wind, only her yellow hairclips keeping it out of her face.
'Hairclips...' Taichi thought vaguely, until he shook his head and finally straightened himself out. Not even bothering to collect his ball, he fixed himself up and made sure he looked somewhat presentable, then jogged over to Sora, more carefully so as not to slip and make a fool of himself again.
Sora had been looking away, with a longing, waiting look in her sparkling ruby eyes. Anticipation was obvious on her face, especially the lingering worry etched into her features. Then she heard Taichi running up, the sloshing and splashing of his sneakers in puddles, and averted her attention to him. "Taichi," she said emotionlessly. Was it happiness, excitement, joy? Was it disappointment? Anger, resentment, bitterness, hostility? How did she feel about seeing him here? It was hard to tell.
"Sora," he said softly, in the same unreadable tone.
She draped her sweater tightly around her. Its bright yellow color seemed like sunshine in the dreary day, but to Taichi, Sora was the sunshine. However, at the moment, she seemed definitely displeased. "So what are you doing here?" Her voice was not sour, but in a way that implied if she could see one person in the world, it would not be him.
"Playing soccer and falling hopelessly on my ass," he replied with a shrug. He figured she had just been being polite, to start some kind of mindless small talk, but she giggled at his words, showing she was actually listening back. And whether she was into their conversation or not, Taichi was honestly interested in the cause of Sora being there. Hiding the eagerness from his voice, he asked a casual, "You?"
A smile came to her soft pink lips, but it was obviously forced. "Well." She didn't answer for a while, still staring distantly off into the street of the city. The only sound was the endless fall of the raindrops into the puddles, the patter noise as it fell swiftly down onto the metal bleachers. Taichi was losing himself in its gentle rhythm, until she finally replied to his question. "I'm waiting."
"For someone?"
She nodded, but said nothing.
Taichi took a seat next to her in the stands; though his spot was covered in a puddle of water, he couldn't care less, since he was soaked enough. He still looked straight at her, but her gaze was still fixated away. "Must be someone really special if you're sitting out here in a storm waiting for them. I saw you here hours ago..." He couldn't bring himself to say she had been stood up. The fact that someone would keep a sweet, kind girl like Sora waiting for so long surprised him. 'They're probably some huge jerk...' Taichi thought. 'What other kind of person could they be to keep a girl as wonderful waiting for hours in the rain?'
"Yes, he's very special," she said quietly.
"He?" Taichi inquired. "So do I know this guy who's so special to you?"
"Yes," she said somewhat stiffl. She squirmed uncomfortably at the interrogating look Taichi was giving her and the firm tone in his voice. He might as well have had her alone with him locked in a dark office, sitting in a metal chair and attached to a lie detector, with a bare flashbulb hanging over her head, and throwing a bunch of tough questions at her, by the way she was nervously fidgeting.
"Something bothering you?" he asked coolly. "Are my questions a little too probing? Am I making you uneasy?"
Sora stared down at the muddy puddle down by her feet, now still. "Yes." Her voice sounded timid, and to be honest, she was. Something was indeed bothering her, Taichi's questions were too much, and yes, they were making her unbelievably nervous.
"Why?" he asked cautiously.
Sora stood right up, glancing at her wristwatch. "You know what? I have to go now."
"Right now?"
"Yes, right now," she said hurriedly, starting to briskly pace away, without even looking back. "I'd love to chat more, but I just have to go."
Taichi made no attempt to go after her, but her load of guilt stopped her in her tracks a lot better than force could have. She paused and turned around. Taichi had lifted himself off the bench and was beginning to plod back to his home, which Sora knew wasn't just blocks, but a few miles away. Just as he scooped up his ball that had been forgotten in the field, she cried, "Taichi, wait!"
His head swiveled around. "What?"
"Just wait," she said simply, and began to run to him. Just as she was a few steps away, she slipped on the wet grass. Taichi, with his lightening quick reflexes, held his arms out and gracefully caught her without harming her in the process. He helped get her back to her feet, and his arms stayed around her just a little longer than he needed to. "Thank you," she said shyly, a pink blush on her cheeks.
"It was nothing. I didn't want you to get your pretty outfit muddy," Taichi mumbled, scuffing his shoes on the grass. Complimenting didn't come to him very naturally, and Sora knew it too. "You're wet enough already. You were right; you should just be getting along home. Don't let me keep you."
"But I had to come back because of you," Sora said with her same soft voice. "I can't let you walk all the way back to your house. Your apartment is way across town! Mine is only a few blocks away, you can come with me. We're probably sick enough already. Do you want to?"
"Don't let me be a bother to you," he mumbled.
"You're not, Taichi, you're not. Come on." She held her hand out. "Come with me. Please? Walk me home at the very least, who knows what could happen to a weak, innocent, defenseless little girl like me on a dark, scary day like this?"
He crossed his arms. "Hmph! I won't buy that innocent, weak, defenseless damsel in distress act. I know you're a lot stronger than that, Sora. And after all, you've always liked thunderstorms, remember?"
She rolled her eyes. "Please, just come home with me. I don't want you catching pneumonia."
"You sound like my mom."
"How often do I hear that?" she asked, exasperated. "Now stop changing the subject, I won't take no for an answer," she told him. "I'll just keep on begging. I can't stand to see you dragging yourself miles to your home in this weather. You're really wet."
"So are you," he remarked. "You look like a drowned rat."
She didn't take his comment with offense, as it was typical of Taichi to compliment her one moment, and the next, say how extremely girly girlish or ridiculous her outfit was. "Look who's talking," she said dryly. "Except--" she remembered vividly-- "'your huge mop of hair is probably absorbing all the rainwater anyway.'"
"You remembered!" he cried, laughing. That had been a common joke between the two of them. Whenever it rained, Sora always said the same line. It had become tradition to them after a while. "It's nice to have tradition again," Taichi said to himself, but aloud.
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "Living life for today is great, but sometimes, it's just good to look back on the past."
"Quoting from Yamato's song, I see," Taichi noted.
At the mention of Yamato, Sora became alert and rigid, as she had when Taichi mentioned the special boy in her life. "Y--yes," she stuttered. There was a moment of silence between them, quite discomfited. Then Sora shook her head, looked back at Taichi, and asked once more, "Please walk home with me?"
If it was her request, he just couldn't refuse. He had always been her knight in shining armor, and even if he hadn't been for a very long time, the role and sense of having to keep Sora well protected washed over him like the steadying rain. Lightning flashed as Taichi extended his own hand and met Sora's. Their fingers curled around each others and came to rest by their sides. "All right, I'll walk home with you. Just because I don't want you endangered or something."
"I'm only doing this because I don't think the sponge on your head can retain anymore water," Sora said, and they laughed.
"Well I'm only doing this because I don't think you should be let down anymore today," Taichi said, not bothering to explain further on what he meant. But Sora understood what he meant. And she had a feeling he understood a whole lot more than he had let off and more than she had told. Her grip on his hand tightened, as they walked down the sidewalk, the rain falling down in torrents on them. She had never felt so safe and content as she did when Taichi was there, though at the present moment, an air of apprehension was surrounding them. Then again, even if it wasn't the reunion they always imagined they would have -- in which they became the best of friends again, on a perfect spring day in the flowery park with a gentle breeze and a bright sun -- it was enough.
End - Part 1
By Firenze
A/N: I am fully aware that Sora and Yamato have become an official couple in the Japanese version of Digimon. Who knows if the censors (they seem like Taiora fans) will keep this couple in the American dub, but as of now, all us Taiora fans just have to learn to deal with this fact. I forewarn you now of what may come later on in the fic (Sorato), so if you are a rabid shipper and can't stand anything else, don't get mad at me. However, the basis of this fic is to portray Sora and Taichi's relationship (not in the romantic way most of you are thinking, I mean their friendship status and ways of human interaction and stuff) and how it has evolved over years. In my fic, they haven't talked for a long time, and when they suddenly do after all these years, they find themselves thrown into awkward situations and some rather unpleasant ones. Let's all pretend that during this time of their avoidance, Taichi never figured out Sora and Yamato were a couple...or did he? Things just seem more interesting this way, huh? Well, I'll end this extremely long author's note now...with a disclaimer. Digimon is not mine. If you think I'd have Sorato as the official couple -- keep on thinking that if it makes you happy. And finally, on with the fic!
* * *
Part 1: 'Rainy Daze'
The day started off with fairly good weather. Many clouds enveloped the sky, but they were white of color and didn't seem very storm threatening. The sun peeked out behind the clouds, and though the wind was strong enough to blow children's kites up into trees, it simply seemed like normal, blustery, chilly, and gray February days. Or so it was until those innocent looking clouds tinted to dark gray, and the wind howled and roared and rustled tree leaves every which way. A rainstorm, though not particularly dangerous with thunder or lightning or such, was making its way towards the city of Odaiba. And rain was not exactly favorable conditions for playing soccer.
The rain seemed to hit the soccer field the hardest. Sure, the water fertilized the earth and kept the grass nice and green, but it created tons of mud, which could be a nuisance to soccer players. Soccer players, however, were very used to rain and mud. Often, they found playing in the rain more fun than ever. So even as they were being drenched, the athletes kept on.
Taichi Yagami was a soccer player himself, and no exception to being no stranger to rain and mud. As the small droplets hit him, he shrugged them off and kept on playing. Rain wasn't an enemy to him; in fact, he often embraced it. Being out in the rain had always been fun for him, even with the fear of pneumonia or cold. It didn't strike him how hard it was raining until some time later, when he was getting completely soaked and still practicing as hard as ever. He was in perfect line with the soccer goal, and ran as fast as he could, aiming his shot -- and then he slipped.
The soccer ball sailed through the air, veering way off target, and Taichi landed with a hard thump on his back. Pain shot up almost immediately, but faded away just as quickly. Luckily he had not injured his spine, but the nipping winds and relentless rain were starting to give him a cold. He lay exhausted on his back, when his head turned, and he saw it.
Not it, her. And not just any girl, but Sora Takenouchi, the girl who had formerly been his best friend in the entire world. No, they didn't ever decide to stop being friends, the transition into high school just made them hang around different people, make new friends, and drift slowly apart until their close relationship was nonexistent. Sure, if anyone asked, they would still say they were friends. But in actuality, they weren't close at all anymore. They never talked, the very most they could get was a 'hi' as they passed in the hallways, and that hardly happened either. Their paths rarely seemed to cross anymore.
So it was extremely embarrassing to Taichi that the first time Sora noticed him again, he just had to slip and fall on his back like Charlie Brown when Lucy pulled the football away. Feeling very stupid, he brought his palm to slap his forehead. When he removed his hand, a mushy glob of mud was on his forehead, and tons more dripping from his hands. Sora was too nice to laugh, but the fact was, the scene was hilarious. He knew she was laughing on the inside. The thing he didn't understand was why Sora was at the soccer field in the pouring rain by herself.
She was wearing dressy clothes too, but then again, anything more than a plain tank top and worn-out blue jeans was fancy for Sora. Or at least, the Sora that Taichi had grown up with, the tomboy wishing to be on the boys' soccer team, the Sora he would always remember as the real Sora Takenouchi. Now it wasn't uncommon to see her wearing pink and skirts and pink skirts, what she would have called torture back then. Right now, she was wearing a light blue skirt with a floral pattern of butter yellow daisies, a plain white shirt, and a yellow button up that was hardly considered a jacket. She was hugging her shoulders, obviously freezing cold, as she was in springtime clothing in the rain. Her cinnamon colored hair flew wildly about in the wind, only her yellow hairclips keeping it out of her face.
'Hairclips...' Taichi thought vaguely, until he shook his head and finally straightened himself out. Not even bothering to collect his ball, he fixed himself up and made sure he looked somewhat presentable, then jogged over to Sora, more carefully so as not to slip and make a fool of himself again.
Sora had been looking away, with a longing, waiting look in her sparkling ruby eyes. Anticipation was obvious on her face, especially the lingering worry etched into her features. Then she heard Taichi running up, the sloshing and splashing of his sneakers in puddles, and averted her attention to him. "Taichi," she said emotionlessly. Was it happiness, excitement, joy? Was it disappointment? Anger, resentment, bitterness, hostility? How did she feel about seeing him here? It was hard to tell.
"Sora," he said softly, in the same unreadable tone.
She draped her sweater tightly around her. Its bright yellow color seemed like sunshine in the dreary day, but to Taichi, Sora was the sunshine. However, at the moment, she seemed definitely displeased. "So what are you doing here?" Her voice was not sour, but in a way that implied if she could see one person in the world, it would not be him.
"Playing soccer and falling hopelessly on my ass," he replied with a shrug. He figured she had just been being polite, to start some kind of mindless small talk, but she giggled at his words, showing she was actually listening back. And whether she was into their conversation or not, Taichi was honestly interested in the cause of Sora being there. Hiding the eagerness from his voice, he asked a casual, "You?"
A smile came to her soft pink lips, but it was obviously forced. "Well." She didn't answer for a while, still staring distantly off into the street of the city. The only sound was the endless fall of the raindrops into the puddles, the patter noise as it fell swiftly down onto the metal bleachers. Taichi was losing himself in its gentle rhythm, until she finally replied to his question. "I'm waiting."
"For someone?"
She nodded, but said nothing.
Taichi took a seat next to her in the stands; though his spot was covered in a puddle of water, he couldn't care less, since he was soaked enough. He still looked straight at her, but her gaze was still fixated away. "Must be someone really special if you're sitting out here in a storm waiting for them. I saw you here hours ago..." He couldn't bring himself to say she had been stood up. The fact that someone would keep a sweet, kind girl like Sora waiting for so long surprised him. 'They're probably some huge jerk...' Taichi thought. 'What other kind of person could they be to keep a girl as wonderful waiting for hours in the rain?'
"Yes, he's very special," she said quietly.
"He?" Taichi inquired. "So do I know this guy who's so special to you?"
"Yes," she said somewhat stiffl. She squirmed uncomfortably at the interrogating look Taichi was giving her and the firm tone in his voice. He might as well have had her alone with him locked in a dark office, sitting in a metal chair and attached to a lie detector, with a bare flashbulb hanging over her head, and throwing a bunch of tough questions at her, by the way she was nervously fidgeting.
"Something bothering you?" he asked coolly. "Are my questions a little too probing? Am I making you uneasy?"
Sora stared down at the muddy puddle down by her feet, now still. "Yes." Her voice sounded timid, and to be honest, she was. Something was indeed bothering her, Taichi's questions were too much, and yes, they were making her unbelievably nervous.
"Why?" he asked cautiously.
Sora stood right up, glancing at her wristwatch. "You know what? I have to go now."
"Right now?"
"Yes, right now," she said hurriedly, starting to briskly pace away, without even looking back. "I'd love to chat more, but I just have to go."
Taichi made no attempt to go after her, but her load of guilt stopped her in her tracks a lot better than force could have. She paused and turned around. Taichi had lifted himself off the bench and was beginning to plod back to his home, which Sora knew wasn't just blocks, but a few miles away. Just as he scooped up his ball that had been forgotten in the field, she cried, "Taichi, wait!"
His head swiveled around. "What?"
"Just wait," she said simply, and began to run to him. Just as she was a few steps away, she slipped on the wet grass. Taichi, with his lightening quick reflexes, held his arms out and gracefully caught her without harming her in the process. He helped get her back to her feet, and his arms stayed around her just a little longer than he needed to. "Thank you," she said shyly, a pink blush on her cheeks.
"It was nothing. I didn't want you to get your pretty outfit muddy," Taichi mumbled, scuffing his shoes on the grass. Complimenting didn't come to him very naturally, and Sora knew it too. "You're wet enough already. You were right; you should just be getting along home. Don't let me keep you."
"But I had to come back because of you," Sora said with her same soft voice. "I can't let you walk all the way back to your house. Your apartment is way across town! Mine is only a few blocks away, you can come with me. We're probably sick enough already. Do you want to?"
"Don't let me be a bother to you," he mumbled.
"You're not, Taichi, you're not. Come on." She held her hand out. "Come with me. Please? Walk me home at the very least, who knows what could happen to a weak, innocent, defenseless little girl like me on a dark, scary day like this?"
He crossed his arms. "Hmph! I won't buy that innocent, weak, defenseless damsel in distress act. I know you're a lot stronger than that, Sora. And after all, you've always liked thunderstorms, remember?"
She rolled her eyes. "Please, just come home with me. I don't want you catching pneumonia."
"You sound like my mom."
"How often do I hear that?" she asked, exasperated. "Now stop changing the subject, I won't take no for an answer," she told him. "I'll just keep on begging. I can't stand to see you dragging yourself miles to your home in this weather. You're really wet."
"So are you," he remarked. "You look like a drowned rat."
She didn't take his comment with offense, as it was typical of Taichi to compliment her one moment, and the next, say how extremely girly girlish or ridiculous her outfit was. "Look who's talking," she said dryly. "Except--" she remembered vividly-- "'your huge mop of hair is probably absorbing all the rainwater anyway.'"
"You remembered!" he cried, laughing. That had been a common joke between the two of them. Whenever it rained, Sora always said the same line. It had become tradition to them after a while. "It's nice to have tradition again," Taichi said to himself, but aloud.
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "Living life for today is great, but sometimes, it's just good to look back on the past."
"Quoting from Yamato's song, I see," Taichi noted.
At the mention of Yamato, Sora became alert and rigid, as she had when Taichi mentioned the special boy in her life. "Y--yes," she stuttered. There was a moment of silence between them, quite discomfited. Then Sora shook her head, looked back at Taichi, and asked once more, "Please walk home with me?"
If it was her request, he just couldn't refuse. He had always been her knight in shining armor, and even if he hadn't been for a very long time, the role and sense of having to keep Sora well protected washed over him like the steadying rain. Lightning flashed as Taichi extended his own hand and met Sora's. Their fingers curled around each others and came to rest by their sides. "All right, I'll walk home with you. Just because I don't want you endangered or something."
"I'm only doing this because I don't think the sponge on your head can retain anymore water," Sora said, and they laughed.
"Well I'm only doing this because I don't think you should be let down anymore today," Taichi said, not bothering to explain further on what he meant. But Sora understood what he meant. And she had a feeling he understood a whole lot more than he had let off and more than she had told. Her grip on his hand tightened, as they walked down the sidewalk, the rain falling down in torrents on them. She had never felt so safe and content as she did when Taichi was there, though at the present moment, an air of apprehension was surrounding them. Then again, even if it wasn't the reunion they always imagined they would have -- in which they became the best of friends again, on a perfect spring day in the flowery park with a gentle breeze and a bright sun -- it was enough.
End - Part 1