This is the whole story...not just parts. As you know i don't own anything
at all in this story. Well, except Ami. I hope you all think she was a good addition.
Now read on
Things Never Known
Huge, cold raindrops trickled down her checks mixing with her newly shed tears as she ran aimlessly down the city streets. Not a car in sight for miles, but of course this was expected for this time of night.
At exactly 2:27 at night the phone had rung loudly in a small single roomed apartment, waking up the only soul in it. The news to this young woman had caused her to break down and run like hell towards the hospital. She even managed to laugh at her self because she had never thought to take her car. Which would have made it a lot quicker and easier to get there.
Instead her legs were aching and burning from the intense run that she was pushing herself into. She refused to stop. She knew her mother, the only person in this world that had ever protected her, supported her, loved her unconditionally, was dying on that white, emotionless hospital bed.
The cold water pounded against her red eyes, her lungs burning and rain making it's way into her dry mouth dampening her throat. The humongous over-sized red and blue long-sleeved plaid nightshirt clung to the front of her revealing every curve and detail of her body. Her identical set of pajama pants were revealing just as much as her shirt and her bare feet were splashing fiercely through the puddles on the deserted road.
Her long orangish auburn hair lay matted to her small-framed face.
She raced around the corner and began to sprint. The hospital was in sight and to her that's all she saw, she also managed to miss seeing the huge rock in front of her. Her foot caught on it and her weight flew forward hitting the soaking pavement with her elbows and knees. She completely ignored the shooting pain and quickly jumped back to her feet while continuing running at top speed.
The double doors at the entrance swung open allowing her in once they had sensed the young women coming. She stumbled in the lobby and came to an abrupt stop while scanning the room with her fierce ember eyes for a secretary or nurse for some help. Her eyes settled on an older woman with short, shoulder length gray hair and deep blue eyes wearing the typical white pants and white shirt with light blue and pink uniform for a woman nurse.
"Excuse me, but I'm looking for the room the Ms. Takenouchi is in. I'm her daughter and I need to see her."
The nurse looked at the young woman and nodded her head before leading her off to her mother's room. "Look, Miss Takenouchi?"
"Yes."
The older nurse sighed while continuing her walk, "There is something you need to know before you see her. First, She does wish to see you right away so I won't keep you and second, she won't make through the next few days. She's dying Miss. Takenouchi. I'm truly sorry." The nurses blue eyes showed nothing but regret and sorrow for the young woman standing before her.
Even though her face was covered with raindrops it was quite obvious to see the newly shed tears from this information that she had just received. She peered in her mother's room while she dropped slowly to her knees sobbing, now uncontrollably. She tried so hard to stop, but she couldn't find the strength to hold back anything any more.
The kind nurse had helped her up to her feet and ushered her into her mother's room and let her be. By the time the old woman had left the tears had ceased from falling down her cheeks as she looked at her mother's beaten and battered body. Mrs. Takenouchi had thick bandages with red blood stains wrapped around her forehead, an arm cast on her left arm reaching the in between her shoulder and elbow. Both her legs had casts and stitches all over her neck and chest. She was hooked up to an oxygen mask and was breathing incredibly slowly. IV needles were hooked in both arms giving her the blood she needed and other medications such as painkillers.
Sora grabbed her mother's right had and plopped down in the chair next to the small single bed. "Please mamma...you can't leave me now. I need you. You are all I have except Tai," she bowed her head and let her hot tears fall again.
6:00 in the morning can be painfully hard on a person who just happens to hate the hard pressures of work and the fact that they never can seem to get enough sleep and also the dreadful sound of an alarm clock.
The screaming alarm clock echoed loudly in Tai's ears causing him to jump out of his small single person bed. He tripped over the blue, thin sheets that were entangled with his strong, scratched legs. The scratches of course were from a previous soccer game the night before that he had completely dominated.
"God damn this alarm clock," he mumbled underneath his breath as he tried to figure out how to turn the horrid sound off. His attempt failed so he angrily threw it at the white wall of his two-roomed apartment.
Now somewhat awake Tai turned on his TV to the news as he started to get dressed and ready for work...
"And last night there was a car accident around 2:30 near the convenient stores of 5th street," the reporter had said before continuing, "The woman's name is Michelle Takenouchi, the owner of a local flower shop called Takenouchi Flower Arranging. She is right now considered unstable and all they know is that the crash was due to a drunk driver that hasn't been caught or identified yet."
Tai had dropped his pants that he had been struggling with to get on and stared in complete shock at the TV screen as he had heard that last statement. "Oh my god. No..." He thought as he quickly bent down and pulled up his pants and zipped them up. He grabbed the nearest shirt and his car keys, slipped on a pair of Adidas sandals, and locked his apartment door behind him as he went at top speed to the hospital.
The same woman that had help Miss Takenouchi to her mother's room earlier that night had been doing some paper work at the front desk when a young man with messy brown hair that was going every which way had come up to her.
"Excuse me Mrs., but I'm looking for Mrs. Takenouchi's room please. She was brought in lastnight from a severe car accident." Tai looked like he was about to brake down crying himself, but now was the time he had to be strong. Especially for Sora, and he had a good deep feeling that she was already here.
His head was swimming in thought as the nurse looked at him. He wanted to see Mrs. Takenouchi anyway. She was a second mother to him and hopefully soon a mother-in-law. She had known Tai since he was just fresh out of diapers, when he and Sora had become best friends and would always play together. Sometimes she even nursed him back to health when he was sick and his parents were out of town. He was going to propose to her daughter Sora soon, but was waiting for the right time, and this accident didn't help. In fact it would make it even harder for him. But that slipped from his mind as the nurse showed him to Mrs. Takenouchi's room and left.
Tai looked in fright as he examined the body in the bed in front of him. He felt like he wanted to pass out right then and there, he wanted to cry like a little baby, but he wouldn't allow himself to do that. His eyes wondered to the side of the bed and stared at the figure sleeping next to the bed. She was shivering because her clothes seemed to be damp from last night's rain. Her pants had holes at the knees where she had fallen and blood surrounding the material. Her hair actually ran wild for once, and her face was wet from tears alone.
Tai slowly walked up to his beloved Sora, grabbed a chair and sat down next to her. He put an arm around her sleeping body and puller her closer to him. On instinct she reacted my shifting her position, placing her head on his chest and her left hand over his heart. He then gently and lovingly began to stroke her hair as she slept. He then too slowly drifted off into his own little world of troubled sleep.
Her eyes fluttered open suddenly to see nothing but a bright blinding light. Pain then exploded in her body that she had never felt before, even when she was abused by her ex-husband, and she knew right then that this was not good at all. She finally glanced around the room that she was in. She saw all the IV needles that were stuck in her arm, her cast on the left arm and the casts on both legs. She felt bandages around her waist and she felt something very odd and itchy on her neck and chest, but couldn't figure out what it was. And last her eyes rested on her daughter Sora and her boyfriend Tai leaning on each other while they slept silently.
She smiled to herself as she watched them, "They are so cute together. And I know Tai will take excellent care of Sora. He respects her in every way unimaginable and vise versa. I wish I was going to be around when they start having kids," She thought to herself before turning her head again to get comfortable, "I wonder when he will propose to her?"
Her identical ember eyes that Sora had gazed up at the ceiling while her thoughts ran wildly through her mind. She knew she was dying but she couldn't stop it. She could feel every organ in her body slow down in some type of way, failing her with her life. Memories of her childhood flowed back to her. She had to ask Sora to finish some tasks for her before she died and one was with her own mother.
The fight that Mrs. Takenouchi had had with her mother had ended their whole relationship. It was so bad that Sora herself had never met her own grandmother. She thought it was pretty pathetic that their quarrel had lasted this long but she could do nothing but regret it and pray Sora would make peace with her own grandmother. Honestly, she didn't even have the faintest clue what had happened to her.
A slight groan next to Mrs. Takenouchi had caused her to snap out of her thoughts and look beside her.
"Momma?" The voice sounded small and weak, "Are you up?"
"Yes Sora, I am," came the shattered voice that neither of them had expected to hear. By this time Sora had finally noticed that Tai had slipped in and was beginning to wake up. His eyes snapped open and blinked a couple of times before he remember what was going on.
"Um, Morning?" He said as a glanced at his watch, "Let me go call work real quick so I won't get in that much trouble." He hopped out of his chair and began to leave when he looked over his shoulder and said, "I know you are wondering why I'm here Sora. I heard it on the news and rushed down here as soon as I found out." And with that he walked out to find a payphone. He honestly did amaze her at times.
The room was left silent for a moment while the mother and daughter were in deep thought about what was going on. Soon Sora turned her attention back to her mother and took her hand in her own again.
"Momma...Why?" The young twenty-two year old asked with tears developing in her eyes again.
Mrs. Takenouchi gave her daughters hand a slight squeeze and spoke quietly, "Because it was supposed to. I never wanted it to though. I love you Sora, and never forget that. I also need a favor from..." She stopped mid sentence and stared at the nurse that had just walked in, it was the same nurse that had kindly helped Sora and Tai. But to Mrs. Takenouchi the nurse reminded her of someone she knew from her past. But yet, her mind was so clouded from the events that had happened lately she didn't remember how she knew her.
The nurse made her way to the side of the bed and looked down oddly at the patient. She grabbed a blue pen out of her breast pocket in her shirt and began writing down the stats on Mrs. Takenouchi.
"Excuse me ladies, I'm just doing a check up and I'll be done soon. You can call me nurse Kino. And if you need me just ring for me ok?" She instructed as she took hold of Mrs. Takenouchi's wrist taking her pulse.
Mrs. Takenouchi's eyes widened as realization hit her hard. The touch of this woman, the voice, the kindness, most of all the eyes that this woman shown had triggered the thought she was looking for. "It couldn't be her could it?? Mom??" she thought to herself while staring into those eyes. With the look that Nurse Kino was giving her, she thought that she was thinking the exact thought about Mrs. Takenouchi. In fact those blue eyes had shown her that Nurse Kino already knew who she was. And with a small smile and saying that she was sorry she walked out of the room and left Mrs. Takenouchi alone again with Sora.
Mrs. Takenouchi for the first time yet broke down in tears unable to believe that that woman was really her mother that she had fought so long ago. "When she said she was sorry, did she mean about our fight?" she thought as a lone tear trickled down her face.
Sora, who had watched in awe at the scene just witnessed, had finally gained enough strength to ask, "Momma? Do you know that woman? It looked as if you hadn't seen her in years. Or at least, that's how she looked at you." She reached over and lightly brushed the warm tear off of her mothers face.
"Sora, listen to me." Sora was now looking at her with curiosity, "I need you to finish some tasks for me since I never go the chance to do it myself." Mrs. Takenouchi stopped for a brief second then continued, "Now, I know that you have never met you grandmother. In fact, you even thought she was dead. I'm so sorry for telling you that, but she's not. I don't blame you if you hated me for it, but we had gotten in a huge fight that ended our whole relationship before you were born." She now was cry uncontrollably as the words were flowing out of her mouth, "I would like it if you found her and made peace with her. It is my mistake and I'm sorry I took it out on you. I had no right to keep her from you and you from her." With Mrs. Takenouchi's good hand she hastily wiped her tears from her face. "The reason that nurse Kino looked at me the way she did is because I realized that she indeed is my mother, and your grandmother. Talk to her," she finished while gazing at the tears in her own daughters eyes slide down her rosy colored cheeks. Her strength was quickly fading away and she knew she didn't have that much more time left till she died.
Tai stood leaning against the doorframe listening to the whole conversation in as much shock as Sora was. He watched silently as Sora told her mother that she would never hate her for hiding her grandmother for her and that she would do what ever her mothers last wishes are. Her hair no longer that wild and it was now drier than earlier, her clothes were drier to and he observed that she was no longer shivering.
"Excuse me," said the nurse behind him. Tai turned around and looked her in the eyes before he let her enter the room, "I'm extremely sorry, but you two will have to leave for right now. We have to run tests."
Sora slowly got up on her feet and limped too Tai for support. She had completely forgotten about the fall that she had taken last night on the run to the hospital. She turned back around and mouthed bye and spoke softly, "I love you," and they both walked down to the cafeteria.
There was a very small amount of patients and people in the large cafeteria. Tai guided Sora to a chair and gently helped her sit down. The second she hit the chair she hugged herself tightly rocking back and forth trying to comfort herself while attempting to let the days events be absorbed into her mind.
"Sora," Tai said while getting lost in her sorrowful eyes, "you need to eat so please tell me what you would like." He didn't want to leave her but he was concerned for her health and wanted to make sure she ate. He thought back to the time when they were seventeen and her father had been released from prison and had tried to rape her, but Tai had prevented that. After that whole event she refused to eat for two weeks straight, but Tai had managed to convince her too eat and he wasn't about to go through all that trouble again.
"I don't want anything Tai, I'm not hungry at all." She said looking over at the entrance to the cafeteria. She had caught a glimpse of nurse Kino walking in but never managed to see what direction she went. She did need to talk with her anyways.
"Hey, what's up with you two being here?" came a low confident voice behind Tai. They both turned to see the hard blue eyes of the fellow destined Matt Ishida, which of course Tai couldn't help but shot the question back at him hardly, "It's more like what are you doing here?"
"Well, actually Mimi's here for a check up. She's been getting sick lately and she thinks she's pregnant." Matt said calmly with a huge smirk on his face. "Now it's your turn."
"Sora, sit here and I'll get you some food and you WILL eat it, and Matt, come with me," Tai said putting a hand on his thin shoulder guiding Matt to come with him. Tai closed his eyes and somewhat concentrated and sighed as he began, "Sora's mother got in a car accident last night and is dying. So Sora was called last night and she's been here since three in the morning I believe. I on the other hand found out on the news and got here about six thirty. Sora's mom was hit by a drunk driver and he has yet to be identified of caught." He took his wallet out of his pocket and checked his money before looking at Matt to see what reaction was engraved on his face. When he looked has saw pain and regret in Matt's eyes, which Tai had never expected to see.
"Man, I'm so sorry. I had no clue what so ever. I feel kind of bad now that I was giving you two a little bit of attitude earlier. I really hope it all goes well." He turned his head to glance at Sora quickly and that's when he realized that he missed Depression written all over her face, the night clothes, the blood on her knees and the lack of sleep in her eyes.
"Matt?" came a bouncy voice behind, which belonged to his wife Mimi. When Matt didn't respond in the slightest way to her, she followed his gaze to see Sora sitting down trying to hold back her tears. "Oh my god..." she trailed off quietly as she looked over at Tai for some answers.
"Don't ask...better yet, make Matt tell you. I need to get her some food," and with that Tai walked away.
"What's his problem?" Mimi asked with a little bit of shock from the way Tai just talked to her, as she was still looking Sora over from head to toe.
Matt just shook his head and replied, "He and Sora have had a ruff day so far..."
Nurse Kino wondered to the back room of the cafeteria and started searching for Mrs. Takenouchi's, her daughter's, breakfast tray. Of course she didn't even realize that it was the tray that happened to be eye level with her because she was nowhere near being focused. Her thoughts wondered at top speeds in her mind as she finally found the tray and began to return to her daughter's room.
She sighed heavily. There was so much weight on her shoulders since her granddaughter had run in the hospital searching for her mother. Since her mother was dying what was going to happen?
"Oh god. Am I going to be the one to tell Sora about Ami? Times like these make me wish Michelle and I had never gotten in the argument, then I would at least feel comfortable talking with Sora." Thought the old woman as she slipped into the room and set the tray of food on the small rolling table that sat next to the bed.
"You know who I am don't you?"
The nurse stared blankly at the woman lying on the small bed before answering, "Yes, I know who you are Michelle. And when I said I was sorry earlier I meant it. I just regret not telling you before and now I hardly know Sora." Nurse Kino said while opening a box of Lucky Charms for her daughters breakfast.
"Momma? Is Ami ok? Because I think her and Sora should find out about each other. I know she's already mad about not knowing you but this will be different. She has to know about her younger sister." Mrs. Takenouchi mumbled out as she rested her head back on the fluffy pillow while biting her lip to prevent her from screaming out while felling pain sweep over her body again. But the time the pain ten times stronger than before.
Her mother put a hand on her daughter's head and wiped off the sweat and hooked up some more painkillers with hopes to stop or lessen the pain for her daughter. She began taking stats again and this time while looking over had already come to the conclusion that her daughter would live to see the next three hours. "Don't worry. Ami's fine and I'll have that all taken care of and explained to the two. Just rest now," she said while sitting down next to her and watching her only daughter fall back into much needed sleep.
The late morning sun peeked through the blinds of yet another average apartment causing a young woman about nineteen to stir in her blissful sleep. Her eyes slowly opened as she let out a yawn.
"Nice to see that you're up now beautiful," came the sweetest voice that she could have ever heard in her life. She looked up to see the light blue eyes of her Takeru staring at her. She noticed that his blonde hair was all lopsided and wild from his sleep. She couldn't help but laugh because it looked like her brothers bird nest hair. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Takeru for comfort.
Takeru started stroking Kari's light brown hair softly as he thought to himself, "I'll ask her tonight, and I won't chicken out this time either. After last night there is no way that I couldn't live without my Kari, my angle, my lover." He sighed contently as he looked out the small window to see what the weather was like.
"What are you thinking?" Kari asked with her eyes still closed but there was a huge smile forming on her lightly tanned face.
"Well my angel...I was thinking..." he was cut off by the phone. He reached over to the night table to answer it, "Moshi Moshi."
"What the hell are you doing at my sisters at this time TK? You better not have slept with her!" Tai screamed into the phone causing some of the people in the line behind him to give him odd looks.
"Um, Hi Tai. I just, um, stopped by to say hi to my girlfriend." He said nervously as Kari's eyes shot opened and quickly grabbed the phone from him. She knew it was none of his business what she did with Takeru since they were going out, but she also knew how over protective he still was about her so she wasn't about to let poor Takeru handle this call.
"Hi Tai," she said cheerfully into the phone.
"Kari? Did he do anything to you?" He said in a worried tone. To make sure Tai didn't freak out on her she replied, "Tai, you should know better than that of Takeru. He wouldn't do a thing. He only stopped by to say hi." She looked at Takeru and took his hand in hers and smiled.
"Ok, well I just wanted to let you know that I'm at the hospital incase you need me."
"What?" Kari's eyes went wide, "Why what happened?"
"It's Sora's mother. She got in a huge accident last night and she's dying. I'm sorry but I have to go now so I'll fill you in with the details later. And I swear if TK did anything I'll kill him." He finished.
"Ok, I'll see you later. Bye," Kari hung up the phone and put her head down to hide her forming tears. Takeru put in finger under her chin and with his thumb he wiped a falling tear from her check.
"What happened?" he asked her in a whisper. She looked up and jumped out of bed to get some clothes.
She threw him his clothes from last night, "We have to go to the hospital...some things really wrong."
Takeru remained silent as he rushed to put on his clothes. He didn't want to ask anymore because he could tell whatever it was, was hurting Kari deep inside and she didn't want to talk about it. The next thing he knew they were running at top speed out of the building to his white pick-up truck.
The four of them sat around the table not wanting to really do anything or say anything. Tai slowly nibbled on some cereal watching Sora the whole time. She just sat there, stared at her food and was completely spaced out.
Kari burst through the doors of the cafeteria followed by Takeru, both searching for Tai and Sora. Takeru spotted Matt first then Mimi, Tai, and Sora all around him. He took Kari's hand and guided her quickly to the group.
Tai jumped out of his seat and hugged Kari since he hadn't seen her for a month at the most and glared at Takeru. "Kari, you didn't have to come."
Kari looked down at Sora and replied, "I want to be here. I want to be here for you two and plus Sora's mom is like a second mother," she said the last part a lot quieter to Tai so only he could hear. She pulled up a chair next to Sora and hugged her lightly, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I guess I am," she said not even looking up anyone. Her mind was blank and she didn't think about anything, her face showed no emotion to anyone or to anything. Her heart was turning cold, but deep down she knew she wouldn't shut her friends out.
"Excuse me again, but may I speak with Sora Takenouchi?"
They all turned around to see the old nurse standing behind them all with tears in her blue eyes. It was only Sora that had not even turned to see who was asking for her, but she already knew.
With that Sora slowly got up and followed the nurse to a back room in the hospital for a private conversation. In a way Sora dreaded this with a passion, but she also wanted this to happen. She really did want to know her grandmother, her roots, her family that her mother never told her about, and that together is the only reason that Sora followed this woman in front of her. Nurse Kino softly closed the door behind her and turned to look Sora in the eyes.
"I can see it in your eyes Sora. You are very curious to this whole situation, and I don't blame you," nurse Kino continued, "I also see anger and sadness. Which together are never a good thing," she wisely stated as she motioned for Sora to have a seat.
Sora just looked at her in awe. "How can she tell?" she thought while she was looking at her bare feet. "Can you tell me what I don't know? Like who you are, who my other family is, and how do you know how I'm feeling?"
The nurse chuckled warmly as she looked at her granddaughter. How she wished she could've done this so long ago, but that never happened and now it happened now on such bad terms. "Well, I know how you are feeling by your eyes, they show much emotion that you tend to keep inside. Much like your mother's did. You have the same emotional eyes as her."
"I'm just wanted to know how long I have real quick, but how long till momma dies?" The question that she dreaded to know had just flowed out of her mouth with out even thinking about it. The nurse sighed and replied, "Less then three hours."
Sora's eyes went wide as she jumped up out of her seat and took of towards her mother's room at top speed. She rounded the corner not seeing a thing and suddenly a person walked out of the room. She never had a chance to say anything before she ran straight into him knocking them both over onto the cold tile floor.
"Joe, I'm sorry," she said while she got up and continued to run.
Joe looked at her as if she was psycho, "Uh, nice to see you?" He then turned around to begin his on the job training in the medical field. "Odd," he thought.
The warm air of mid afternoon brushed against the teen's face causing her to sigh in her enjoyment of life. She walked in quick strides with her guitar strapped to her shoulder going down her backside interrupting her paces to get to practice. Her sandal's scrapped the ground after each step on the paved sidewalk. Her over sized jeans dragged the ground with every step.
She glanced around to see if anyone was following her, which she really didn't care if they were, but after her run in with a mugger she had been a little more careful. She swung the glass door open harshly and entered the music store. She then proceeded to make her way to the back room where her only friends were and waiting for her to arrive so they could start.
"Sorry I'm late guys. I had to finish a stupid test for history." She said while taking out her new, green guitar before she hooked it up to the amplifier. She adjusted the strap and grabbed a pick before putting her fingers in ready position on the neck of the guitar.
The next thing she knew the pounding of the drums behind her had told her that her introduction was coming in a second. After that her fingers began fly across the neck making grunge noises that few ordinary people could make. Her mind lost in the song and sounds, her brown dyed blond hair was wildly being thrown around, mostly in her face. Her fingers bending the strings every which way possible to a guitarist and her back hunched over in concentration. The thick chains and silver charm that she wore around her neck flew into her face and fell roughly to her chest. Her thoughts of the world and problems faded to the back of her mind. This continued for several minutes and as the song was coming to an end her adrenaline shot even further up. Her arm flew up and she dropped it aggressively to the strings while taking three gigantic steps back. The song ended as beads of sweat dripped down the sides of her face.
"Damn Ami! You've gotten way better man!" said the breathless drummer James. His used to be spiky green hair was now hanging loosely in front of his face.
"Yeah man, thanks," Ami said as she wiped some sweat off her face and proceeded to find her sandal that had flown off her foot while she was playing like an insane woman. She quickly glanced at her watch while doing that as her pager went off. She looked at the number and identified it to be her grandmother.
"Hey guys, sorry I have to go right away. But you should know that if my grandmother pages my I gotta go to the hospital. Cya," Ami said over her shoulder while walking quickly out of the back room.
She walked quickly out to the parking lot and opened the back door to her old faded blue Lincoln town car and threw her guitar in back before getting in the drivers seat and taking off.
"Well, Ami should be here soon now so I'll just go check up on Michelle," thought Nurse Kino as she took her time walking out of the main lounge for staff members. This was a very stressful day for the old woman but she was actually managing it just fine.
As she walked in her daughter's hospital room she paused to watch her granddaughter and daughter talking softly about old times and all the memories they have shared. Once Mrs. Takenouchi noticed her mother standing at the door she nodded for her to come in and join. She slowly came in and took a seat next to Sora. Fear began to form again in her stomach. She had no clue as to what to say.
"Mom? Are you ok?" Mrs. Takenouchi asked looking at her with concern.
"Well, yeah a little. But Ami is on her way over." She looked at Sora, then her
daughter.
The look in Sora's eyes showed that she remembered slightly who Ami was. Since the only time she had actually ever met Ami was when she was six and she did remember that Ami was her sister. But as she grew she had forgotten all about that and knew that they were separated for a reason so she let that go untouched.
"Hey grandma. The nurse down at the desk said that you were here. So I came to see what you needed me for," replied the punk rock, blond hair girl standing at the doorway.
"Come in Ami. This is going to take a lot of explaining," said the older, wiser woman sitting down motioning for Ami to come in. "Ami, I would like you to meet Sora Takenouchi," she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "your older sister."
Ami just stood in shock staring at Sora before saying, "Funny, that was a great joke grandma and I'm not gonna be fooled."
"I'm not joking."
Ami just stood there in shock. "Not a joke?" she thought while she stared at her grandmother and the young woman Sora, "but why now? How do I have a sister? More important, why am I being told now?" She slowly made her way into the room and sat down on a chair on the corner of the opposite side her grandmother was on. She finally noticed something about the woman in the bed that was propped up. Her eyes. The same eyes as her own, the same eyes as the woman Sora.
"Excuse me, but may I ask who you are?" Ami ask the woman while she stared at her worn sandals. She had a good, deep, burning feeling about who she was, she just wanted to her it herself.
The woman softly smiled as she opened her mouth, but was stopped when sudden pain shot through her stomach. Time was running out for her so she tried her best to ignore it. She looked at the young teen to her side, "I'm Michelle Takenouchi, your mother."
Sudden hate flew through Ami's veins. Thought's raced through her head at top speeds. She couldn't believe that now of all times, when she was 16, that they had finally decided to tell her about her mother and let her meet her. She looked up at her with hatred and stared into the ember eyes of her mother, "Why now? Why did you wait this long?" She jumped out of her chair and paced back and forth before sitting back down again.
"Look, I can tell you are feeling hate, especially towards me. But I regret all of this, this was a mistake. I had to fix this no matter how old you are. It had to be done now. And I'm truly sorry about that." Mrs. Takenouchi coughed as she closed her eyes. She really didn't want to see the hate in her youngest daughters eyes.
Ami leaned back in her chair putting her hands behind her head for support, closing her eyes in thought. "Well, I'm sure there was a good reason. I shouldn't hate someone I don't know." She looked at Sora who had remained silent the whole time, "I might even like this." Ami looked back at her mother and said, "I guess there is a good reason and I'm sure I'll find out some other day," Ami smiled, "I don't hate you."
Mrs. Takenouchi's eyes flew open in surprise and shock was written all over her face. She hadn't expected her to say that at all. A tear fell down her face, "Thank you." She smiled. Pain again shot through her body. This time it felt like thousands of knives constantly stabbing her in her stomach and organs. Her eyes snapped closed as she bit her lower lip to keep herself from screaming.
The nurse jumped up telling the other two to leave now as she went searching for more painkillers. This was all coming down to the last hour.
Sora and Ami slowly trudged out of the room both deep in some serious thoughts. Side-by-Side the two made their way back down to the cafeteria just to sit and talk, which they both thought was well deserved for the both of them. They both knew in the back of their minds that this whole situation was going to be extremely hard on them.
Mimi was hopping around in pure happiness in the cafeteria as all the destined laughed while congratulating her and Matt just sighed at Mimi's actions before joining in with her. This of course started a new riot of laughter from everyone.
Tai couldn't help but laugh. He truly wished that this would be him and Sora. He wanted to have kids with her, wake up next to her, and love her. That's all he wanted in his life. He then saw Sora enter the cafeteria out of the corner of his eye so he slipped away from the others. That's when he noticed a teenager that looked quite a bit like Sora following her. They both had horrible looks plastered on their faces.
Kari then noticed where Tai had slipped of to so she watched him from where she stood. Everyone by this time had followed her gaze and calmed down. They some how began to feel the pain that Sora was feeling. It was that bond that had connected then all together since the digiworld.
Ami suddenly felt way out of place. It was obvious to her that Sora knew all of them and she could sense a long explanation coming about her.
Just then two more people burst into the room stopping only to catch their breaths.
"Cody, Izzy, nice to see you got my message," Takeru said while stepping towards them.
This caused Ami to look up. Cody? As in her boyfriend Cody? She saw the figure standing behind the man with red short spiky hair. It was her Cody. He looked up and saw Ami. He smiled as he began to make his way to her. His brown hair covered his green eyes as he stopped inches away from her and bent down to kiss her lightly on her lips.
She blushed a light shade of red and whispered so only he could hear, "I love you."
"I love you too," he said while he turned around to see every one looking at the two. He even turned red when he was the huge smirk on Sora's face.
"Sorry Ami, I didn't realize that was you," Takeru said with Kari at his side agreeing with him. She didn't know why she didn't see it sooner that they were Cody's friends, the digidestinied they called themselves.
She laughed nervously, "Well, I didn't really recognize you either." She took the chance and slipped behind Cody some so she could be hidden a little from everybody.
Nurse Kino ran in the room with tears streaming down her face. She looked for her two granddaughters and found them talking to a group of people. She ran up to the and when they saw her face they knew that their mother was gone. They both looked at each other before breaking down in tears. Sora had cried because she never go to be the woman that her mother wanted her to be and Ami cried because she never got the chance to know her own mother.
Everyone else walked off silently to let the three cry together.
The rain hit the grass softly as a small group of people gathered around the freshly dug grave. The grave of Mrs. Michelle Takenouchi. Flowers were being arranged around the headstone by the two daughters Sora and Ami. Every one else had begun to leave now that the service was over.
The two had taken the time to get to know each other well over the past two weeks since. They really did enjoy each other's company and realized exactly how much they have in common. Tai stood next to Sora as she began to cry the last of her tears as Cody did the same for Ami. The two sisters glanced at each other before smiling sadly at the flower job they had done around the grave. The two stood up and slowly turned their backs and walked away with all the memories of the past weeks playing in their minds.
The group had all crammed into the limo before it took everyone home.
Tai looked down at his hands as he thought, "Should I do it now? I want it to be special, but I can't wait. And to ask around our closest friends does make it pretty special." He put his hand in his pocket to make sure he still had the ring, which luckily he did. This was it and he wasn't going to stop.
"Sora?" he said softly while looking into her eyes.
"Yes?"
"You love me right?" he paused waiting for an answer.
"You know I do. With all of my heart." She said not really knowing where Tai was taking this.
"Sora, I love you. No words in this world can ever express that." He made his way in front of Sora in the limo and sat on the ground while he gazed up at her. Every one was looking at him praying he was doing what they thought he was doing. "I would do anything for you, protect you, die for you, love you. I want to be with you every second of my life. I want to have kids with you, wake up next to you every morning and see your beautiful face. You make me who I am Sora." He paused as he got the ring out of his pocket as he watched Sora's face smiling back at him with tears forming in her eyes. "Please, I exist only for you. Will you please complete me by becoming my wife?"
Sora threw herself down on the floor next to Tai and hugged him as hard as she could, "Yes Tai, I will. I love you just as much. I could never live without you." She kissed him passionately as everyone else cheered in the limo.
"Hey you two. Maybe we could have a double wedding?" Kari said while laughing at the two in front of her.
"Maybe, Maybe not. Depends on who wants to get married the quickest." Sora said as she kissed Tai once more before snuggling next to him the rest of the ride home.
Well, Review please. Say what you wan, nothing new of course.
at all in this story. Well, except Ami. I hope you all think she was a good addition.
Now read on
Things Never Known
Huge, cold raindrops trickled down her checks mixing with her newly shed tears as she ran aimlessly down the city streets. Not a car in sight for miles, but of course this was expected for this time of night.
At exactly 2:27 at night the phone had rung loudly in a small single roomed apartment, waking up the only soul in it. The news to this young woman had caused her to break down and run like hell towards the hospital. She even managed to laugh at her self because she had never thought to take her car. Which would have made it a lot quicker and easier to get there.
Instead her legs were aching and burning from the intense run that she was pushing herself into. She refused to stop. She knew her mother, the only person in this world that had ever protected her, supported her, loved her unconditionally, was dying on that white, emotionless hospital bed.
The cold water pounded against her red eyes, her lungs burning and rain making it's way into her dry mouth dampening her throat. The humongous over-sized red and blue long-sleeved plaid nightshirt clung to the front of her revealing every curve and detail of her body. Her identical set of pajama pants were revealing just as much as her shirt and her bare feet were splashing fiercely through the puddles on the deserted road.
Her long orangish auburn hair lay matted to her small-framed face.
She raced around the corner and began to sprint. The hospital was in sight and to her that's all she saw, she also managed to miss seeing the huge rock in front of her. Her foot caught on it and her weight flew forward hitting the soaking pavement with her elbows and knees. She completely ignored the shooting pain and quickly jumped back to her feet while continuing running at top speed.
The double doors at the entrance swung open allowing her in once they had sensed the young women coming. She stumbled in the lobby and came to an abrupt stop while scanning the room with her fierce ember eyes for a secretary or nurse for some help. Her eyes settled on an older woman with short, shoulder length gray hair and deep blue eyes wearing the typical white pants and white shirt with light blue and pink uniform for a woman nurse.
"Excuse me, but I'm looking for the room the Ms. Takenouchi is in. I'm her daughter and I need to see her."
The nurse looked at the young woman and nodded her head before leading her off to her mother's room. "Look, Miss Takenouchi?"
"Yes."
The older nurse sighed while continuing her walk, "There is something you need to know before you see her. First, She does wish to see you right away so I won't keep you and second, she won't make through the next few days. She's dying Miss. Takenouchi. I'm truly sorry." The nurses blue eyes showed nothing but regret and sorrow for the young woman standing before her.
Even though her face was covered with raindrops it was quite obvious to see the newly shed tears from this information that she had just received. She peered in her mother's room while she dropped slowly to her knees sobbing, now uncontrollably. She tried so hard to stop, but she couldn't find the strength to hold back anything any more.
The kind nurse had helped her up to her feet and ushered her into her mother's room and let her be. By the time the old woman had left the tears had ceased from falling down her cheeks as she looked at her mother's beaten and battered body. Mrs. Takenouchi had thick bandages with red blood stains wrapped around her forehead, an arm cast on her left arm reaching the in between her shoulder and elbow. Both her legs had casts and stitches all over her neck and chest. She was hooked up to an oxygen mask and was breathing incredibly slowly. IV needles were hooked in both arms giving her the blood she needed and other medications such as painkillers.
Sora grabbed her mother's right had and plopped down in the chair next to the small single bed. "Please mamma...you can't leave me now. I need you. You are all I have except Tai," she bowed her head and let her hot tears fall again.
6:00 in the morning can be painfully hard on a person who just happens to hate the hard pressures of work and the fact that they never can seem to get enough sleep and also the dreadful sound of an alarm clock.
The screaming alarm clock echoed loudly in Tai's ears causing him to jump out of his small single person bed. He tripped over the blue, thin sheets that were entangled with his strong, scratched legs. The scratches of course were from a previous soccer game the night before that he had completely dominated.
"God damn this alarm clock," he mumbled underneath his breath as he tried to figure out how to turn the horrid sound off. His attempt failed so he angrily threw it at the white wall of his two-roomed apartment.
Now somewhat awake Tai turned on his TV to the news as he started to get dressed and ready for work...
"And last night there was a car accident around 2:30 near the convenient stores of 5th street," the reporter had said before continuing, "The woman's name is Michelle Takenouchi, the owner of a local flower shop called Takenouchi Flower Arranging. She is right now considered unstable and all they know is that the crash was due to a drunk driver that hasn't been caught or identified yet."
Tai had dropped his pants that he had been struggling with to get on and stared in complete shock at the TV screen as he had heard that last statement. "Oh my god. No..." He thought as he quickly bent down and pulled up his pants and zipped them up. He grabbed the nearest shirt and his car keys, slipped on a pair of Adidas sandals, and locked his apartment door behind him as he went at top speed to the hospital.
The same woman that had help Miss Takenouchi to her mother's room earlier that night had been doing some paper work at the front desk when a young man with messy brown hair that was going every which way had come up to her.
"Excuse me Mrs., but I'm looking for Mrs. Takenouchi's room please. She was brought in lastnight from a severe car accident." Tai looked like he was about to brake down crying himself, but now was the time he had to be strong. Especially for Sora, and he had a good deep feeling that she was already here.
His head was swimming in thought as the nurse looked at him. He wanted to see Mrs. Takenouchi anyway. She was a second mother to him and hopefully soon a mother-in-law. She had known Tai since he was just fresh out of diapers, when he and Sora had become best friends and would always play together. Sometimes she even nursed him back to health when he was sick and his parents were out of town. He was going to propose to her daughter Sora soon, but was waiting for the right time, and this accident didn't help. In fact it would make it even harder for him. But that slipped from his mind as the nurse showed him to Mrs. Takenouchi's room and left.
Tai looked in fright as he examined the body in the bed in front of him. He felt like he wanted to pass out right then and there, he wanted to cry like a little baby, but he wouldn't allow himself to do that. His eyes wondered to the side of the bed and stared at the figure sleeping next to the bed. She was shivering because her clothes seemed to be damp from last night's rain. Her pants had holes at the knees where she had fallen and blood surrounding the material. Her hair actually ran wild for once, and her face was wet from tears alone.
Tai slowly walked up to his beloved Sora, grabbed a chair and sat down next to her. He put an arm around her sleeping body and puller her closer to him. On instinct she reacted my shifting her position, placing her head on his chest and her left hand over his heart. He then gently and lovingly began to stroke her hair as she slept. He then too slowly drifted off into his own little world of troubled sleep.
Her eyes fluttered open suddenly to see nothing but a bright blinding light. Pain then exploded in her body that she had never felt before, even when she was abused by her ex-husband, and she knew right then that this was not good at all. She finally glanced around the room that she was in. She saw all the IV needles that were stuck in her arm, her cast on the left arm and the casts on both legs. She felt bandages around her waist and she felt something very odd and itchy on her neck and chest, but couldn't figure out what it was. And last her eyes rested on her daughter Sora and her boyfriend Tai leaning on each other while they slept silently.
She smiled to herself as she watched them, "They are so cute together. And I know Tai will take excellent care of Sora. He respects her in every way unimaginable and vise versa. I wish I was going to be around when they start having kids," She thought to herself before turning her head again to get comfortable, "I wonder when he will propose to her?"
Her identical ember eyes that Sora had gazed up at the ceiling while her thoughts ran wildly through her mind. She knew she was dying but she couldn't stop it. She could feel every organ in her body slow down in some type of way, failing her with her life. Memories of her childhood flowed back to her. She had to ask Sora to finish some tasks for her before she died and one was with her own mother.
The fight that Mrs. Takenouchi had had with her mother had ended their whole relationship. It was so bad that Sora herself had never met her own grandmother. She thought it was pretty pathetic that their quarrel had lasted this long but she could do nothing but regret it and pray Sora would make peace with her own grandmother. Honestly, she didn't even have the faintest clue what had happened to her.
A slight groan next to Mrs. Takenouchi had caused her to snap out of her thoughts and look beside her.
"Momma?" The voice sounded small and weak, "Are you up?"
"Yes Sora, I am," came the shattered voice that neither of them had expected to hear. By this time Sora had finally noticed that Tai had slipped in and was beginning to wake up. His eyes snapped open and blinked a couple of times before he remember what was going on.
"Um, Morning?" He said as a glanced at his watch, "Let me go call work real quick so I won't get in that much trouble." He hopped out of his chair and began to leave when he looked over his shoulder and said, "I know you are wondering why I'm here Sora. I heard it on the news and rushed down here as soon as I found out." And with that he walked out to find a payphone. He honestly did amaze her at times.
The room was left silent for a moment while the mother and daughter were in deep thought about what was going on. Soon Sora turned her attention back to her mother and took her hand in her own again.
"Momma...Why?" The young twenty-two year old asked with tears developing in her eyes again.
Mrs. Takenouchi gave her daughters hand a slight squeeze and spoke quietly, "Because it was supposed to. I never wanted it to though. I love you Sora, and never forget that. I also need a favor from..." She stopped mid sentence and stared at the nurse that had just walked in, it was the same nurse that had kindly helped Sora and Tai. But to Mrs. Takenouchi the nurse reminded her of someone she knew from her past. But yet, her mind was so clouded from the events that had happened lately she didn't remember how she knew her.
The nurse made her way to the side of the bed and looked down oddly at the patient. She grabbed a blue pen out of her breast pocket in her shirt and began writing down the stats on Mrs. Takenouchi.
"Excuse me ladies, I'm just doing a check up and I'll be done soon. You can call me nurse Kino. And if you need me just ring for me ok?" She instructed as she took hold of Mrs. Takenouchi's wrist taking her pulse.
Mrs. Takenouchi's eyes widened as realization hit her hard. The touch of this woman, the voice, the kindness, most of all the eyes that this woman shown had triggered the thought she was looking for. "It couldn't be her could it?? Mom??" she thought to herself while staring into those eyes. With the look that Nurse Kino was giving her, she thought that she was thinking the exact thought about Mrs. Takenouchi. In fact those blue eyes had shown her that Nurse Kino already knew who she was. And with a small smile and saying that she was sorry she walked out of the room and left Mrs. Takenouchi alone again with Sora.
Mrs. Takenouchi for the first time yet broke down in tears unable to believe that that woman was really her mother that she had fought so long ago. "When she said she was sorry, did she mean about our fight?" she thought as a lone tear trickled down her face.
Sora, who had watched in awe at the scene just witnessed, had finally gained enough strength to ask, "Momma? Do you know that woman? It looked as if you hadn't seen her in years. Or at least, that's how she looked at you." She reached over and lightly brushed the warm tear off of her mothers face.
"Sora, listen to me." Sora was now looking at her with curiosity, "I need you to finish some tasks for me since I never go the chance to do it myself." Mrs. Takenouchi stopped for a brief second then continued, "Now, I know that you have never met you grandmother. In fact, you even thought she was dead. I'm so sorry for telling you that, but she's not. I don't blame you if you hated me for it, but we had gotten in a huge fight that ended our whole relationship before you were born." She now was cry uncontrollably as the words were flowing out of her mouth, "I would like it if you found her and made peace with her. It is my mistake and I'm sorry I took it out on you. I had no right to keep her from you and you from her." With Mrs. Takenouchi's good hand she hastily wiped her tears from her face. "The reason that nurse Kino looked at me the way she did is because I realized that she indeed is my mother, and your grandmother. Talk to her," she finished while gazing at the tears in her own daughters eyes slide down her rosy colored cheeks. Her strength was quickly fading away and she knew she didn't have that much more time left till she died.
Tai stood leaning against the doorframe listening to the whole conversation in as much shock as Sora was. He watched silently as Sora told her mother that she would never hate her for hiding her grandmother for her and that she would do what ever her mothers last wishes are. Her hair no longer that wild and it was now drier than earlier, her clothes were drier to and he observed that she was no longer shivering.
"Excuse me," said the nurse behind him. Tai turned around and looked her in the eyes before he let her enter the room, "I'm extremely sorry, but you two will have to leave for right now. We have to run tests."
Sora slowly got up on her feet and limped too Tai for support. She had completely forgotten about the fall that she had taken last night on the run to the hospital. She turned back around and mouthed bye and spoke softly, "I love you," and they both walked down to the cafeteria.
There was a very small amount of patients and people in the large cafeteria. Tai guided Sora to a chair and gently helped her sit down. The second she hit the chair she hugged herself tightly rocking back and forth trying to comfort herself while attempting to let the days events be absorbed into her mind.
"Sora," Tai said while getting lost in her sorrowful eyes, "you need to eat so please tell me what you would like." He didn't want to leave her but he was concerned for her health and wanted to make sure she ate. He thought back to the time when they were seventeen and her father had been released from prison and had tried to rape her, but Tai had prevented that. After that whole event she refused to eat for two weeks straight, but Tai had managed to convince her too eat and he wasn't about to go through all that trouble again.
"I don't want anything Tai, I'm not hungry at all." She said looking over at the entrance to the cafeteria. She had caught a glimpse of nurse Kino walking in but never managed to see what direction she went. She did need to talk with her anyways.
"Hey, what's up with you two being here?" came a low confident voice behind Tai. They both turned to see the hard blue eyes of the fellow destined Matt Ishida, which of course Tai couldn't help but shot the question back at him hardly, "It's more like what are you doing here?"
"Well, actually Mimi's here for a check up. She's been getting sick lately and she thinks she's pregnant." Matt said calmly with a huge smirk on his face. "Now it's your turn."
"Sora, sit here and I'll get you some food and you WILL eat it, and Matt, come with me," Tai said putting a hand on his thin shoulder guiding Matt to come with him. Tai closed his eyes and somewhat concentrated and sighed as he began, "Sora's mother got in a car accident last night and is dying. So Sora was called last night and she's been here since three in the morning I believe. I on the other hand found out on the news and got here about six thirty. Sora's mom was hit by a drunk driver and he has yet to be identified of caught." He took his wallet out of his pocket and checked his money before looking at Matt to see what reaction was engraved on his face. When he looked has saw pain and regret in Matt's eyes, which Tai had never expected to see.
"Man, I'm so sorry. I had no clue what so ever. I feel kind of bad now that I was giving you two a little bit of attitude earlier. I really hope it all goes well." He turned his head to glance at Sora quickly and that's when he realized that he missed Depression written all over her face, the night clothes, the blood on her knees and the lack of sleep in her eyes.
"Matt?" came a bouncy voice behind, which belonged to his wife Mimi. When Matt didn't respond in the slightest way to her, she followed his gaze to see Sora sitting down trying to hold back her tears. "Oh my god..." she trailed off quietly as she looked over at Tai for some answers.
"Don't ask...better yet, make Matt tell you. I need to get her some food," and with that Tai walked away.
"What's his problem?" Mimi asked with a little bit of shock from the way Tai just talked to her, as she was still looking Sora over from head to toe.
Matt just shook his head and replied, "He and Sora have had a ruff day so far..."
Nurse Kino wondered to the back room of the cafeteria and started searching for Mrs. Takenouchi's, her daughter's, breakfast tray. Of course she didn't even realize that it was the tray that happened to be eye level with her because she was nowhere near being focused. Her thoughts wondered at top speeds in her mind as she finally found the tray and began to return to her daughter's room.
She sighed heavily. There was so much weight on her shoulders since her granddaughter had run in the hospital searching for her mother. Since her mother was dying what was going to happen?
"Oh god. Am I going to be the one to tell Sora about Ami? Times like these make me wish Michelle and I had never gotten in the argument, then I would at least feel comfortable talking with Sora." Thought the old woman as she slipped into the room and set the tray of food on the small rolling table that sat next to the bed.
"You know who I am don't you?"
The nurse stared blankly at the woman lying on the small bed before answering, "Yes, I know who you are Michelle. And when I said I was sorry earlier I meant it. I just regret not telling you before and now I hardly know Sora." Nurse Kino said while opening a box of Lucky Charms for her daughters breakfast.
"Momma? Is Ami ok? Because I think her and Sora should find out about each other. I know she's already mad about not knowing you but this will be different. She has to know about her younger sister." Mrs. Takenouchi mumbled out as she rested her head back on the fluffy pillow while biting her lip to prevent her from screaming out while felling pain sweep over her body again. But the time the pain ten times stronger than before.
Her mother put a hand on her daughter's head and wiped off the sweat and hooked up some more painkillers with hopes to stop or lessen the pain for her daughter. She began taking stats again and this time while looking over had already come to the conclusion that her daughter would live to see the next three hours. "Don't worry. Ami's fine and I'll have that all taken care of and explained to the two. Just rest now," she said while sitting down next to her and watching her only daughter fall back into much needed sleep.
The late morning sun peeked through the blinds of yet another average apartment causing a young woman about nineteen to stir in her blissful sleep. Her eyes slowly opened as she let out a yawn.
"Nice to see that you're up now beautiful," came the sweetest voice that she could have ever heard in her life. She looked up to see the light blue eyes of her Takeru staring at her. She noticed that his blonde hair was all lopsided and wild from his sleep. She couldn't help but laugh because it looked like her brothers bird nest hair. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Takeru for comfort.
Takeru started stroking Kari's light brown hair softly as he thought to himself, "I'll ask her tonight, and I won't chicken out this time either. After last night there is no way that I couldn't live without my Kari, my angle, my lover." He sighed contently as he looked out the small window to see what the weather was like.
"What are you thinking?" Kari asked with her eyes still closed but there was a huge smile forming on her lightly tanned face.
"Well my angel...I was thinking..." he was cut off by the phone. He reached over to the night table to answer it, "Moshi Moshi."
"What the hell are you doing at my sisters at this time TK? You better not have slept with her!" Tai screamed into the phone causing some of the people in the line behind him to give him odd looks.
"Um, Hi Tai. I just, um, stopped by to say hi to my girlfriend." He said nervously as Kari's eyes shot opened and quickly grabbed the phone from him. She knew it was none of his business what she did with Takeru since they were going out, but she also knew how over protective he still was about her so she wasn't about to let poor Takeru handle this call.
"Hi Tai," she said cheerfully into the phone.
"Kari? Did he do anything to you?" He said in a worried tone. To make sure Tai didn't freak out on her she replied, "Tai, you should know better than that of Takeru. He wouldn't do a thing. He only stopped by to say hi." She looked at Takeru and took his hand in hers and smiled.
"Ok, well I just wanted to let you know that I'm at the hospital incase you need me."
"What?" Kari's eyes went wide, "Why what happened?"
"It's Sora's mother. She got in a huge accident last night and she's dying. I'm sorry but I have to go now so I'll fill you in with the details later. And I swear if TK did anything I'll kill him." He finished.
"Ok, I'll see you later. Bye," Kari hung up the phone and put her head down to hide her forming tears. Takeru put in finger under her chin and with his thumb he wiped a falling tear from her check.
"What happened?" he asked her in a whisper. She looked up and jumped out of bed to get some clothes.
She threw him his clothes from last night, "We have to go to the hospital...some things really wrong."
Takeru remained silent as he rushed to put on his clothes. He didn't want to ask anymore because he could tell whatever it was, was hurting Kari deep inside and she didn't want to talk about it. The next thing he knew they were running at top speed out of the building to his white pick-up truck.
The four of them sat around the table not wanting to really do anything or say anything. Tai slowly nibbled on some cereal watching Sora the whole time. She just sat there, stared at her food and was completely spaced out.
Kari burst through the doors of the cafeteria followed by Takeru, both searching for Tai and Sora. Takeru spotted Matt first then Mimi, Tai, and Sora all around him. He took Kari's hand and guided her quickly to the group.
Tai jumped out of his seat and hugged Kari since he hadn't seen her for a month at the most and glared at Takeru. "Kari, you didn't have to come."
Kari looked down at Sora and replied, "I want to be here. I want to be here for you two and plus Sora's mom is like a second mother," she said the last part a lot quieter to Tai so only he could hear. She pulled up a chair next to Sora and hugged her lightly, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I guess I am," she said not even looking up anyone. Her mind was blank and she didn't think about anything, her face showed no emotion to anyone or to anything. Her heart was turning cold, but deep down she knew she wouldn't shut her friends out.
"Excuse me again, but may I speak with Sora Takenouchi?"
They all turned around to see the old nurse standing behind them all with tears in her blue eyes. It was only Sora that had not even turned to see who was asking for her, but she already knew.
With that Sora slowly got up and followed the nurse to a back room in the hospital for a private conversation. In a way Sora dreaded this with a passion, but she also wanted this to happen. She really did want to know her grandmother, her roots, her family that her mother never told her about, and that together is the only reason that Sora followed this woman in front of her. Nurse Kino softly closed the door behind her and turned to look Sora in the eyes.
"I can see it in your eyes Sora. You are very curious to this whole situation, and I don't blame you," nurse Kino continued, "I also see anger and sadness. Which together are never a good thing," she wisely stated as she motioned for Sora to have a seat.
Sora just looked at her in awe. "How can she tell?" she thought while she was looking at her bare feet. "Can you tell me what I don't know? Like who you are, who my other family is, and how do you know how I'm feeling?"
The nurse chuckled warmly as she looked at her granddaughter. How she wished she could've done this so long ago, but that never happened and now it happened now on such bad terms. "Well, I know how you are feeling by your eyes, they show much emotion that you tend to keep inside. Much like your mother's did. You have the same emotional eyes as her."
"I'm just wanted to know how long I have real quick, but how long till momma dies?" The question that she dreaded to know had just flowed out of her mouth with out even thinking about it. The nurse sighed and replied, "Less then three hours."
Sora's eyes went wide as she jumped up out of her seat and took of towards her mother's room at top speed. She rounded the corner not seeing a thing and suddenly a person walked out of the room. She never had a chance to say anything before she ran straight into him knocking them both over onto the cold tile floor.
"Joe, I'm sorry," she said while she got up and continued to run.
Joe looked at her as if she was psycho, "Uh, nice to see you?" He then turned around to begin his on the job training in the medical field. "Odd," he thought.
The warm air of mid afternoon brushed against the teen's face causing her to sigh in her enjoyment of life. She walked in quick strides with her guitar strapped to her shoulder going down her backside interrupting her paces to get to practice. Her sandal's scrapped the ground after each step on the paved sidewalk. Her over sized jeans dragged the ground with every step.
She glanced around to see if anyone was following her, which she really didn't care if they were, but after her run in with a mugger she had been a little more careful. She swung the glass door open harshly and entered the music store. She then proceeded to make her way to the back room where her only friends were and waiting for her to arrive so they could start.
"Sorry I'm late guys. I had to finish a stupid test for history." She said while taking out her new, green guitar before she hooked it up to the amplifier. She adjusted the strap and grabbed a pick before putting her fingers in ready position on the neck of the guitar.
The next thing she knew the pounding of the drums behind her had told her that her introduction was coming in a second. After that her fingers began fly across the neck making grunge noises that few ordinary people could make. Her mind lost in the song and sounds, her brown dyed blond hair was wildly being thrown around, mostly in her face. Her fingers bending the strings every which way possible to a guitarist and her back hunched over in concentration. The thick chains and silver charm that she wore around her neck flew into her face and fell roughly to her chest. Her thoughts of the world and problems faded to the back of her mind. This continued for several minutes and as the song was coming to an end her adrenaline shot even further up. Her arm flew up and she dropped it aggressively to the strings while taking three gigantic steps back. The song ended as beads of sweat dripped down the sides of her face.
"Damn Ami! You've gotten way better man!" said the breathless drummer James. His used to be spiky green hair was now hanging loosely in front of his face.
"Yeah man, thanks," Ami said as she wiped some sweat off her face and proceeded to find her sandal that had flown off her foot while she was playing like an insane woman. She quickly glanced at her watch while doing that as her pager went off. She looked at the number and identified it to be her grandmother.
"Hey guys, sorry I have to go right away. But you should know that if my grandmother pages my I gotta go to the hospital. Cya," Ami said over her shoulder while walking quickly out of the back room.
She walked quickly out to the parking lot and opened the back door to her old faded blue Lincoln town car and threw her guitar in back before getting in the drivers seat and taking off.
"Well, Ami should be here soon now so I'll just go check up on Michelle," thought Nurse Kino as she took her time walking out of the main lounge for staff members. This was a very stressful day for the old woman but she was actually managing it just fine.
As she walked in her daughter's hospital room she paused to watch her granddaughter and daughter talking softly about old times and all the memories they have shared. Once Mrs. Takenouchi noticed her mother standing at the door she nodded for her to come in and join. She slowly came in and took a seat next to Sora. Fear began to form again in her stomach. She had no clue as to what to say.
"Mom? Are you ok?" Mrs. Takenouchi asked looking at her with concern.
"Well, yeah a little. But Ami is on her way over." She looked at Sora, then her
daughter.
The look in Sora's eyes showed that she remembered slightly who Ami was. Since the only time she had actually ever met Ami was when she was six and she did remember that Ami was her sister. But as she grew she had forgotten all about that and knew that they were separated for a reason so she let that go untouched.
"Hey grandma. The nurse down at the desk said that you were here. So I came to see what you needed me for," replied the punk rock, blond hair girl standing at the doorway.
"Come in Ami. This is going to take a lot of explaining," said the older, wiser woman sitting down motioning for Ami to come in. "Ami, I would like you to meet Sora Takenouchi," she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "your older sister."
Ami just stood in shock staring at Sora before saying, "Funny, that was a great joke grandma and I'm not gonna be fooled."
"I'm not joking."
Ami just stood there in shock. "Not a joke?" she thought while she stared at her grandmother and the young woman Sora, "but why now? How do I have a sister? More important, why am I being told now?" She slowly made her way into the room and sat down on a chair on the corner of the opposite side her grandmother was on. She finally noticed something about the woman in the bed that was propped up. Her eyes. The same eyes as her own, the same eyes as the woman Sora.
"Excuse me, but may I ask who you are?" Ami ask the woman while she stared at her worn sandals. She had a good, deep, burning feeling about who she was, she just wanted to her it herself.
The woman softly smiled as she opened her mouth, but was stopped when sudden pain shot through her stomach. Time was running out for her so she tried her best to ignore it. She looked at the young teen to her side, "I'm Michelle Takenouchi, your mother."
Sudden hate flew through Ami's veins. Thought's raced through her head at top speeds. She couldn't believe that now of all times, when she was 16, that they had finally decided to tell her about her mother and let her meet her. She looked up at her with hatred and stared into the ember eyes of her mother, "Why now? Why did you wait this long?" She jumped out of her chair and paced back and forth before sitting back down again.
"Look, I can tell you are feeling hate, especially towards me. But I regret all of this, this was a mistake. I had to fix this no matter how old you are. It had to be done now. And I'm truly sorry about that." Mrs. Takenouchi coughed as she closed her eyes. She really didn't want to see the hate in her youngest daughters eyes.
Ami leaned back in her chair putting her hands behind her head for support, closing her eyes in thought. "Well, I'm sure there was a good reason. I shouldn't hate someone I don't know." She looked at Sora who had remained silent the whole time, "I might even like this." Ami looked back at her mother and said, "I guess there is a good reason and I'm sure I'll find out some other day," Ami smiled, "I don't hate you."
Mrs. Takenouchi's eyes flew open in surprise and shock was written all over her face. She hadn't expected her to say that at all. A tear fell down her face, "Thank you." She smiled. Pain again shot through her body. This time it felt like thousands of knives constantly stabbing her in her stomach and organs. Her eyes snapped closed as she bit her lower lip to keep herself from screaming.
The nurse jumped up telling the other two to leave now as she went searching for more painkillers. This was all coming down to the last hour.
Sora and Ami slowly trudged out of the room both deep in some serious thoughts. Side-by-Side the two made their way back down to the cafeteria just to sit and talk, which they both thought was well deserved for the both of them. They both knew in the back of their minds that this whole situation was going to be extremely hard on them.
Mimi was hopping around in pure happiness in the cafeteria as all the destined laughed while congratulating her and Matt just sighed at Mimi's actions before joining in with her. This of course started a new riot of laughter from everyone.
Tai couldn't help but laugh. He truly wished that this would be him and Sora. He wanted to have kids with her, wake up next to her, and love her. That's all he wanted in his life. He then saw Sora enter the cafeteria out of the corner of his eye so he slipped away from the others. That's when he noticed a teenager that looked quite a bit like Sora following her. They both had horrible looks plastered on their faces.
Kari then noticed where Tai had slipped of to so she watched him from where she stood. Everyone by this time had followed her gaze and calmed down. They some how began to feel the pain that Sora was feeling. It was that bond that had connected then all together since the digiworld.
Ami suddenly felt way out of place. It was obvious to her that Sora knew all of them and she could sense a long explanation coming about her.
Just then two more people burst into the room stopping only to catch their breaths.
"Cody, Izzy, nice to see you got my message," Takeru said while stepping towards them.
This caused Ami to look up. Cody? As in her boyfriend Cody? She saw the figure standing behind the man with red short spiky hair. It was her Cody. He looked up and saw Ami. He smiled as he began to make his way to her. His brown hair covered his green eyes as he stopped inches away from her and bent down to kiss her lightly on her lips.
She blushed a light shade of red and whispered so only he could hear, "I love you."
"I love you too," he said while he turned around to see every one looking at the two. He even turned red when he was the huge smirk on Sora's face.
"Sorry Ami, I didn't realize that was you," Takeru said with Kari at his side agreeing with him. She didn't know why she didn't see it sooner that they were Cody's friends, the digidestinied they called themselves.
She laughed nervously, "Well, I didn't really recognize you either." She took the chance and slipped behind Cody some so she could be hidden a little from everybody.
Nurse Kino ran in the room with tears streaming down her face. She looked for her two granddaughters and found them talking to a group of people. She ran up to the and when they saw her face they knew that their mother was gone. They both looked at each other before breaking down in tears. Sora had cried because she never go to be the woman that her mother wanted her to be and Ami cried because she never got the chance to know her own mother.
Everyone else walked off silently to let the three cry together.
The rain hit the grass softly as a small group of people gathered around the freshly dug grave. The grave of Mrs. Michelle Takenouchi. Flowers were being arranged around the headstone by the two daughters Sora and Ami. Every one else had begun to leave now that the service was over.
The two had taken the time to get to know each other well over the past two weeks since. They really did enjoy each other's company and realized exactly how much they have in common. Tai stood next to Sora as she began to cry the last of her tears as Cody did the same for Ami. The two sisters glanced at each other before smiling sadly at the flower job they had done around the grave. The two stood up and slowly turned their backs and walked away with all the memories of the past weeks playing in their minds.
The group had all crammed into the limo before it took everyone home.
Tai looked down at his hands as he thought, "Should I do it now? I want it to be special, but I can't wait. And to ask around our closest friends does make it pretty special." He put his hand in his pocket to make sure he still had the ring, which luckily he did. This was it and he wasn't going to stop.
"Sora?" he said softly while looking into her eyes.
"Yes?"
"You love me right?" he paused waiting for an answer.
"You know I do. With all of my heart." She said not really knowing where Tai was taking this.
"Sora, I love you. No words in this world can ever express that." He made his way in front of Sora in the limo and sat on the ground while he gazed up at her. Every one was looking at him praying he was doing what they thought he was doing. "I would do anything for you, protect you, die for you, love you. I want to be with you every second of my life. I want to have kids with you, wake up next to you every morning and see your beautiful face. You make me who I am Sora." He paused as he got the ring out of his pocket as he watched Sora's face smiling back at him with tears forming in her eyes. "Please, I exist only for you. Will you please complete me by becoming my wife?"
Sora threw herself down on the floor next to Tai and hugged him as hard as she could, "Yes Tai, I will. I love you just as much. I could never live without you." She kissed him passionately as everyone else cheered in the limo.
"Hey you two. Maybe we could have a double wedding?" Kari said while laughing at the two in front of her.
"Maybe, Maybe not. Depends on who wants to get married the quickest." Sora said as she kissed Tai once more before snuggling next to him the rest of the ride home.
Well, Review please. Say what you wan, nothing new of course.
