Taichi Yagami : Tai Kamiya
Sora Takenouchi : no change
Yamato Ishida : Matt Ishida
Koushiro Izumi: Izzy Izumi
Mimi Tachikawa : no change
Joe Kido : no change
Takeru Takaishi : TK Takaishi
Hikari Yagami : Kari Yagami
Miyako: Yolei
Daisuke: Davis
Iori: Cody
Any quotes taken from the series (ie: the Christmas scene) are from the japanese version.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Star That Shone So Brightly
By Sorato Sora
Chapter One: Meri Kurisumasu
"
I have a passionate
heart, too
But I just can't
Use it as a shield
I'm all right
on my own
I'll even walk the edge of a knife
I'll even walk the edge of a knife "
The crowd applauded as the Teen-age Wolves finished their last song for the night. Sitting in the front row were Taichi Yagami, Sora Takenouchi, Joe Kido, Mimi Tachikawa, and Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi. All of the older original digidestined had decided to get together for the concert despite the cold December weather. It was nice to see everyone together again outside of school, and even in class it was hard to get everyone together. Different schedules and after school activities kept them apart, a foreign feeling after all the time they had spent together in the digital world.
As the crowd began to thin out, the five of them made their way to the back to meet up with Yamato Ishida, the bands lead vocalist.
"So what'd you think?" Yamato asked, leading the group to a back room. "Are you going to ask us that every time we go to one of your concerts?" Taichi asked exhasperated. Yamato laughed. "I dunno. Maybe one day I'll stop."
"Anyway you were fine Yamato." Mimi complimetned, moving to hug the friend she hadn't seen in so long. He returned the hug uncomfortably. He had never been too fond of emotions.
"You really were good. And the crowds at your concerts seem to be getting bigger." Joe added. Sora nodded. "It's all those fangirls, lining up ta see ya!" She smiled jokingly at Yamato who shook his head in digust. "Please. Who cares about those girls? Why would anyone concider going for a girl who only likes you for your celebrity."
"Don't sell yourself so short." Mimi commented. "You're talented too.'
"And inteligent." Added Izzy.
"And good looking." Sora completed the compliments.
"Ne, ne." Taichi commented. "Who'd have thought Sora would think such thoughts about the Teenage Wolf." Sora's mouth hung agape as she shook her head. She looked at Taichi's sly grin, then at Yamato who was staring right back at her. There was a slight smile on his lips, but she was certain it was just a figment of her imagination.
"You know what I mean." She said, regaining her composure. "That's just what all those girls think.' Taichi shrugged and feigned indifference. "Whatever. Not like it matters."
"What do you mean like it matters!" Sora shot out. "If it doesn't matter then why'd you say something?!"
"So I could see you blush." Taichi answered. Sora felt her face go red. Taichi laughed nervously. The rest of the group all stared at each other, wondering if he had been joking or meant what he said. Taichi was the type who would say something like that just to embarrass her, but if that was the case then why did the two go silent? "Uh, I could be wrong in saying this, but don't we have more pressing matters to deal with?" Izzy interupted.
"Yeah. Like where are we going to eat?" Yamato asked. Instantly they all began spouting out ideas and arguing over where to grab lunch. In the end they decided on a small hibachi house.
*~
"and how me and Agumon almost ate those mushrooms. We would have wandered around for days, not knowing what was going on."
"Talk about food." Yamato injected. "How about the Pikomon village. Nothing like birdseed for dinner!"
The group laughed over the memories they had all shared, some more enjoyable then others. "Look at the time." Joe commented. "We should probably get going."
"Yeah." Sora agreed, looking out at the dark streets. "My mom will kill me if I don't get home for dinner."
"Well, I'm not about to leave." Mimi sighed. "I'll see you tommorow though, okay Sora?"
"Sure. Bye guys!"
"See you!"
Sora and Joe walked out and the rest of the group continued talking. Izzy left not much later, followed by Yamato, and then Taichi and Mimi left as well.
~*~*~*~*~
"Hello. Takenouchi residence." Sora said after she picked up the ringing phone. It had been about a week since the big get-together.
"Hi, Sora. This is Hikari."
"Oh Hikari! How are you?"
"I'm fine. How about you?"
"Same old, same old. So what's up?"
"Well, me and Miyako were planning to go to the bath house today and we thought you might want to come too."
Sora pulled back the blinds on her window to look out at the blanket of snow over the city. "Really, the bath house? I guess it would be a nice way to warm up. How about I meet you guys there."
"Okay. Get there around noon, okay?"
"Sure." Sora hung up the phone and headed into the bathroom to shower. The idea of it seemed somewhat comical, showering to go out and take a bath, but she refused to go out as she was. Afterwards she changed into some warm clothes and checked the time. "11:00.Guess I might as well go now."
She quickly scribbled a note for her mother, then ran to the train station. Once at the bath house she threw her clothes in a locker and went into the steamy bath room. A little while later Miyako and Hikari stepped into the bath house and scanned the room for Sora. Seeing her sitting not too far away then went to join her.
"Hey there Sora." Miyako greeted. "Sorry to make you wait, but Hikari takes hours to get undressed."
"Oh please." Hikari retorted. "You're the one who had to stop evey five feet to see if you could find out where the boys were." Miyako's face turned cherry red. "Yeah.. well" The purple haired girl stuttered for a moment more, then in unison all three girls began to laugh and the argument was forgotten.
"So, you guys wanna hit the bath?" Hikari asked. Miyako and Sora nodded and the three of them got into the steaming water.
"Man" Miyako sighed, stretching out. "I can't believe it's almost Christmas. The years gonna be over soon."
"Tell me about it." Sora agreed. "Time is going way to fast. I can remember being in the digital world for the first time as if it were yesterday, but I know it was really a long long time ago."
Together Miyako and Sora looked blankly in disappointment. "Cheer up you guys. So what if the years almost other, it's almost Christmas!" Miyako glared sideways at Hikari. "You're only saying that because you have both Takeru and Daisuke ready to spend the entire day with you."
"T-That's not true. Daisuke is just joking all the time, and Takeru"
"And Takeru?"
"We're just friends is all."
"Yeah right. Come on, I know there's something between you two." Miyako insisted. "Spill." Hikari looked at Miyako nervously and embarassed, then looked towards Sora. "Well, it's nothing like Sora's life!" Hikari pointed towards the older girl, her finger shaking with intensity. Sora's eyes widened in shock.
"What are you talking about?" Sora screamed. Hikari slid up alongside her and stared slyly. "I'm sure you and my brother have the whole day all planned out."
"That's not true!"
"Oh-ho." Miyako jumped in. "So you have the whole night planned out then?"
"Miyako!"
Both of them kept badgering her until she was forced to do something drastic, pushing both their heads under the water. They both popped back up laughing but they stopped when they noticed Sora's solemn expression.
"What's wrong Sora?" Hikari asked. "Taichi didn't do something mean, did he?"
Sora took in a sharp breath, her mouth twitching. "Why does everyone think my life revolves around Taichi?" She started the question in a yell, but dropped her voice quickly. "We've never gone out or anything like that, so why do people insist on shoving us together? There are other people in the world you know. Maybe I don't want to spend Christmas with him, and never even thought to. Maybe there are other people I'd rather spend my time with, so just stop trying to push your brother on me and leave me alone."
Sora got out of the large bath and wrapped a towel around herself, then went to change. Miyako and Hikari looked at each other puzzled, then ran to follow their friend.
"Sora"
They found her sitting on a bench, drying herself off. She looked up at them solemnly, then smiled. "I'm sorry about that." She apologized. "I've just been really stressed out right now. I didn't mean to get mad at you."
"It's okay." Hikari assured her. "I really thought that you and Taichi were, well together. Or at least close to it." Sora nodded. "I know. I really do care for Taichi, and I know he cares about me. I'm just not sure I care for him in that way."
"So who do you like?" Miyako asked, sitting down to get dressed. Sora's face flushed, realizing the conversation was right back where it had started. "I don't know. I mean, Taichi and I have been spending a lot of time together, but now that Yamato's band has finally gotten itself together, I've been able to see him more too. Taichi and I always stayed close, but I think I might have missed Yamato more than I enjoyed being with Taichi."
"So then, what you're saying is that you like both of them, but you don't know who you like more?" Sora nodded again. "Not only that, but I don't think Yamato would ever even consider me. I know he hates the fact that so many girls hang all over him, but there must be at least someone that he knows likes him that he likes back. Even if I do like him, it's just safer to ask Taichi."
"Don't say that!" Miyako exclaimed. "You can't just give up because you're afraid. If you don't ask, then you'll never know!"
"But, there's still Taichi. I'm afraid he might ask me to spend Christmas with him. Then what do I do?"
"Don't worry about my brother." Hikari advised her. "I know he cares about you, and I know he'd understand. He won't be mad at you or anything I don't think." Sora closed her eyes and sighed. Not wanting to stress her out anymore, Miyako decided to change subjects. "So then, Hikari. What about you?"
"Eh?"
"Daisuke, or Takeru? Who will you be with, huh?"
Hikari turned her face away with a look of disinterest. "I won't be spending it with anyone but my family. Sorry to disappoint you." Miyako smiled crookidly and raised an eye brow. "If you insist. Well we should probably head home now huh? I promised Iori that I'd help him with something."
"And what something is that?" Hikari asked, eager to get back at her friend. "Just something." Miyako answered quickly. Hikari shook her head and smiled. "If you insist. Well, see you later then. Remember we have to figure out when we're going back to the digital world so call me, okay?"
"Sure thing." Miyako got up and ran to the door, then turned and waved. "See you guys later. Good luck Sora, Hikari." Tightening her jacket, Miyako ran out and headed for the exit.
"I should probably go too." Sora said with an apologetic smile. "Are you coming?"
"No. Daisuke, Takeru and Ken are here too, so I have to wait for them." Sora nodded and put her hand on Hikari's shoulder. "See you around then. Bye." Sora walked out, waving back quickly as the door shut behind her.
A few minutes later Hikari could hear a high pitched screaming in the halls. Throwing on her jacket over her clothes she ran out.
"I still can't believe you could do this to us Miyako!"
"Lemme go! I was just looking for you to find out when you were gonna leave!"
"Right! You weren't looking for us, you were looking at us Miyako! You perverted girl!"
Hikari watched the scene in shock. Daisuke and Takeru were dragging Miyako down the hall while Ken followed behind them, his face red. Security headed towards the group and Daisuke quickly dropped Miyako to run, closely followed by the rest.
~*~*~*~*~
The weeks passed by slowly while Sora continued to weigh her options. She set aside time for both Taichi and Yamato is order to see where she enjoyed herself most. It wasn't until she woke on Christmas morning and looked out her frosted windows that she came to her final decision.
Sleepily she wandered over towards her closet to put on a pair of old jeans and a sweater. Snuggling in the soft shirts warmth she headed into the kitchen and pulled out one of her mothers cookbooks.
"Hmm Mm Ah, here we go. Chocolate chip cookies. This looks easy enough."
Setting the book down, Sora began pouring and mixing the numerous ingredients into a large bowl. As she added the enormous batch of flour to the mix she felt her arm begin to strain as she stirred. She stopped pouring to use both her arms while steadying the bowl against the corner of the wall and counter-top. Once the white powder was fully mixed in she began pouring again, realizing she only had about half of her dry ingredients in the bowl. Groaning she moved back into the corner, realizing she would be there for a while.
Half an hour or so later she had finished mixing and was ready to bake. She dropped pieces of the mix onto a cookie tray, then pushed it into the oven.
"Wow. That took a lot longer than I thought it would." She sighed, sitting down in the next room. "Now I can relax."
As she leaned back the phone next to her began to ring. "Hello, Takenouchi residence."
"Hi, Sora. It's me, Hikari."
"Oh, hey Hikari. What's up?"
"Well, I really need you to come meet me at the park. Now."
"Eh? Is something wrong?"
"You'll see. Just get down here, okay?"
"Okay. But Hikari can't you te-"
Before Sora could find out what was going on, Hikari had hung up. I better get down there right away. The auburn haired girl jumped up and ran into the bathroom to quickly clean her face and rinse her hair from any powder that had drifted up from the bowl of mix. Towel drying her hair, she opened her closet with her foot and pulled out a purple skirt and yellow shirt. She changed into the new outfit, then threw on her blue coat and pink scarf. Just as she was about to leave she stopped dead.
'Oh no! The cookies!'
She skidded into the kitchen, stopping in front of the oven. "Man, they aren't done yet. Oh well. I'll just turn the heat off and finish them when I get back." Sora quickly turned the dial, then ran out of her apartment.
*~
In the park she found the rest of the digidestined already waiting. Taichi, Yamato and the rest of the older kids were standing to one side, facing Daisuke and the others who had some rather large bags in front of them.
"Hey. What's going on?" she asked in a huff as she ran up to them. "We don't know yet." Taichi answered. She took her place among her friends, debating where she should stand. She wanted to stand next to him but was afraid she might act weirdly. She was left with no time to debate as someone else spoke.
"Well, since you're all here I guess it's okay." Daisuke said, getting the attention of his elders. "Go!"
Suddenly the bags popped open and out of each came a digimon. "Piyomon!" Sora exclaimed, embracing her partner. "I don't believe it! It's really you!"
After much thanks everyone began to head home. Glancing at her watch, Sora winced.'It's only two hours until the concert. I better hurry.'
*~
"Uwaah! What happened?! They're all dry and crumbly!"
Sora stared at the sheet of cookies which were dryer than any she had ever seen before. "I don't believe it."
"What's wrong Sora?" Piyomon asked, flying up to see what was on the tray. "Wow! Food! Can I have some?"
"Yeah..." Sora mumbled solemnly. "You can have them all. I just don't understand what happened. I turned the oven off before I left."
"But you left the tray in the oven afterwards."
Sora jumped and turned around. "Okaasan?" The woman walked over and rested her hand on her daughters shoulder. "This oven, even if you turn it off, it's still very hot inside. So those cookies continued to bake while you were gone. That's what happened."
"But I don't have time to waste." She said exasperated. "I have to finish these soon, or else it will be too late."
"What's the hurry dear? What are these cookies for anyway?'
"Uh well" Sora blushed as both her mother and Piyomon looked at her for an answer.
"Yamato they're.. they're for Yamato."
"Yamato? The blond haired boy?" Her mother asked. Sora nodded. "Why are you bringing him food Sora?" Piyomon asked. Her human counterpart fidgited while her mother smiled. "Well Piyomon," her mother began, still finding it odd to talk to the pink birdlike creature. "Here in Japan, Christmas is a holiday of love. Traditionally you bring a gift to the object of your affection. By bringing Yamato a gift, she's saying I like you'."
"Mom! I never said that!" Ms. Takenouchi laughed lightly at her daughter. "You never had to say it honey. But nevermind that. You still have some of the cookie dough left, right? So let's bake that up, alright?"
"Uh huh."
Twenty minutes later Sora was pulling out a tray of golden brown cookies from the over. "Mmm" she sighed, taking in the homely scent. "They look perfect." She smiled happily over the effort she had put into this gift. She looked up at the clock and felt her stomach twist. One hour. He'll have left his place already. I'll have to give it to him while they're setting up I guess.
Her mother helped her pack the cookies into a small green box, then tied a red ribbon onto it expertly. "There you go." She smiled. "Good luck Sora dear." Sora kissed her mothers cheek and returned the smile. "Thanks Mom."
She quickly put on her coat and sweater, then called Piyomon to the door. "C'mon Piyomon! We have to hurry!"
"Coming Sora!" The digimon ran up and out the door, followed by Sora. Inside Sora's mother smiled fondly as she realized her daughter had truly grown up into a beautiful young woman. Turning around to clean up Sora's mess she silently wished her the best of luck.
~*~*~*~*~
Outside the concert hall Sora stood by the back entrance nervously. "Sora why are you stopping at this place?" Piyomon asked. Sora just continued to stare at the door, shaking. What if he doesn't like them. What if there's someone else thereand he gets mad at me for interruptingor for coming at all. He might just give the gift right back if he if he doesn't
"Hey! Sora, what are you doing here?" Sora turned her face to see Taichi approach her.
"Taichi" she glanced down at the gift in her hands and shifted, her face blushing. She could give it to him then, just say she had only stopped by on the way to his house. But, she couldn't do that. She recalled Miyako's encouragement. If she didn't go through with this, she would never know.
She flinched a little as the door in front of her opened. Half expecting Yamato she relaxed when she heard Gabumon's voice. "Wow! Something smells yummy." The equally food crazed Agumon next to Taichi began to get excited. "Huh?! What?"
"Is that for Yamato?" Taichi asked. Sora blushed further. "Ya something like that." She answered.
"What is it? Hand made?" Damn. He was asking too much, showing too much of an interest. Was he upset. She couln't tell and was afraid to find out. Rather than asking she decided to change the tone of her approach. "That's none of your business." She stated.
"Won't you come in?" Gabumon asked somewhat impatiently.
"Sora keeps standing here and shaking." Piyomon informed him.
"Hey! Piyomon!" Sora yelped. The last thing she needed was for Taichi to know what was really happening inside her. "Go ahead. The concert's beginning soon." He told her. She found herself speachless. Taichi was telling her to go in. Confusion struck her. "Um..un" She stuttered. He moved towards her with an encouraging smile and rested his hand on her shoulder, then gave her a small push towards the entrance. "Hurry." He instructed her. "But.."
"If you don't, I'll eat it." Agumon threatened.
"Um.. I see. I'm going now." She told him. As walked through the door she could hear Taichi behind her. "Good luck Sora."
She walked down the hall Gabumon had taken towards where she knew Yamato was practicing. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she should just turn around and Yamato would never know she had been there. Of course there was Gabumon who had no doubt gone ahead to let him know she was there. On the other hand there was a chance that Taichi was still behind her.
She stopped walking for a moment to recall the look on his face when she told him she was there for Yamato. She and Taichi had grown up as best friends and she didn't want to see this come between them.
The arguments of her decision flashed through her mind again as it had so many times before. She had seen Taichi as the safer alternative, but the way he had acted outside was different. He seemed more concerned than upset. Perhaps she had misjudged him, and by that reasoning she could have very well misjudged Yamato as well.
"Sora? Is something wrong?" Piyomon asked with a worried look on her face. Sora shook her head and started walking again. "It's nothing."
~*~*~*~*~
Outside in the cold a young man walked bitterly down the street.
"Taichi? Taichi what's wrong? Why aren't you answering me?"
Agumon stared at Taichi's solemn expression as he walked alongside his human partner. "Taichi?" Without warning Taichi broke out into a run, leaving Agumon behind.
"Sora Why?"
~*~*~*~*~
Sora stood at the edge of a large room. Band equipment was set up in the center and across the room she could see Yamato unpacking something. A chill ran up her spine, making her body shake nervously. As she was about to walk over she felt something smack into her from behind, making her fall forward.
"Yamato-kun! I brought you a gift!"
Sora could hear Jun's chattering somewhat far away. She lifted herself up partway and felt her head spin. Putting her hand against her temple she groaned in confusion.
Once the dizziness stopped her vision cleared and she was able to see what she had landed on.
"Oh no" she somewhat whined, sitting up and staring at the crushed box in front of her. She pulled it open and sighed. Inside were broken pieces and crumbs of the cookies she had brought. "And I spent all day on them."
As she reclosed the box a hand came into her view. Looking up she saw Yamato smiling down at her. Embarassedly she accepted his help and stood up.
They both stood facing each other wordless. Yamato ran his fingers through his hair and smiled crookidly. Sora bit down on the inside of her lip, desperate to somehow reverse what had happened. Absentmindedly she let her fingers play with the loose ribbon around the box.
"Is that for me?"
Sora shot her head up and Yamato notioned toward the box.
"H-hai. But then Jun came in and I kind of fell on it." She laughed in attempt to calm her nerves. "Speaking of which, where is Jun?"
"Daisuke followed her and dragged her home fortunately."
"Oh well anyway I'm sorry about your gift."
"I'm sure it's fine." Yamato answered with a slight laugh. He took the box and opened it up, then took one of the larger pieces and bit into it. Sora watched him apprehensively until he smiled.
"These are really good."
"You think so?"
Yamato nodded and took another piece. "I'm sorry they're all broken up." Sora apologized again. She felt as if something was wrong and that was all she could think to do. "Don't worry about it. As long as they still taste good, right?" They both smiled and fell into a less awkward silence.
"Hey Yamato!"
The rest of the band members came in, interupting the two digidestined. "Hate to interupt but we gotta get ready for the show." Yamato looked at Sora and smiled quickly. "Sorry but I gotta go." She shook her head with a smile and turned around. Walking away she felt her eyes burn. He hadn't done anything. He just took the gift like any other, like he didn't even care. But when they had been there, just together and quiet, there was something there that she had never seen in him before. An understanding. "Ne, Sora?"
She blinked the hanging tears from her eyes and turned around. "Yeah?"
"I thought that maybe, you might wanna get something to eat or something after the concert, if you don't have anything else planned for Christmas that is." She smiled.
"That'd be nice."
"Yamato! Come on!"
"Just a minute!" Yamato glared at his friends, then turned back to Sora. "So I'll see you later then?"
"Sure." Sora turned and left the room and Yamato was finally able to feel the tension lifted from him. He smiled towards the doorway one last time, then got ready to practice and set up.
~*~*~*~*~
Taichi sat on a cold bench, rubbing his hands together for warmth. He ran the previous event over again in his mind. The blush on her cheek, the smile of embarassment, the pain of realization and the mask over his emotions. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
'I just don't get it.' He thought, leaning back and looking upward. 'I never thought she'd ever show an interest in Yamato. She should know she'll just end up getting her heart broken. He doesn't have time for anyone, and he's already got tons of girls following him around. I just don't want to see her hurt.'
He sat forward quickly and bit his lip. The sinking feeling he had assumed to be jealousy was more a matter of concern. He had an interest in Sora, no doubt about that, but not so much that he would deny her what she wanted and not let her make her own decisions. If things worked out, he realized, he wouldn't be upset, just happy for her. He wouldn't have to put up a false face at all.
With a feeling of freedom he stood and headed back to the concert, running the full distance. When he arrived he looked over the crowd until he found his friends.
Sora looked up at Taichi with worry as he came towards her. "Taichi? What are you doing here? Agumon said you'd left."
"Well I couldn't let Christmas go by without spending some time with my best friends, could I?" Taichi looked behind Sora at Koushiro and Joe. "Say, where are the others? I thought eveyone was coming"
"Well, Ken asked Daisuke and the others to come to his house. And Mimi couldn't make another trip out of the country so soon."
"Oh. Oh well, at least we all made it, right?"
"Yeah."
Taichi sat down next to Sora and glanced over at her nervously. Knowing the situation that had been created, he decided to make the most of it and improve his friendship with her. "So, how'd things go with Yamato?" A blush crept onto Sora's cheeks and she glanced over at Taichi. He was smiling and seemed to be genuinely happy. Perhaps things weren't as complicated as she had thought. "Pretty good I guess. We're meeting up after the concert."
"Yeah, that's good." He still thought he might have to force that last comment, but seeing the smile on her face; he really was happy for her.
Before the two could discuss things any further, Gabumon crept in and sat himself between Sora and Taichi. "Are you crazy?" Taichi whispered in a hiss. "You can't just come out here!" He pulled his jacket off and threw it over Gabumon to conseal him as much as possible.
"We'd like to thank everyone for coming! Now, let's get this thing started."
The concert began and everyone in the audience cheered.
"We first
met walking on our own paths
Everyone holds something different in their hearts
Next to feelings of fighting is a heart that can become weak
My team will be there then, I won't forget it
"
KRNGGNG
Yamato looked over at his equipment as a sound of interference came through. He continued playing till the sound repeated, followed by a rumbling. Suddenly the wall behind the band exploded and a hoard of digimon came through. People in the crowd all began screaming and headed for the exit while the digidestined stayed behind, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I'm going outside to see what's going on." Taichi turned and ran out of the building with Agumon. As Sora was about to follow the ground shook and the ceiling above her started to come down. Sora screamed as Yamato ran towards her from the stage to protect her. Her eyes sqeezed tight as he pulled her away. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah." She nodded shakily, then they both went out to find the others.
Out on the streets people ran for their lives while a select few looked up into the sky in horror. "A control spire." Taichi exclaimed. "That means we can't digivolve."
In a blur of actions, the younger digidestined showed up and destroyed the control spire, allowing the original digimon to digivolve. Once they had done so they proceeded to round up the digimon and send them back to the digital world. The digimon reverted to their smaller forms and for the first time the original and second set of digidestined celebrated victory together.
*~
"Thank you again for walking with me. And I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves at my house. I'm glad you came."
As Ken disappeared into the shadows everyone began to split up. They were headed for the train station but Hikari noticed Sora was walking slower than the others.
"Sora, what's wrong?"
"Huh? Oh nothing. It's just I think I might just walk home. It's a nice night."
"But it's already so late out. If you want you can come to our house I'm sure our parents won't mind."
"Hikari." Taichi shook his head at his sister. "It's okay. Let Sora be." He looked over at Sora and smiled. "Hey, Yamato, Takeru lives pretty close to us so I'll take him home if you stay with Sora."
"Huh?" Yamato jumped a little. "What do you mean?"
"Well Sora's too scrawny to be walking alone at night." He laughed. "One of us strong guys has to protect her."
"Is that so?" Sora asked, chasing Taichi around in circles. "I'll show you who's scrawny!"
Everyone laughed until the two friends stopped running. "We really should get home." Iori said, starting to walk towards the station. Everyone agreed and started walking, leaving Sora and Yamato alone. She blushed and looked downward. "You don't have to walk with me you know." She told him. "I'll be okay on my own."
"That's alright. I don't mind walking. Like you said, it's a nice night."
Lights on the avenue
All seem so far away
I'm up here drinking a toast to you
On such a special day
The two walked in silence for a while. Yamato started humming a tune as they walked. "You're concert was really good." Sora complimented. "Well, what we got to see of it anyway." He laughed a bit and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but you always say that."
Tonight is the night for I love you's
Wish we could have this feeling
Throughout the year
Christmas is here
"But it's true! You, Yamato Ishida, are a very talented musician."
"Well thank you."
"Now if only you were as much of a gentleman as you are a performer."
Tonight is the night for I love you's
And if you hold me near you
You'll feel my heart
Beating for two
"What are you talking about?" he asked, shocked. "I'm a perfect gentleman."
"Are you kidding me?! I'm freezing my butt off! The least you could do is say something."
"Yeah, but if I did, I'd have to give you my jacket and then I'd be freezing."
"Ba~ka." She yelled playfully. "Gentleman indeed!"
"I'm just kidding." He apologized happily. "Come here." He shifted towards her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Is that better?"
Tonight is the night for I love you's
Up above the snow is falling
And stars disappear
My heart is calling
Christmas is here
When they had finally gotten back, Yamato walked Sora to the door of her apartment. "Uh, Th-thank you. For everything" She said, her back to the door.
"No problem. I just hope I was gentlemanly enough for you." She laughed and opened the door. "You were just fine. Now get home okay? It's late."
"Alright, alright. I'm going. I'll see you tommorrow, okay?"
"Alright. Bye Merry Christmas Yamato-kun." She whispered as he turned away.
"Merry Christmas Sora."