RING-RING-RING
"I'll get it!!" Sora Takenouchi yelled as she reached for the small phone. "Hello? Takenouchi residence." Sora stood 5 feet 8 and she was in 9th grade. Her short brown hair was wet from the shower she had just taken. It was a humid July day and Sora had just gotten done with her soccer practice.
"Hello Sora." A warm voice said from the other line.
"Hi Mrs. Kamiya." Sora replied in a kind tone. She sat down at the small wooden table and began to eat the apple she had been holding in her hand since she had gotten dressed.
"Can you please watch Kari for me till Wednesday? Mr. Kamiya and I have to go out of town for a few days. Tai should be over a friend's house so he won't bother you."
"Sure! I'd be glad to watch Kari! What time?" Sora replied as she took a small bite of the sweet tasting green apple.
"Can you come at 4:00?" Mrs. Kamiya asked.
Sora looked at the digital clock on the wall. It read 2:47. "That's fine. See you then!" Sora replied, hanging up the white phone. She walked into her room, after finishing her apple, and sat on her bed. She looked out of the little window onto the grayish streets below. Pedestrians walked slowly through the crowded sidewalks of Odiaba. Nearby was the park and she loved to go there, especially since she went to the Digiworld and seen how beautiful a place could really be.
Sora opened her journal that she hid under her bed. She read some entries that she had placed in it.
~
~ October 14
Dear journal,
I miss Biyomon. Okay, lets start from the beginning. Biyomon had to go back to the Digiworld a couple days ago. Things seem quiet around here; it's already been a year since the last time we were at the Digiworld! The Digimon were only allowed to stay for a little while, Gennai didn't tell us why. But I was so sad when Biyomon and the others had to leave. Tai and Kari came over the day the Digimon left and we talked about the good times in the Digiworld. I'm glad Tai came over to comfort me. Look at the time! I've got to go to soccer practice! Bye!
~ Sora
~
~ December 17
Dear journal,
I can't tell Tai how I feel. I've liked him since before we went to the Digiworld. He called me up today and we talked about nothing in particular.
I went to babysit, or actually hang out with Kari. She's in 6th grade now, about a old as I was when we first went to the Digiworld! Her mom still calls it babysitting, but Kari and me just call it hanging out because she is too old to be babysat by me.
Tai is soo cute!! I'm glad that we're friends. I really like him, but I don't want to ruin or friendship. Gotta go make dinner 'cause Mom's working late again, bye!!
~ Sora
~
Sora looked through the entries; most of them talked about Tai and some other stuff. She closed the small, green notebook and glanced quickly at her wall clock.
"3:17! I've got to get ready!" Sora said out loud to herself. She grabbed her small blue backpack and shoved her journal and some clothes into it, since she was going to spend a few nights over the Kamiya's house. She flung he backpack over her shoulder and walked back into the kitchen, looking for her Mother.
"Hey Mom!" Sora called as she saw her mother. Her mother looked up and smiled.
"What is it Sora?" She asked. Sora sat down beside her.
"I'm going to be over at the Kamiya's for a few days to hang with Kari while her parents are away. I should be home on Wednesday." Sora said smiling. Mrs. Takenouchi smiled and nodded her head.
"Watch out for Tai!" She said jokingly, causing Sora to blush.
"Mom!" Sora said with a laugh. Her mom knew that Sora liked Tai, especially after reading her journal. "Tai will probably be over his friend's house. Don't worry!"
Sora's mom grinned. "The fact that your telling me not to worry is the thing that's making me worry!" Her mom laughed. Then she gave Sora a hug. "Have a good time with Kari." Sora nodded then waved goodbye, quickly glancing at the clock; 3:30. 'Just enough time to walk there an get there on time.' Sora thought as she walked out the door, waving to her mom.
Sora walked along the sidewalk, it's gray face cracked and old. Small plants were growing in-between the small cracks, their green blades splitting the cement even more. Sora marveled at the surprises of nature; you take away its home and cover it up, and it'll still grow back. She looked forward and saw one of her friends walking to the school. Sora waved, then turned the corner on her way to Kari's. All of the noise of the city floated in the warm air, overwhelming Sora's mind. This place, her home, was so different then the serene Digiworld, except for when the Digimon were battling. But even then it seemed natural, unlike all of the busyness of the city.
~~~
Kari stood in her room, actually her and Tai's room. There wasn't enough rooms in the small apartment for each of them to have their own room, but they didn't mind sharing. She walked into the kitchen to find her mom sitting on the couch watching the news. "Kari, me and your father are going out of town for a few days, so Sora is coming over to watch you. Will you be good for her?" Kari's mom asked when Kari sat down beside her.
Kari smiled and patted her purring cat, Meeko. "Of course I will Mom!! Will Tai be here?" Kari said. Meeko stood up and stretched as Tai walked into the room.
"Tai will be going over to his friend's house, so he won't bother you two." Kari's mom replied. Tai sat in the small chair nearby.
"What won't I be here for??" He asked Kari curiously. His mom went into the kitchen. Kari looked up at the clock.
"Sora will be coming over in a half an hour to stay with me a few days." Kari replied with a smile. "But you'll be over Matt's house." She said teasingly.
Tai smiled, then slowly frowned as the realization that he wouldn't be there flowed into his mind. He shrugged and then went into his room, gathering some clothes into a bag. "I'll call at 5:00 Kari, to make sure you're alright." He added quickly.
"I'm 11 years old Tai, I'll be fine. But call if you want." Kari replied with a grin.
Tai smiled. "See you later Mom! Bye Dad! I'll call you later Kari!" Tai shouted as he ran out the door.
Kari waved and sat down on the couch, carefully watching the clock.
~~~
Sora looked at her pocket watch: 3:57. Perfect timing. She ran to the Kamiya's door and rang the doorbell. She heard footsteps and Mrs. Kamiya's kind voice. Mrs. Kamiya opened the door. "Hi Sora." She said. "Just in time."
Sora smiled and stepped in, taking off her sneakers. Kari ran up to her and gave her a huge hug. Sora laughed, Kari was almost as tall as she was! Sora returned Kari's hug and smiled. "I have something for you Kari!" She said.
Kari's brown eyes shone with excitement. "You do? What is it?" Sora laughed.
"You'll see." Sora replied. She turned to Mrs. Kamiya.
"We will be leaving now. Are you sure you two will be alright?" Mrs. Kamiya asked. Both Sora and Kari nodded their heads. "Good. The numbers to where we will be are by the phone. Have fun! Bye you two!!" She said, waving and walking out the door with Mr. Kamiya. Sora and Kari waved.
"So Sora, what do you have for me?!?" Kari asked, turning to Sora.
Sora laughed. "You're not too old for candy, are you?" Sora asked, handing Kari some candy she had bought on the way to Kari's house. "So…what do you want to do?" Sora asked. Kari tried to speak with a mouth full of candy, but it came out all muffled. Sora giggled.
Kari stopped and swallowed, then spoke again. "We can…um…I forgot what I was going to say!" They both burst out laughing.
"Well maybe I can make some dinner for you, it's almost five and I bet you haven't eaten lunch!" Sora exclaimed. Kari's rumbling stomach confirmed her theory.
"It's almost 5 o'clock? That means Tai is going to call soon!" Kari exclaimed, giving Sora a *look*. Sora just smiled and walked into the kitchen, preparing to cook Kari dinner.
~~~
Tai looked at the small clock on the wall of Matt's room. It was 4:53. Tai sighed. He said he would call *after* 5:00, but he just couldn't wait. He nervously stood up. Matt looked at him with a weird look. "Tai, what are you so uptight about?" Matt asked.
Tai turned around abruptly. "I…uh…um…can I use your phone?" He stuttered.
Matt shrugged. "I don't see why not." Tai breathed a sigh of relief. He reached for the phone and dialed his number.
~~~
RING-RING-RING
Kari picked up the phone. "Oh it's you Tai. Do you want to talk to Sora?" Kari asked in a suspicious voice.
"Yes Kari." Tai said in an exasperated voice. "Please."
"Sora!" Kari said, handing Sora the phone.
"Hello?" Sora asked. She walked out of Kari's earshot.
"Hi Sora." Tai said, walking over to the corner, further away from Matt's hearing range. "I…um…I just wanted to see if you guys are alright." He said softly.
"We're fine Tai." Sora replied. She twirled the whitish colored phone cord in her fingers nervously.
"Well…uh…if you want I can come home and help you watch Kari; you know how she can be." Tai stuttered slowly.
Sora smiled. "That's sweet Tai." She said. "I think I'll be fine though, but I'll remember your offer." Sora and Tai continued to talk for a little while, then they both said their good-byes and hung up.
Kari ran over to Sora. "Sooo…" Kari said, cocking an eyebrow.
"Sooo…what?" Sora replied, trying to hide her blush. Kari laughed.
"You've been talking on the phone for over an hour, it's almost 6 o'clock!" Kari giggled.
"Sorry…" Sora said. "Why don't we go do something?" She stood up and followed Kari into her (and Tai's) room.
~~~
Tai hung up the phone and sighed dreamily. "Who was that, hmm?" Matt asked walking up to Tai.
Tai looked up and began to blush lightly. "That was…um…Kari! Yeah, I called Kari to see how she was doing with Sora." Tai quickly said. Matt smiled. 'Uh oh. I said too much.' Tai thought to himself.
"Uh huh. And I heard you say that you would go home and help watch Kari. You're going to help Kari watch herself?" Matt said in an accusing tone.
Tai swallowed hard. "Um…can I get back to you on that?" Matt rolled his eyes at Tai's excuse. This time Matt actually got Tai in a pinch, and he wasn't about to let him off that easily.
"Tai, tell me!"
"Um…er…tell you what?" Tai replied trying to stall Matt.
Matt walked closer, cornering Tai. "Tell me *who* you were talking to on the phone. I know it wasn't Kari."
Tai decided to give in. "Fine. It was…I was talking to…um…it was Sora." Tai mumbled the last few words, making I difficult for Matt to hear him clearly.
Matt cupped his hand over his ear. "What did you say Tai? I couldn't quite hear you." Tai gulped again.
"I said I was talking to Sora and that I love her!" Tai practically screamed, quickly slapping his hand over his mouth, not believing that he had said what he had said. Matt's face grew serious and surprised. Then he smiled faintly. He could barely believe it.
~~~
Sora sat on Tai's bed, a bunk below Kari's, and wrote in her journal. Kari had long since fallen asleep. Sora looked up at the wall clock; it was 10:09.
She yawned and closed her journal, placing it on Tai's desk. She lay on Tai's bed and fell into a light sleep.
~~~
Tai slowly walked into his room, glancing out the window at Matt, who was smiling and nodding his head. Tai took a deep breath and looked at Sora who was sleeping on his bed. He walked closer and then noticed something on his desk. He picked up the small notebook and opened it. He knew that he shouldn't be reading Sora's journal, but he couldn't resist the temptation to know more about Sora. He quietly sat down at his desk and began to read it.
~~~
Sora woke up to find herself in Tai's bed. She blushed and then stood up and stretched. She blinked her eyes and looked up at the clock; it read…9:13! She had never woken up so late. She sighed and noticed that Kari was still sleeping, and then she noticed some movement under Tai's desk. 'It's probably just Meeko.' She thought. But just to be sure, she walked over to the desk and knelt down.
What she saw surprised her. Tai was sitting, curled up under his desk. Sora laughed, causing Tai to jump and hit his head. "*What* are you doing Tai?" She asked.
Tai looked up at her and blushed. "I…uh…Matt's parents had to…er… take Matt somewhere so…um…so I had to come home." Tai stuttered, climbing out from under the desk and standing up.
Sora nodded. "What's that in your hand?" She asked, pointing to the notebook in Tai's hand.
Tai looked down at his hand and then hid it behind his back. "It's n-nothing." He stammered.
"Give it to me Tai!" Sora said, almost yelling. She grabbed a hold of her journal. "Tai! You shouldn't have read my journal. You had no right!" She screamed, turning around and running out of the room.
"Sora! I didn't mean…" Tai called after her. Sora didn't listen to him. She ran into another room and hid in the closet, shutting the door and silently weeping in the dark.
Matt slapped his hand against his head when he saw Sora run out of the room, away from Tai.
Tai ran after her, calling her name. He ran into the room were Sora ran in and heard weeping in the closet. He quietly walked over and opened the door, turning on the light and then closing the door behind him. He sat down beside Sora. "Sora…"
"Go away."
"I'm sorry Sora. I-I never wanted to hurt you. I just couldn't resist to learn more about you."
"But Tai…"
Tai placed a finger over Sora's lips. He smiled at her. "Shh…I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I don't think I could live that way." Sora looked at him, a smile crossing her sad face. "I'm kind of glad I read your journal." He grinned.
"So you know that…" Sora began. Tai nodded his head and leaned closer to her.
~~~
Kari woke up to see Sora and Tai running out of the room. She jumped off of her bunk and then heard some loud knocking. She ran to the door and opened it to find Matt standing impatiently at the door. "Matt? What are you doing here? And why is Tai here. What's going on?!" Kari asked in confusion.
"Hi Kari. Can I come in? We have to find Tai and Sora." Kari let Matt in then shut the door.
"What happened?!" Kari asked. Matt walked through the room, Kari following behind.
"I don't exactly know. Tai told me that he loved Sora, so I made him come here so he could tell her. Something happened and Sora ran from Tai, and Tai chased after her." Matt said. "Do you know where they could be?" Matt turned to Kari. She nodded her head. She motioned for him to follow her and Matt shrugged his shoulders, following behind.
They reached a small room and Kari walked towards the closet. "They might be in there." She said.
"In the *closet*?" Matt replied. Kari shrugged. She stepped forward and opened the door. When they opened it they found Tai holding Sora in his arms.
Matt laughed. "What do you know, Kari was right!" Tai looked up and smiled weakly.
"Uh…hi guys." Tai replied nervously. Sora looked up too and faintly smiled.
Tai's grip around Sora just tightened, and she looked at him and smiled, giving him a small peck on the cheek. Tai blushed and both him and Sora stood up.
"What just happened?" Kari asked.
"Yeah. A few minutes ago you ran away from him crying and then he followed you out of the room. Then I came in to look for you." Matt said to Sora and Tai.
"Well, bonehead over here read my journal without my permission and I ran out mad and upset." Sora replied, lightly hitting Tai off the top of the head with her journal.
Tai laughed. "You're glad I read your journal now, aren't you?" Tai said to Sora, putting his arm around her shoulder. Sora nodded sheepishly. "Now I know the truth!"
~~~
{*~ON WEDNESDAY~*}
Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya got home and thanked Sora. Sora turned to Tai. "I'll see you at soccer practice…Taichi Kamiya." She laughed, giving him a hug.
"See you then…Sora Takenouchi. Or should I say soon to be Sora Kamiya?" Tai replied, giving Sora a kiss. Sora laughed and walked out the door waving to the Kamiyas.
"Bye Kari, see you later! Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya! Goodbye Tai! See you soon!" Sora shouted as she ran out the door.
Tai ran out the door behind her, catching up to her. "Walk you home?" He asked. Sora nodded. They walked through the noisy city to the Takenouchi residence.
Sora opened the door. "Want to come in Tai?" She asked.
"Why not?" Tai replied. Sora smiled and they walked in.
"Hey Mom! I'm home! And I have someone with me!" Sora yelled. Sora's mom walked out from the living room.
"Hi Sora. Hi Tai. Did you have a good time with Kari?" She asked.
Sora got two sodas out of the fridge and handed one to Tai, then sat down at the kitchen table. "You could say that." She replied. Her mom looked at her and then over at Tai.
"Okay, tell me what's going on." Mrs. Takenouchi said.
Sora and Tai started to explain what happened.
~~~
{*~A FEW MINUTES LATER~*}
"…and I hid in the closet to hide from Tai, but he found me and talked to me." Sora finished.
"Now that I think of it; the closet wasn't the best place for you to hide from me. I used to hide there whenever I was mad or I did something wrong and my parents found out about it." Tai said with a laugh.
"Well it's a good thing you found me, otherwise I would still be hiding and crying!" Sora replied.
"Too bad Biyomon isn't here. She was the one who first told me that you liked Tai, even before I read your journal!" Sora's mom said, laughing at the expression that covered Sora's face.
"Biyomon told you?! Ooh…I going to get her!" Sora said.
Tai put his arm around Sora. "Don't worry Sora. Agumon was the one who told my mom…and my dad…and Kari that I liked you!" Tai said. Then both Tai and Sora's face grew solemn and sad at the memories of their Digimon.
"Why so glum?" A cheery voice said from the direction of Sora's room, behind Tai and Sora.
Sora and Tai quickly turned around, recognizing the familiar voice. "Agumon!!" Tai shouted, running towards Agumon.
"And Biyomon!!" Sora exclaimed, holding Biyomon in her arms. "But how?"
"They've been here since yesterday. They came and I told them that you were over Tai's house and that you'd be back soon." Sora's mom replied. "They even helped me clean the house for your arrival."
"It's not as easy as it looks!" Biyomon laughed. Everyone else laughed too.
"We're glad you guys are back." Tai said.
"And we're glad that you guys are together finally!" Agumon replied, looking at the much older Sora and Tai.
They smiled. "And this time we're staying for good!" Biyomon exclaimed.
They all had one big group hug and Tai kissed Sora again. "Why don't you all stay for dinner! Tai?" Sora's mom said.
"That's a good idea. I'll call my parents." Tai said, picking up the phone. The same phone that started this whole story.
**~THE END~**