Letting Go

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

AN: This is my first Taiora fic. I always loved Tai and I always thought he and Sora were cute together; even if I don't really like Sora. The idea for this story came to me when I was lying awake in bed one night. As I was writing this story I was listening to the song "What hurts the most" by Rascal Flats. I thought it was perfect for this story. This fic is Tai's POV of the Christmas episode. I hope you all like it. If you're not a fan of Taiora or do not support it in anyway, the solution is simple...don't read it.

That's all for now, I will try to upload more stories soon.

Enjoy :)

Tai walked with his digimon partner, Augmon by his side towards his best friend Matt's concert. It was Christmas Eve and there was a chill in the air. Tai pulled his jacket closer to his face as the wind whip around his bush of a head. Hundreds of people were already lining up for Matt's concert but Tai was looking for one person in particular. He had been planning this night for a while now. Tonight was the night he was going to express his feelings for Sora.

He had not always felt this way about her. She had always been his girl best friend, but just that. He hadn't thought anything more of her until recently. One day he just saw her in a new light. It was like waking up from a long sleep. He liked the way, her crimson hair fell down to her shoulders and how her eyes were as big as sapphires. Tai especially liked how her smile could brighten his day even in his darkest hour.

Tai looked down at Agumon who stared back. The younger digidestends had brought him and the other digimon back from the digitalworld as a surprise Christmas present for the older kids. Tai was overjoyed when he saw his friend. They had spent an entire afternoon in each other's company. "Hey Tai?" the orange reptile asked, "What's a concert?"

Tai chuckled, "It's when a bunch of people play music and sing together. It's kind of like Etemon playing his electric guitar but trust me, Matt plays a lot better than him."

They walked on in silence. Suddenly Tai spotted Sora standing with her partner Biyomon outside of Matt's trailer. He noticed that she had a box wrapped in green wrapping paper with a red ribbon tied around it in a bow. When Sora saw Tai approaching she blushed and tried hide the present.

"Sora, wait up," he called to her.

"Oh, Tai," she replied blushing an even deeper red and attempting to hide the gift behind her back.

"Something smells good," Agumon announced completely oblivious to the tense moment between his partner and Sora.

Just then Gabumon appeared from Matt's trailer. "Matt's busy getting ready but I'll take those to him." He sniffed the air and let the scent of the cookies hang over him. "Mmm."

"I beat you will, no way you'll eat the whole thing yourself," Biyomon argued flapping her pink wings.

"Wait, I resent that I'm on a diet."

This was Tai's big moment, he couldn't mess up. So why did he feel like he couldn't breathe, like he was choking on something and couldn't talk. Trying to surface from the water that seemed to be filling his lungs he gasped and was able to muster, "So umm, Sora, are you going to the concert with anybody? I mean, not that it matters...just wondering." That sounded lame even to him. Maybe Matt was right, he would lead his team into a battle against the dark masters, no hesitation or looking back but when it came to the female species he was more inexperienced than a new born puppy.

Sora paused a few moments before answering, "No, I want to be available in case Matt's free afterwards." She laughed awkwardly.

Ouch. That hurt worst than if someone had poured salt on an open wound. How could he have been so naive for him overlook this. Matt, the pretty blond rock star always got the girl, heck there were hundreds of them waiting outside the tent to get into his concert. How did he do it? Maybe it was the gel. Should he ask Matt for some? No that would be stupid.

Tai didn't know what to say. He had never been more speechless then he was right now. Rejection hurt, a lot. Not that he would know of course. He had never been rejected by anyone, except from when he wanted to play with his cat.

"Oh, I see Matt huh?"

Sora looked embarrassed as she looked at him. Tai had to admit she looked really pretty when she blushed. It took all his courage not to show the pain he felt. Tai put his hand lightly on her shoulder, staring straight into her amber eyes. "It's ok," he said.

"You're not, mad at me Tai?" she asked looking worried.

How could he be mad at her? It wasn't her fault. Perhaps if he hadn't been so blind he would have realized his feelings sooner and things would have been different. Perhaps they'd be standing hand in hand waiting for Matt's concert together enjoying each other's company and laughing. Now he was standing here, not knowing what to do and wishing he could be anywhere but here.

"No, of course not," he said trying to look cheerful. "Now get in there and say hi to Matt for me."

"Thanks Tai."

"The least you can do is leave us the cookies," Agumon piped up waving his arms in the air.

Sora smiled the smile Tai loved so much. "Tell you what," she replied, "I'll make some special ones for you." With that she turned and walked into the trailer, her hair flapping in the winter wind.

"I'll be waiting. Thanks," Tai whispered watching her retreating figure. He guessed he should have seen this coming. He couldn't deny that he hadn't seen Sora look differently at Matt recently. Maybe that had triggered his new realization of feelings for her. If only he had acted sooner. But that's all it will ever be, an "if".

"You know what Tai?" Agumon asked breaking the silence.

"What?" Tai mumbled back still staring at the closed door where Sora and Biyomon had disappeared to.

"You've really grown up."

"Look out!" In coming," came a high pitched girl's voice. Jun Motomiya raced by on her scooter towards Matt's trailer. Tai and Agumon ran out of the way just in time and fell to their knees.

"Watch where you're going Jun," Tai called after her.

"Sorry," she replied, "I'm in a hurry to see Matt. All the girls think he's the cutest."

Tai's eye twitched. Why did every girl in Japan have an infatuation with this boy? Ok he was blond, and played guitar, and had his own band... but other than that there was nothing remotely great about him. Well, he did have a way with words that Tai never understood, and maybe his whole bad boy image worked for him. Tai didn't know. He stood up, brushed the dust off his jacket and headed off to the main entrance of the concert with his partner by his side.

As they walked Tai had memories replay in his head. The first day he met Sora, the time he threw up in her hat, the time they got into a fight about the hairclip he had gotten her for her birthday, and most important, the time Datamon had kidnapped her and he had believed he had lost her forever. Tai remembered the latter as if it had happened yesterday. He had watched helplessly as Datamon took Sora and Biyomon deep into the pyramid. He felt a pang of guilt as he remembered how he couldn't find it in himself to go through the fire wall after her. He also recalled that it was Matt who had to drag him out of the room when Etemon attacked. For hours Tai had stayed awake crying at the thought of losing Sora forever. He played back the spilt seconds when Sora fell into the dark hole made by Datamon and thought only that he needed to reach her and that nothing else mattered.

Why couldn't things be the way it used to be? Why did growing up have to be so complicated? Things were so much simpler back in those days. What had happened? Tai wanted nothing more than to go back to when none of this had happened, where they hadn't discovered the digital world. But then the orange dinosaur wouldn't be at his side now and he wouldn't have made all these friends. Tai didn't know what to think as he entered the tent of Matt's concert.

The concert lasted almost a century in Tai's mind. He sat with Agumon in his lap with Sora beside him, purposely not making eye contact. He did not want to talk to her right now and wished he was safely in his room away from everyone where he could be alone. He gazed at the stage where Matt was starting another song. Tai decided that he wasn't mad at Matt either, just disappointed in himself for not getting there first. None of this was Matt's fault. He did not ask for this; although he probably wasn't pushing Sora away either. The thought made Tai's inside twist in a knot. He was jealous of Matt getting whatever he wanted. But he also had to remind himself that he had a lot of things that Matt didn't. He was chosen leader of the digidestends over him, his parents were still together and he was good at sports where Matt was so uncoordinated Tai was surprised he could even kick a soccer ball without falling on his face. Matt had his faults but he always came round.

Years past and things got more complicated. The digidestends didn't see each other as often as they wanted but that was to be expected when everyone had their own path to follow. Joe was studying to be a doctor and Izzy was at university. Mimi had moved back from America. The younger digidestends were finishing their senior year of high school. His little sister Kari wasn't so little anymore and had started seeing Matt's brother T.K. Tai had to admit they were really cute together. Sora and Matt were still together, happily sharing their one bedroom apartment, not far from where Tai lived on his own. Everyone seemed to be happy.

As for Tai, he was still waiting for his special cookies.

Good? Bad? Please R&R :)