Author's Notes: OK, here is one of my fics, extremely late. I wanted to post this like a week and a half ago. I typed up all 9 pages of it and my comp crashed. Then I had it all typed up again, and I didn't like it, so I erased almost the whole thing. That was a stupid idea. Oh well. What can I say; I'm blonde. That seems to be my excuse for everything. Well, if you have read my bio, you'll see that I said I wanted to start posting more, and I'm going to make a huge effort to do that. However for this term in school, I've decided to actually do some of my homework. Now I'll shut up so we can get on with the fic. Anyways, please R/R!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story, just the story.
Also, the names "Angel" and "Keeper" aren't mine. They belong to Silverlight. She is such a good writer. You should check out her stories on FF.Net. Wwwwwwaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! I'm not creative enough to think up my own pet names! Wwwwwaaaaahhhhhh! I suck! Wwwwwaaaahhhh! OK, I'm over it! Gee, I talk a lot. Type, whatever. I'll stop now.
Undying Devotion
By: Valentine Taylor
(Monday morning- 2:00 AM)
The door opened slowly. Matt was wondering who would be coming to his apartment at two o'clock in the morning. "Tai!" he exclaimed, surprised, yet sleepy. "What are you doing here?" Tai was slumping in the doorway holding a duffel bag, and wearing a windbreaker over his pajamas.
"Can I come in?" Tai said flatly, ignoring Matt's question. Matt opened the door wider and stepped to the side. Tai pushed by.
"Why are you here?" Matt asked his best friend. "Where's Sora?"
"Oh, she's home sleeping in her nice warm bed," Tai replied sourly. "I need a place to stay for the rest of the night."
"My couch is your couch," Matt said walking Tai into the living room.
"You know what Matt? Stay single. Married life sucks," Tai exploded. He sat down heavily on the couch and put his head in his hands.
"It was that bad?"
"Yes."
"What happened?" Matt was amazed. "You two never argue."
Tai lifted his legs onto the couch. "I don't want to talk about it."
Matt looked worriedly at his friend. Slowly, he said, "Well, if you change your mind. I'll go get you some blankets and pillows." He walked down the hall to the linen closet.
Why does Sora have to be like that? Why can't she ever agree to what I want? Tai thought to himself.
"Here you go," Matt said, returning with the blankets. "Sweet dreams," he joked, trying to lighten his friend's mood after seeing the look on Tai's face. Tai just gave him an icy glare. "OK then. Good night."
"Night," Tai replied. He started 'making' the couch. Matt walked to his bedroom and closed the door. Something has got to be seriously wrong. This is so… not normal. I wonder what's going on, Matt thought to himself as he climbed back into bed. Whatever it was, he didn't want to see his two best friends' marriage fall apart. He decided not to worry about it, but to get some more sleep. He would think about it in the morning.
Tai woke up, slightly disoriented. It took him a moment to recall the events of the preceding night. He heard Matt in the kitchen and decided to go see what he was making. He followed the scent and found his friend cooking pancakes and sausage. "Smells good."
"It's almost ready," Matt said, flipping a pancake.
They sat at the table and ate the food in silence. Finally, when the young men were almost finished, Matt broke the silence. "Come on Tai! This is driving me crazy! What happened?" he exploded.
Tai sat quietly for a moment, just looking at his plate. "OK. You want to know what happened?" he asked. Matt nodded. "We need to repaint our bathroom. She wants it yellow. I want blue! We had a fight over the color of the damn bathroom! There you happy? Now you know!" Tai exploded.
"You fought over the color of the bathroom?"
"Yes!" Then Tai seemed to calm down quite a bit. "I'll just let her have a yellow bathroom." He stood up. "Thanks for the place to sleep and the breakfast. I have to go. I have work." Matt just looked at him, stunned. He walked out of the kitchen and got his bag.
When he was ready for work, he went to Matt's bedroom where the man was combing his hair. "Thanks again. See you later." Tai started for the door.
"Tai wait," Matt called. He walked up behind Tai. "I get the feeling there is more to this than paint."
Tai stole his best friend's old word. "Whatever." Then, he walked out the door.
Matt sighed. "This is bad." He went back to his room to finish with his hair.
(Monday-AM)
"Hey TK! Thanks for waiting," Kari said to her boyfriend.
"No problem Angel. Hey, I talked to Matt this morning. Your brother spent this morning on his couch. As in, he went there at two in the morning and slept there. Is anything wrong?"
"Not that I know of."
"Hmm, well, tell me if anything happens, kay?"
"Kay." The two walked down the school hall side by side, ignoring the glares given by all the girls towards Kari.
"Well, here's my class. See you later," TK said, giving Kari a quick smile.
"Bye." She kept walking in the direction of her class.
(Still Monday-PM)
Sora opened the door to Her and Tai's apartment. All she wanted to do was sit and relax after a hard day of work. She hung her coat in the closet and switched into slippers. In the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Then she walked down the hall. About half way to her destination, she stopped. She sniffed the air. It kind of smelled like plaster. She walked to the bathroom and there she saw the source of the smell. "Tai?!"
"I decided if you wanted a yellow bathroom, you should have a yellow bathroom." He smiled at his wife and sat on the toilet.
"But what about your job?"
"I left early. Do you like my work?"
"Oh Tai! It's wonderful!" She went and sat on her husbands lap. "Thank you so much. I'm sorry for kicking you out yesterday. I should have left. I was a jerk. Do you forgive me?" she asked.
"Of course I forgive you. But I was definitely the bigger jerk."
"Take that back! No one calls my husband a jerk!" She said. Tai wrapped his arms around her and kissed her sweetly.
"Forgotten?" Sora asked when they parted.
"Forgotten," Tai replied.
(One week later-Monday-10:30PM)
Matt opened his apartment door to see Sora standing there, with a duffel bag, wearing her pajamas. She had tears flowing down her cheeks. He stepped aside and let her make her way to the living room. He followed her in. Then she dropped her bag, spun around, wrapped her arms around him and cried on his chest. He returned her hug and let her cry. It was only 10:30 PM this time, but he had already changed into his comfortable gray tee shirt and blue flannels. Several minutes later, when her sobs seemed to ease up, and he felt she wasn't shaking as much he asked her what had happened.
"Could I stay here with you tonight Matt?" She asked, ignoring his question.
"Of course," he said to her softly. "Did you two have another fight?" He pressed on.
"Oh yes! It was awful Matt! I don't even know what we were fighting over! He said something and I just started screaming at him! Then he started screaming at me. It turned into one big scream-fest. I feel awful. I left before he could." She looked into Matt's sapphire eyes. "It seems like everything is a competition these days." Sora felt like she was weighing Matt down with her problems. She looked at the papers that were spread across his coffee table. "Oh, you're busy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I should go. Maybe I can stay with Izzy or Joe."
He followed her gaze to the table. "No, stay. I insist. Friends come first. Work was getting boring anyway. Continue, please."
"Well, you'll probably take Tai's side in all of this because you're his best friend first and foremost."
"Sora, you know that's not true," Matt said as he stared into her crimson eyes.
Her eyes welled with tears again. "I think… we're… falling out of love with each other," she stated dejectedly, the tears splashing down onto her cheeks.
Matt pulled a tissue out of the box on the table and wiped the girls tears away. "I believe that if two people fall out of love, they were never really in love to begin with. And you and Tai are very much in love."
"What?" Sora asked, looking at her long time friend.
"The way he looks at you; the way your face lights up when you see him. You two used to make me sick with all your kissing and junk! I've learned to live with it though."
"What if you're wrong?" Sora asked worry evident in her soft features.
Matt looked at Sora, a playful grin danced on his lips. "Sora, it's me! You know, Matt Ishida, All Powerful Know-It-All!" Sora laughed at this. "That's my girl!" He looked at his watch. "It's getting late. You're still welcome to stay if you want. You can take my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."
"I don't want to kick you out of your room…" Sora said quickly.
"No, it's OK. Go on."
She said good night to the man and walked to the bedroom.
(Tuesday-After school)
Kari walked home after school by herself. TK had basketball practice, and the rest of the Digidestined were in the Digital World. Kari would have gone with them, but she wanted to get home to help her mom with the housework. A cold breeze blew and she shoved her hands in her coat pockets. Her left hand touched something. She wrapped her fingers around it and brought it out of the pocket. In her hand was a neatly folded note that had the word "Angel" neatly printed on the front. She stopped walking and opened the note. She read it aloud to herself:
"Sorry I
can't be walking home with you.
I promise
I'll make it up to you. How about
Saturday?
We'll do
something together.
I know you
stopped walking to read this, but hurry home.
There is
something there for you. Hope you like
it!
Love always
and Forever, Your Keeper"
She folded the note back up and started to walk faster towards her apartment.
When she got to her door, she reached in her pocket to get her key. "Excuse me Miss. Are you Kari Kamiya?" A voice behind her asked.
She turned to see a man. "Yes I am."
"I believe these are for you. There is a card as well." The man handed the stunned girl 3-dozen roses and a pink envelope. "Have a nice day," the man said pleasantly as he turned to leave.
"Thank you," she said, hardly able to speak. "This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me!" She said out loud to herself. She shifted the flowers and reached back into her pocket to dig out her key. She opened the door and went straight to the hall closet to get a vase. She went back to the kitchen and dropped her backpack and coat on the floor and started to take care of the flowers. She was very good at this, seeing as she had worked at the Takenouchi flower shop for the past two years. When she was finished cutting and arranging the flowers, she stepped back to admire her work. It was then she remembered the card.
"Angel,
Do you like
them? I hope so!
So, do I hear
a yes for Saturday?
I'll call you
when I get home, OK?
I'll be
thinking of you the whole time until then.
Light and
Hope Together, Keeper
She stared at the card for a few minutes. Then she heard the front door open.
"Hello? Anyone around?" Tai's familiar voice rang through the hall.
"In here," Kari called, still staring at the card lovingly.
"It smells really flowery in here. I wonder if- Whoa," Tai's mouth fell open when he saw the large vase of roses on the table. "TK?"
"Yup! Isn't he the sweetest guy in the world?!"
"Sure. Listen Kari. I need you to talk to Sora for me."
"Why? She's your wife."
"Really? I had no idea," Tai said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Kari rolled her eyes. "She left last night. I tried calling her at work, but she keeps hanging up on me."
"Tai, why do you keep starting fights? Are you trying to ruin your marriage? You have such a thick scull. Does your brain get enough oxygen?" The girl replied, only half jokingly.
"Hey you're my sister! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"Tai, apologize, only if you mean it of course, and do something sweet to make it up to her. That's the only advice I can give you."
"What can I do that is sweet, if she won't let me near her?"
"That you have to figure out on your own." She gestured towards the roses. "Anything! Just don't buy her flowers."
"Please will you call her for me?" Tai put on a puppy dog face.
Kari again rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to say to her?"
"Just tell her how much I love her. Tell her I didn't mean to hurt her and I want to make it up to her."
"Tai! You can do that yourself!"
"No, SHE WON'T LET ME TALK TO HER!!!!!!!!!" Tai practically screamed at the younger girl.
"OK, OK, don't yell at me if you want my help. I'll call Sora..." Tai looked relieved. "But, I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for her. I don't want her to have to go through the whole split thing. It is really painful when a marriage splits."
"But what about me? What about my pain?" Tai frowned.
"Oh, you? I don't care about you." Tai looked extremely hurt. "Geez, lighten up! I was kidding Tai!" Tai immediately smiled.
"Can you call her now?"
"No. I'm going to wait until you leave. It's girl talk."
"Oh, then I'll be leaving now." The siblings said good- bye to each other, and Tai left. Kari went to the phone.
"Hello? Sora speaking."
"Hey Sora. It's Kari."
"Ooh, your brother told you to call me didn't he?" Anger was evident in her voice.
"Yes, but please listen to me."
"That is low. He has his little sister cleaning up his messes. Kari, don't help him."
"I'm not." This wasn't a complete lie. "I don't want you to get hurt. It may help him a little, but I'm here to make sure you are all right. Listen Sora. Tai doesn't want to hurt you, and I believe you don't want to hurt him. He loves you very much. He wants you to be happy, but sometimes, he just can't get it right. I mean, let's face it, Tai isn't the smartest person in the world." She heard Sora giggle. "Sometimes he does things wrong, and his original intention is buried by the mistakes that start the arguments. Know what I'm saying?"
"Yeah I guess. You're saying I should be a little bit more understanding."
"Exactly. But also, Tai should think things through before he says things he regrets later."
"Yeah. Listen, I have to go. My boss is glaring at me. But thanks Kari. I feel a whole lot better."
"Bye. Love you lots!"
"Love you too!" The two young women hung up.
(Tuesday evening)
Sora opened the front door. She saw the dining room faintly lit up. She decided to go check it out. When she got to the room, she dropped everything she was holding. "Tai," she whispered.
"Hi Sora," Tai said walking into the room. "I'm really sorry for last night. I wanted to make it up to you."
"Tai, did you do this?"
"Of course."
"It's perfect." The table was set for two and there were candles in the center of the table. There were dishes holding her favorite dinner, fettuccine alfredo. There was salad in two bowls and little tarts for dessert beautifully arranged on a silver plate. To finish off the table, there was a bottle of Sora's favorite wine.
"You like it?"
"I love it, Tai!"
"Great!"
The two ate the meal, which Sora said many times was perfect. After they had eaten, Tai told Sora to go to the living room. "Wait for me there," he said in a playful tone. Sora walked to the living room and sat down on the couch. She waited about 5 minutes, than saw Tai heading in. He turned off the lights and turned on the TV. "Let's see if you can place this." He pressed play on the VCR and sat down on the couch next to his wife. The movie began. The woman recognized it immediately.
"Oh my God, you remembered this?" She said ecstatically.
"Of course! How could I ever forget?" The movie he picked to watch was the same movie they had seen on their first real date.
"Oh, Tai," Sora breathed. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." Sora snuggled up close to her husband and put her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head, and the two of them peacefully watched the movie that brought back memories of one of the happiest nights of both of their lives.
(Saturday-9:45PM)
"Did you have fun tonight Kari?" TK asked the girl in his arms.
"This night has been the best night of my life," the girl replied truthfully.
TK laughed. "I didn't think you would have that good a time!"
"Any time with you is the best time of my life," Kari stated. They were at Kari's apartment door saying good night. TK put his arms around the girl's waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. They're lips melted together in a passionate kiss that gave them both a feeling unlike anything either of them had ever felt before.
"Wow. I've wanted to do that for so long! Good night Kari."
"Good night TK." The young lovers parted and Kari opened her door and walked into her house. She went straight to the phone and dialed Tai and Sora's number.
"Kamiya residence. Sora speaking."
"Hey Mrs. Kamiya!"
"Hi Miss Kamiya!"
"Are you guys still fighting?"
"No. We are getting along again! We have you to thank for that."
"What did I do?" Kari asked innocently.
"You helped your not-so-sweet brother do something that was beyond sweet. It was magical!" Sora sounded dazed.
"Hey, don't forget about me! You said you wanted to know how my date was!"
"Oh sorry! How was it?"
"Well, we went to dinner at some French restaurant. Then we went to the park and just sat in each other's arms. I don't know how long we were there just watching the stars!" Now Kari sounded dazed. "All I know is I got home a few minutes ago, and he gave me a kiss that no one will ever be able to top! I got this feeling! It was so… Oh Sora! I can't describe it!"
"I can. It's called love! Isn't it wonderful?"
"Oh, yes Sora! It's better than wonderful! I have to go! I want to go to sleep and dream about him!"
"OK, I'll let you go do that!"
"Bye sis!"
"Bye," Sora laughed as she hung up.
"Was that Kari?" Tai asked as he entered the kitchen.
"Yeah."
"How was her date?"
"She had fun. Come on Tai, let's go to bed." Sora said, a sly smile creeping onto her face.
Tai caught on right away. "OK. Race you!" The two ran across the apartment, into the bedroom and slammed the door.
THE END
A/N: Wow, is it just me, or could that ending be a lot better? Oh, well. The title doesn't really fit the story does it? Well when I was reading through it, I couldn't think of anything else. I'm horrible with titles. What do you think I should have called it? My older brother just woke up (it's like 2:00 pm, he and my mom always sleep really late like that. I on the other hand am always up! As if you care ^_~) and won't leave me alone. "Get off the comp" "I want to use the comp". He's 17 and a real pain in my butt. Anyways, hope you liked the fic (minus the end that is)! Till next time! Bu-bye ^_~
~*Valentine*~