Envy Motivates

Hi everybody. I started writing this one-shot fic because I realised all my stories that have Sora in have been Sorato fics, even though I don't really have a preference between Taiora and Sorato … so I thought I would write this story to even it out a little bit.

I started it a while ago but I've not been able to finish it until now because I've been concentrating on Better the Devil You Know. I think this one-shot was started in April. I know that was a very long time ago and this has been sitting in my fanfic folder since then. Eventually I decided that I should complete it, after all I had already started it and I don't want to waste it.

Now the disclaimer before I start. I don't own Digimon or any other copyrighted material I mention in this story. I wish I did though and I also bet that you wish you own it too.

Anyway, I'll get on with the fic. Envy and depression are emotions Tai and Sora rarely feel. However, they find themselves feeling those emotions when it comes to the subject of love. This is a Taiora and Takari one-shot. There are also mentions of Kenyako and Koumi.

Just a quick and final author's note for you all; I'm from England so I refer to soccer as football. I believe they also do the same in Japan.

An eighteen year old girl with auburn hair and soft brown eyes sat on a pine chair in front of her dressing table. The room was illuminated by the light of the afternoon's overcast skies coming through the window. The light bounced of the soft orange walls and the laminated wood floor. It illuminated the wardrobes and wooden bed, which was covered by orange sheets. The room looked much warmer than the weather outside.

The young woman, Sora Takenouchi, was wearing her tennis gear and staring at herself in the mirror as she added the final touches to her outfit. She was in a tight white Nike t-shirt which hugged her large breasts and flat, toned stomach. It was teamed a pleated white Nike skirt that showed the curves of her hips. Her white trainers helped show her long, smooth legs off to the world. She finished dressing by placing her white tennis head band in her silky hair to keep it out of her eyes during her game this afternoon.

Sora's brown eyes moved from the mirror to a photograph housed in a wooden frame on her desk. It was of her with all her Digidestined friends and their Digimon during a visit to the Digital World two years ago. Her eyes automatically fixed on a blonde teen boy who was the same age as her. He was Yamato Ishida and her ex-boyfriend. They were originally very good friends and, after one of his concerts four years ago, she had decided to take their relationship further.

They entered what was a wonderful relationship at the time and it was like that for a year. She loved him and he loved her but they slowly began to fall out of love as their lives became a lot busier. Sora had started to take her tennis much more seriously and Matt had begun to put a lot more time into his rock band. Then there was the additional school work they were given as they grew older. All of that lead to them slowly spending less time with each other and they finally called an end to their relationship after two years.

Sora and Matt ended their relationship without any arguments and they both agreed it was for the best. The two teens had remained good friends after their love ended and were happy they could take their lives in different directions. Both of them were able to concentrate on their hobbies and goals after they finished.

After her relationship with Matt ended, Sora had decided not to get involved in any other relationships. She had attracted a lot of attention from the boys at her school but turned them all down because she felt she didn't have the time she should be putting into a relationship.

Her eyes then wandered to the tall guy standing next to Matt in the photo. He was well known for his wild brown hair that had grown in every direction possible. Sora remembered there was actually one guy she would be willing to date and this was him, Taichi Kamiya. He was one of her best friends and they had always found time for each other, even when she had been dating Matt.

The teen girl had found herself becoming attracted to him again after she had split up from Matt but she knew she couldn't just tell him about her feelings for him. There were just too many problems. The first of which was they were best friends and she was worried what would happen to their friendship if she admitted her love to him. The second was that she didn't know if he would return her feelings and how broken she would be if that was the case. The third and final major problem was Matt. They were all very good friends after their first adventure in the Digital World and she did not want to cause any friction between herself, Tai and Matt.

Sora sighed as her brown eyes moved off Tai and glanced over the other Digidestined in the photograph. Her eyes first set on Mimi, another one of her best friends. She had returned to Japan a few years ago after living in America for three years. Mimi was standing next to Izzy, the red haired genius who was now Mimi's boyfriend. They had become a couple after a party about a year ago but it was clear an attraction was developing between them long before then.

The auburn haired girl's gaze moved on to Joe. He had found himself a girlfriend when he started university. She was on the same medical course as him and they hit it off straightaway. Standing near Joe in the picture was Cody. He was the youngest Digidestined at thirteen years old and had only recently started dating girls. Sora worked out that he had been in two relationships but was currently single from what she had been told.

Behind Cody was Davis, a fifteen year old boy who idolised Tai for many years. He had been in and out of relationships since his attempts to date Tai's younger sister, Kari, had failed. Sora's eyes moved on to Ken and Yolei. They had become a couple three years ago when Ken plucked up the courage to ask the older girl out. He had done it in an extremely romantic way, with roses, a card and a really expensive dinner.

Sora found herself staring enviously at them and she slowly started to become depressed. She wondered why she couldn't be in a relationship like that with Tai. The teen girl's jealous only worsened when her eyes set upon the last two people in the picture. They were Matt's younger brother, Takeru Takaishi, and Tai's younger sister, Hikari Kamiya.

The fifteen year old Takeru and Hikari, or TK and Kari as they preferred to be called, had started dating at the beginning of their time at Odaiba Junior High School. They had managed to put aside all of the problems that Sora believed she had when it came to dating Tai. Kari and TK were best friends and were originally frightened of admitting their feelings to one another because they were terrified that those feelings could not be returned. When they eventually did admit their love, their relationship flourished and they became closer than ever.

The fifteen year olds even managed to put aside their worries about their older bothers' reactions as well as Davis'. Tai and Matt were both happy for them and supported their blossoming relationship, along with most of the Digidestined. However, Davis was not so happy. He had a seriously large crush on Kari and she had turned him down on several occasions because she liked TK. Davis took it hard but eventually the three of them repaired any damage to their friendship and became even better friends as a result.

Sora sighed again as her depression deepened. Again she wondered why she couldn't find the courage to tell Tai her feelings just like TK and Kari or Yolei and Ken had to each other. She then realised she was envious of them, which added to her gloomy mood. She was meant to be the Digidestined of Love so why could she not admit her love so easily.

The brunette girl glanced over to her alarm clock that sat on the pine cabinet next to her bed. The red digits read 16:15, telling her it was time for her to leave for the tennis match. Sora pushed her chair back from the desk and stood up. She grabbed her blue tennis bag and her black tennis racket before opening the door and leaving the room.

An eighteen year old boy with wild bushy brown hair sat on his bed as he put on a pair of white football socks. The light coming through the window reflected off the laminated flooring and blue walls of the teen's bedroom. He had wanted the room painted red and white like his red football shirt and white shorts, but his parents decided it was a bad idea for reasons he couldn't understand. The tall teen stood up and his deep brown eyes scanned the room for his keys. His eyes spotted them on his wooden desk, sitting in front of the piles of paper and unorganised books that cluttered the surface.

The teen boy, Tai Kamiya, walked over to his desk and picked up his keys along with a white device that was sitting next to them. Tai gazed at his digivice for a couple of seconds as it brought back his memories from his time in the Digital World. The young man smiled at the memories from his childhood as his eyes moved from the device to a photo stuck to the back of his desk by sticky tape.

Tai found himself staring at the photo of the Digidestined. His gazed moved from person to person and finally fixed on an auburn haired girl, Sora. He found himself staring lovingly at the picture of the teen girl. She was one of his best friends and he had a major crush on her. He loved her.

The teen boy shook those thoughts out of his head and walked over to his black Nike kit bag. He placed his keys and digivice into a pocket on the side of the bag and zipped it up. Tai slung the bag over his shoulder and headed for the door of his room. He closed the door behind him as he walked into the open plan kitchen and living area of the Kamiya apartment. He glanced around and his eyes fixed upon two people sat on the sofa. They were his younger sister, Kari, and her boyfriend, TK.

Tai found he was looking enviously at the two younger teens, who were watching a movie on the TV together. He started to look them over, noticing how happy they seemed to be. TK had his right arm wrapped around Kari's back, keeping her close to his body. Kari's head was resting on TK's right shoulder and her left arm was draped around his neck. Tai watched TK rest his blonde head against Kari's as the couple entwined their spare hands.

Tai could tell the couple had put effort into their appearances to please each other. He looked over Kari, noting the white shirt that hugged her flat stomach and still growing and already more than ample sized breasts. Her light blue jeans showed off the curves of her hips and long thin legs to TK. Tai could tell from his sister's appearance that she was only dressed in that way to please TK.

The young man's eyes then moved on to TK. The blonde boy was wearing a green shirt and a pair of rather expensive looking dark blue jeans. It made a change from the various t-shirts and shorts he normally wore. The teen boy concluded that TK would only dress like that for Kari.

Tai smiled. He was happy for his sister and TK. He remembered how they had over come all their problems when they became a couple. His train of thought then lead back to Sora and how he wished he could be in a relationship with her like Kari was with TK, a relationship that started off as friendship and blossomed into something special when they finally admitted their true feelings to each other. The young man quickly shook those thoughts from his head. Envying his sister would not get him anywhere.

"I've got to go," Tai announced as he snapped out of his train of thought and strolled over to the shoe rack by the main door. He put on a white pair of Nike trainers as his football boots were already in his bag so he could change into them at the field. "I'll see you two later."

"Ok, enjoy yourself," Kari replied as she glanced back and smiled. Tai watched her wave to him. "See you later, Tai."

"See ya, Tai," TK added and waved his goodbye with Kari.

"Bye," Tai waved back before opening the door and leaving the couple to have some alone time. He was glad he could trust TK to be alone with his younger sister.

Tai arrived at the lift at the end of the hallway and pressed the button. The lift opened quickly and he stepped in. His thoughts were about Sora again. He just couldn't shake the image of her from his head. He found everything about her so irresistible in a way he couldn't even start to describe without using the word love.

The young man sighed as he stepped out of the lift, walked out onto the street and begun to make his way to his football match. His mind remained fixed on Sora and how he felt when she started dating Matt. He remembered the pain he felt as she gave Matt those homemade cookies at his concert all those years ago. He was jealous but made himself hide it because they were happy together. Tai knew he couldn't split up his two best friends on planet Earth.

He had tried to move on. Tai remembered dating other girls but those relationships didn't last because secretly he always wanted Sora. He then remembered how happy he was when Matt and Sora split up, although he kept that feeling hidden from the world. It brought him hope and a chance to get the girl he wanted.

Now he had a chance but was too scared to take it. He was worried that Sora would not return his feelings and how his love might damage their friendship. Tai knew Sora's friendship was something he didn't want to loose. Then there was Matt's reaction. Tai didn't know how his best friend would respond to him dating Sora.

Tai stopped walking and stared up to the sky. He sighed again as he took in the appearance of the weather. The dark grey clouds looked heavy and it seemed like it could start raining at any moment. He was glad he had packed his raincoat and a clean pair of clothes to change into after his football match.

The green tennis ball flew over the black dividing net before it bounced off the asphalt surface and into the air. Sora stretched out in the direction of the fast moving sphere, swinging her black tennis racket in its direction. She just made enough contact with the ball to send it back over the net. Her opponent, a brunette also in all white and one of Sora's friends, moved swiftly to return the shot. Sora stretched out again towards the florescent green ball as it came back to her side of the court. The ball bounced on the asphalt and the young woman swung her racket. She watched as the ball travelled past her, just out of reach.

"Love-thirty," called the black haired girl sitting in the umpire chair. She was another tennis club friend of Sora's and was refereeing the match.

Sora sighed, knowing she was having a bad game. She normally won the sets in which she was serving but she was struggling today. The teen girl just could not focus her mind as her thoughts kept jumping between the tennis match and her feelings for Tai. She forced the image of Tai out of her head for the millionth time that day as she tried to refocus.

She picked up one of the green balls placed in the far corner of the court so she could serve. Sora took a deep breath as she repositioned herself and placed the ball against her racket. She threw the ball into the air and swung her racket in one fluid movement. She knew she had made perfect contact with the sphere as she watched it rocket over to her opponent's side of the court. Her friend reached out towards the ball and just managed to return the shot. Sora moved to counter but the ball clipped the top of the net that split her side of the court from her friend's. The young woman's eyes watched, with irritation clearly showing, as the ball bounce twice on her side and out of reach. Sora thought her luck could not get any worse. She then realised that she needed to win this point to keep in the game. If she lost it then she would loose the whole match.

"Love-forty," the umpire called out the score. "Match point."

Sora walked back over to the balls in the corner of the court and picked one up. She then moved into her preferred position on the court to deliver her service. The auburn haired girl took a deep breath and threw the ball into the air. She swung her racket at it and watched as the ball sailed into the black dividing net.

"Fault, second service," the umpire called out to remind the players. "Match point."

Sora inwardly groaned as she picked up another ball for her final serve. She moved back into position and stared across the court at her opponent. Sora moved the ball and racket in one swift movement, throwing the ball into the air and making contact with it. The green sphere flew through the air and over the net. Sora's eyes tracked the ball and saw it bounce just outside of the service box.

"Out! Game, set and match to Megumi," called the girl umpiring the match as she stood up.

"Good game," Sora congratulated her friend on her victory by shaking her hand and then the umpire's. She was frustrated with herself for not being able to concentrate but it was not a reason for bad sportsmanship. After the handshakes, she collected her tennis balls and walked over to her bag. The younger woman tided all her kit away into her bag and slung it over her shoulder before she turned to her friends.

"I'm going to head home. See you guys tomorrow," Sora announced as she walked off the court. She acknowledged her friend's good byes with a wave before she headed home.

Sora strolled out onto the streets of Odaiba as her mind returned to Tai, wishing she could admit her love to him. She sighed, stopping to look up at the dark grey skies. She found herself thinking how great it would be to have someone hold her again. The young woman's thoughts started to spiral out of control as she continued home. This was depressing. She knew she was going to have to take the same risks TK and Kari had taken.

Several small droplets of cold water landed on Sora, snapping her out of her thoughts. She groaned and cursed her bad luck further as the sound of rain hitting the ground entered her ears. The teen girl opened her bag and realised she had forgotten her raincoat. It couldn't get any worse.

Tai hung his head as he stepped out of his team's changing room. He had showered and changed into a blue t-shirt and a pair of black jeans after his football match because there was no way he was walking home in his muddy and sweaty football kit. The door shut itself behind the teenage boy as he stared at the green floor of the corridor that he was now walking down to get to the exit.

He sighed in a mixture of frustration and depression. Tai knew he did not play as well as he could in that match and it had cost his team the win. His memories of the times when he played on the same team as Sora kept flooding into his mind and made him loose his concentration. The wild haired teen had missed shots he would normally score and had played some passes that were a long way away from their intended destination. He knew his team lost because he couldn't concentrate on anything or anyone other than the girl he secretly loved.

Tai stepped through the exit of the building that contained the changing rooms and walked up the stairs to the street. He could feel a few droplets of water splashing on his shoulders, making him look up. The teenager sighed again, cursing his luck as he opened his black bag and pulled out his red raincoat. He slipped his arms into the sleeves and zipped it up before pulling the hood over his head.

The rain suddenly increased in intensity as Tai slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for home. The wind, which had been quite strong all day, howled around him and made the rain feel even worse. His apartment was over twenty minutes walk away and in these conditions it was going to feel a much longer walk than that.

Tai had been walking for about five minutes, keeping his head down and staring at the sidewalk as he made his way home. The only time he would look up was when he was going to cross a road or someone walked by him. The young man stopped at another crossing and glanced up. There were no cars coming so he started to cross over and then his eyes caught a glimpse of someone not much further down the road from him.

The teen boy looked over the young woman who was heading in the same direction as him. He instantly felt sorry for her, noticing she wasn't wearing a raincoat and her right arm held her tennis gear over her head to stop the still heavy rain from drenching her hair. The persistent downpour had soaked her white tennis clothes through to her skin, leaving nothing to the imagination. Tai felt even sorrier for the girl as he could see her white underwear through her dripping wet clothes.

Suddenly it hit Tai that he knew this girl. It was Sora, the girl of his dreams, one of his best friends and the person he had not been able to get off his mind all day. His caring side kicked in as he began to sprint so he could catch up with her. "Sora, wait up!"

Sora spun around and Tai made eye contact as he ran up to her. He stopped in front of her and quickly pulled off his raincoat so she could use it.

"Hi Tai. Where did you come from?" The auburn haired girl asked as she gave him the best smile she could in the circumstances.

"I just had a football match and I was walking home," Tai replied as his mood brightened. He quickly placed his coat over Sora's shoulders, hiding her now see through clothes. "Did you forget your coat?"

"Yeah but you can't lend me yours," the teen girl protested as she tried to take the coat off and hand it back to the friend she secretly loved. "You'll get soaked too. I'm already wet so I'll be ok."

"No you won't, Sora," Tai responded in a caring tone while he made sure she didn't take the jacket off. "You'll catch a cold like that and have you seen yourself? Your clothes are soaking wet and are now see through!"

The young woman glanced down and realised the bushy haired teen was right. The heat suddenly rose to her face as her cheeks turned a deep red colour. "I didn't realise. I was kind of distracted."

"Come on, let's get you home." Tai instinctively wrapped his left arm around her back and began to lead the eighteen year old girl to her apartment.

Sora started to walk alongside him but paused as she realised he was getting wet too. An idea sprung into her mind. She removed Tai's arm from around her and opened the coat. The young woman then placed the right shoulder of the jacket over Tai's right shoulder while keeping her left arm in the coat. Tai gladly accepted the coat, using his right arm to keep the coat from falling off.

The red jacket pulled the two of them closer together and allowed them to place their arms around each other's backs as they started walking again. Tai thought this was a fantastic idea as it helped him warm up Sora's freezing cold and wet body.

The teens continued to walk down the street in a conformable silence. They found themselves enjoying the rare close proximity of their bodies as they made their way to the Takenouchi apartment. Smiles formed on the teens' faces as they occasionally glanced towards one another.

Their thoughts from earlier had returned to the forefront of their minds. What would the other Digidestined think to them being in a relationship? How would Matt react? But most importantly, do they love me back and how do I make my move?

The walk seemed to go quickly, despite the rain and wind making them shiver, and it wasn't long until they found themselves standing under the canopy at the entrance to Sora's apartment complex. The roof provided them with cover from the rain as they walked up the concrete stairs to the doorway at the front of the tall building. The two friends stopped before they made it to the glass doors.

Sora turned to face Tai with a smile of gratitude etched across her face. She broke the silence the two Digidestined had found themselves in since they started walking. "Thanks Tai."

"It's no problem," the teen boy responded as he slipped out of the jacket and turned to face her. His eyes looked over the teen girl, noticing her hair was soaking wet as a drip of water rolled down her cheek. Tai realised his hair was just as wet. His hair was flat and stuck to his face, which was completely the opposite of the wild bush of brown hair he had before the rain started falling. "I couldn't leave you walking home like that."

Sora glanced down to her still drenched top before her soft brown eyes returned their gaze to Tai's eyes. A red tint started to form across her cheeks. "I guess not. It doesn't really leave much to the imagination. I may have well walked home in my underwear."

Tai sighed as he placed his bag on the floor. He then wrapped his arms around the young woman, pulling her into a hug. Sora gladly accepted the embrace, dropping her bag too and slipping her arms behind her friend's back. She placed her auburn head against his chest before Tai rested his chin on top of her dripping wet hair.

The teens remained in the embrace, enjoying the heat from one another's body as the world passed them by. After what felt like ages to the friends, Tai gently lifted his head off Sora's so he could gaze into her soft brown eyes again. The young man watched a drop off water slowly roll down her cheek. He instinctively moved his right hand to Sora's face so he could wipe away the droplet. His hand gently caressed her soft skin, wiping away the water as his hand cupped her cheek.

Tai watched the blush return to his friend's face as the two of them remained there, staring into each other's eyes. The leader of the Digidestined could feel the heat building in his cheeks too as thoughts about Sora spread like wildfire throughout his mind. Tai thought over how much he loved her, how much he wanted to be with her and how he wished he could make his move right now. Then a prang of doubt jumped into his train of thought. The teen boy's mind went over his thoughts of whether his love could be returned before moving onto whether their friends would accept it. He found himself wishing he had the same courage that Kari and TK had when they finally admitted their true feelings to each other.

Tai suddenly realised the distance between him and Sora was closing. His body felt like it was on autopilot as his mouth slowly edged closer and closer to his friend's. He gently tilted her head to the right while he moved his own head into the same position. Tai reminded himself that he was the Digidestined of Courage and that he could go through with it before he closed his eyes. He opened his mouth slightly and closed the remaining distance.

He felt Sora's soft lips brush against his as the two friend's finally kissed. Tai kept his eyes closed as he felt her lips slowly slide away from his before they slowly opened wider and pushed forwards for more. The teen boy found himself enjoying the taste of her mouth as they repeated the action several times, adding more passion with each movement. Eventually, after what felt like ages to them both, the need to breathe took over and made them both pull back from the kiss.

Tai felt a little disappointed as he moved his head back a bit and opened his eyes. He found Sora's orbs gazing lovingly back at him while they both panted, trying to get some oxygen back into their bodies. Smiles tugged at both of their lips as the reality of what had just happened sunk in.

"I love you Taichi," Sora spoke the words softly as she tightened their embrace.

Tai's eyes remained fixed on hers' as the words send a wave of joy through his whole body. He wanted to jump around celebrating like he had just won a major football tournament. Tai found it to be a huge relief and was truly ecstatic he could final say his reply. "I love you too Sora."

They both quickly closed their eyes and let the worries about their friends wait until later. The couple's lips met again as they entered another kiss. They found themselves putting more passion into this one as their lips moved back and forth over each other's. They savoured the taste of one another's mouths and the whole moment itself before the need to breathe took over again.

The couple pulled back from each other and found they were in the same position again. Tai then felt Sora's arms slide out from behind him as she backed away.

"Let's take this inside. It's rather cold out here and we're both still soaking wet," Sora spoke in a caring yet, somehow, slightly mischievous tone as she took Tai's hand in her right hand. They entwined their fingers as they walked through the glass doors of Sora's apartment complex. "My Mom is visiting my Dad so I've got the whole place to myself."

Ah, finally finished. I'm sorry it took me so long to complete this. I hope it was worth it. Please click the review button below and leave your thoughts :D