Unexpected
Tai kept walking and walking, and hearing the footsteps behind him, he knew they were following him.
Sora, Izzy, Kari, T.K.
But Matt wasn't. Neither was Mimi or Joe.
He wasn't sure, but he kept on feeling that he did something wrong. Something that made them split up. But wasn't he supposed to be the "leader"? Like, wasn't he supposed to make all the right decisions? Right now he just wanted to blow this whole Dark Masters thing and go home and sleep.
Speaking of sleep, someone finally spoke.
"Can we stop and rest, tai? I'm getting kinda tired," Kari asked.
"Yea, Tai, we're all getting footsore," Sora agreed.
"Mathematically speaking, Tai, we've been circling this area for hours, and we're not getting anywhere. Perhaps it would be a better idea to stop and think of a plan," Izzy told him.
Finally Tai turned around to face them all. "Sorry guys, I was just getting my head straight and the walking kinda helped."
Sora came forward, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I know what you mean, Tai. But we're all going to make it. Together, the eight of us. It's our destiny."
Tai looked at his auburn-haired friend. Sora had always been the closest to him, with the exception of Kari. She was nice and caring, and always came through for him.
And right now he needed that kind of friend.
T.K. looked at Tai hopefully. "Maybe we can rest for a while. It would hurt, right?"
Tai grinned at the hopefulness in the little boy's voice. "Nah, it wouldn't hurt."
"Are you ok?" She saw Tai sitting near the fire when the rest all went to sleep.
He has a distant look on his face, which was weird for him. Suddenly her voice seemed to snap him out of the trance and he looked over at her.
"Hey Sora."
Sora wondered why he was so quiet. "Tai, are you still upset about the separation? You've been awfully quiet, lately.." She sat down next to him.
He looked at her, not saying anything for a while. "I dunno.. it's kinda dumb but I guess I miss home. You know, soccer and all that.." His voice trailed off.
"It's not dumb, Tai. I miss home too. But don't let it get to you. I mean, you always have us. You always got me," she added with a smile. Sora didn't want Tai to be homesick. He really was the leader and he had a way of giving people confidence.
Like when my crest wouldn't glow, she thought.
"You mean that, Sora?"
"Sure," she reassured him. "Hey, I got a great idea. Why don't we play soccer here? I mean, as long as we don't wake them up." She gestured to the others sleeping.
His eyes lit up. "Great!"
Sora smiled, happy that Tai cheered up. My kicking might be a little off, but it'll be fun. She grabbed the ball from her duffel bag.
She kicked the ball as far as she could and tried to get to it before Tai did. But he got to it first and kicked it to her. But he kicked too high and it hit her in the head instead.
"Ow!" She fell to the ground.
Tai quickly ran over to her. "Sora, are you okay? I didn't mean-"
She grinned. "Gotcha! Now think quick!" She hurled the ball over to him and they spent hours running and playing soccer.
Finally they ran out of energy- and breath and sat back down at the fire.
"It was just like back at home, when we always used to play." Tai grinned happily, panting after every word. The light of the fire cast shadows on his face and lit his hair with golden flecks.
It really was just like back at home, Sora thought. But something changed. She looked at Tai, who was silent now, still smiling..
When she faked hurt she saw the look on his face. It was like, like he really cared about her. She felt something at that moment, and it was nice.
Sora looked at his messy brown hair and almost-
well, she almost thought it was cute. Leave it to Tai to never even brush his hair.
"Do I have a zit on my nose or something?" Tai asked.
Oops. She'd been staring.
"Um.. heh , no." She glanced at him again and saw that he was still the close friend he always was. Nothing more. Period.
"Maybe you should rest, Sora," he heard his voice saying.
But a voice in his head told himself that he wanted her to stay- to lie with him near the campfire and-
Whoa, who was he kidding? This was Sora! He'd even seen her blowing her nose on toilet paper. They were like siblings!
Sure, when she was staring at him, it sparked up some strange feelings, but she was just a friend. A close friend.
Right?
Well..
The tall and wiry digimon Piedmon looked boredly at a screen showing the remaining digidestined.
"Ah, same old, same old." He remarked to himself. "This is no fun! I need to do something.. like turn the Digidestined against each other!" Piedmon chuckled evilly. "I've got just the idea."
Snaremon hid in the bushes, waiting for the Digidestined to come. Piedmon has hired him and if he didn't do his job correctly.. well, he didn't even want to think of the consequences.
Then the squashed digimon heard footsteps. It was time for some action.
"Total Exposure!" He cried, flashing a bright light at the kids.
This was going to be fun
.
Tai stopped walking. "Did you hear something?"
Izzy grumbled. "Great, he's hearing things."
"What"
Suddenly, he realized what he did. "Did I say that aloud?" Izzy murmured.
"Um, duh," Sora spoke. Wait, she actually said that!
Tai turned to face them. Well, they are acting weird, he thought.
"What Tai?"
Hey, what was going on! Did they just read his thoughts?
Kari walked up to her brother. "Are you ok, Tai? You're talking to yourself."
This is getting freaky, he thought.
"What is?" Sora asked.
It happened again!
"Sorry, but I think something weird is happening. I mean, you guys can actually hear my thoughts." He explained stupidly.
How dumb would that be? Well, this is the digital world, so I suppose anything can happen.
"Hey, I'm not dumb, Izzy!" Tai exclaimed angrily.
Izzy blinked. He heard that?
"Whoa, sorry Tai, I didn't know-"
But Tai already grabbed the collar of his orange shirt and was about to beat him up.
"Hey cool it you two!" Sora yelled. How immature could they get?
"Hey, we're not immature!" They yelled back.
Now this really was creepy. They could hear one another's thoughts!
"This must be the work of the Dark Masters!" Tai decided furiously.
"We must try to defeat them, but we need to do it together.. They're trying to turn us against each other by using this cheap trick!"
T.K. whimpered. If only Matt was here.. he really needed his big bro right now.
Suddenly they all stopped.
Tai was the first. He walked to T.K. "Don't worry, Tk, you don't need Matt. You've got us! We'll take care of you." He gave the boy a big smile.
"Wha..?" T.K. was in awe. He didn't actually tell the others that he missed Matt.
This was going to be a weird day.
And it sure was. Reading each other's thoughts was creepy, and they tried not to think of anything embarrassing or personal.
But how do you control your mind?
Gatomon caught some fish for them, and after eating, Izzy was fiddling with his laptop, and Kari and TK played hide-and-seek-in-the-dark.
"You're not missing home, again, right Tai?" Sora asked, watching him throw pebbles into the river,
"Nah, I'm thinking of how to defeat the Dark Masters," he lied. Actually he didn't know what he was thinking about. Well he knew he was thinking of something but it was so .. distant. And strange.
He was thinking about Sora. He remembered how he felt when this girl appeared on the boys soccer team and when they won their first victory.. together. But he felt nothing for her. Then. Now, well, he didn't know.
There was something about Sora. Her soft brown hair.. how she stood by him.. the way she looked to sad when she cried..
Suddenly Tai was embarrassed. Like he never realized his friend before as a girl.
He remembered how she clung onto him when Whamon appeared, and how he felt when she was kidnapped by Datamon. He never really knew how much he..
God, it was scary.
"Um, Tai, are you okay?" Sora asked, finally breaking the silence. She was getting strange vibes from Tai, and suddenly a flash of memories appeared in her mind. They were playing soccer.. and then the picture changed and instead she saw Tai noticing her, in a different way. But it all vanished quickly when he turned to look and her..
"Sure, I'm ok. Why, am I acting weird?" Tai responded quickly with a fake over-cheery grin.
Wow, she has nice eyes. They look so concerned..
"Um, you're speaking to yourself again. Maybe you should sleep." She told him. Did she just hear him say she had nice eyes? Nah, it was just her imagination.
"Oh, I'm okay." He turned his head so she wouldn't see him turn red. He was so stupid. Don't think about Sora, Tai. She can hear you, damn it!
This really was getting creepy. Did Tai just say he was thinking about her, Sora wondered. "You're thinking about me?" She looked into his eyes with a questioning look.
Tai was acting so weird! He wasn't homesick or anything..
Could it be that-
No. no. No. She repeated to herself. We're friends.
"No." Tai confirmed her thoughts.
Suddenly she felt hurt, but why?
"I mean, no I didn't- I mean, I wasn't.. well, I mean I wasn't thinking about-" Tai stopped in frustration. How was he supposed to explain to her that he wasn't thinking about her? Even though he really was..
Man, why do I feel this way about Sora, he asked himself.
Why do I feel this way about.. Tai, Sora murmured silently.
Tai leaned over.
Sora closed her eyes.
It didn't happen. Instead she felt him touch her hair.
"Um.. I just wanted to get this out," he explained quickly, holding a tiny break crumb.
"Oh," Sora blushed. What did she expect?
Tai felt so.. anxious. He saw the look of anticipation on her face. Did she want him to..
No. She was probably just-
"OW!" Sora yelled, toppling over Tai.
Suddenly T.K. was sprawled on the grass and Sora on top of Tai.
"Oops, sorry, Sora. I really didn't mean to push you, but- aaaaaaaaaah!!!! Kari's gonna get me! ok bye-" T.K. ran into the forest, panting and giggling.
"Um, Sora, can you get off me?" Tai asked, embarrassed.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Things could not get worse.
Her hair was ruffled and the wind blew through it gently. Tai knew he would regret it for the rest of his life, but he could resist.
He leaned over before she could even get off, and gently kissed her. Suddenly he felt that this was what he needed to do all along. And now he couldn't stop.
Finally they let go.
Sora stood up, remembering that she was still on top of him.
"Um."
"Uh.."
They looked at each other for a while.
"Sorry," they both blurted out in unison.
Sora couldn't sleep that night. Tai kissed her! It was so .. sweet, and unexpected. But why?
She already knew.
Tai was awake. What went into his mind when he did that? This was too much even for him.. even if he was supposed to be courageous and all that!
But, he stopped and realized, she had accepted the kiss and even returned it! Did that mean-?
He touched his lips and smiled.
Tai kept walking and walking, and hearing the footsteps behind him, he knew they were following him.
Sora, Izzy, Kari, T.K.
But Matt wasn't. Neither was Mimi or Joe.
He wasn't sure, but he kept on feeling that he did something wrong. Something that made them split up. But wasn't he supposed to be the "leader"? Like, wasn't he supposed to make all the right decisions? Right now he just wanted to blow this whole Dark Masters thing and go home and sleep.
Speaking of sleep, someone finally spoke.
"Can we stop and rest, tai? I'm getting kinda tired," Kari asked.
"Yea, Tai, we're all getting footsore," Sora agreed.
"Mathematically speaking, Tai, we've been circling this area for hours, and we're not getting anywhere. Perhaps it would be a better idea to stop and think of a plan," Izzy told him.
Finally Tai turned around to face them all. "Sorry guys, I was just getting my head straight and the walking kinda helped."
Sora came forward, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I know what you mean, Tai. But we're all going to make it. Together, the eight of us. It's our destiny."
Tai looked at his auburn-haired friend. Sora had always been the closest to him, with the exception of Kari. She was nice and caring, and always came through for him.
And right now he needed that kind of friend.
T.K. looked at Tai hopefully. "Maybe we can rest for a while. It would hurt, right?"
Tai grinned at the hopefulness in the little boy's voice. "Nah, it wouldn't hurt."
"Are you ok?" She saw Tai sitting near the fire when the rest all went to sleep.
He has a distant look on his face, which was weird for him. Suddenly her voice seemed to snap him out of the trance and he looked over at her.
"Hey Sora."
Sora wondered why he was so quiet. "Tai, are you still upset about the separation? You've been awfully quiet, lately.." She sat down next to him.
He looked at her, not saying anything for a while. "I dunno.. it's kinda dumb but I guess I miss home. You know, soccer and all that.." His voice trailed off.
"It's not dumb, Tai. I miss home too. But don't let it get to you. I mean, you always have us. You always got me," she added with a smile. Sora didn't want Tai to be homesick. He really was the leader and he had a way of giving people confidence.
Like when my crest wouldn't glow, she thought.
"You mean that, Sora?"
"Sure," she reassured him. "Hey, I got a great idea. Why don't we play soccer here? I mean, as long as we don't wake them up." She gestured to the others sleeping.
His eyes lit up. "Great!"
Sora smiled, happy that Tai cheered up. My kicking might be a little off, but it'll be fun. She grabbed the ball from her duffel bag.
She kicked the ball as far as she could and tried to get to it before Tai did. But he got to it first and kicked it to her. But he kicked too high and it hit her in the head instead.
"Ow!" She fell to the ground.
Tai quickly ran over to her. "Sora, are you okay? I didn't mean-"
She grinned. "Gotcha! Now think quick!" She hurled the ball over to him and they spent hours running and playing soccer.
Finally they ran out of energy- and breath and sat back down at the fire.
"It was just like back at home, when we always used to play." Tai grinned happily, panting after every word. The light of the fire cast shadows on his face and lit his hair with golden flecks.
It really was just like back at home, Sora thought. But something changed. She looked at Tai, who was silent now, still smiling..
When she faked hurt she saw the look on his face. It was like, like he really cared about her. She felt something at that moment, and it was nice.
Sora looked at his messy brown hair and almost-
well, she almost thought it was cute. Leave it to Tai to never even brush his hair.
"Do I have a zit on my nose or something?" Tai asked.
Oops. She'd been staring.
"Um.. heh , no." She glanced at him again and saw that he was still the close friend he always was. Nothing more. Period.
"Maybe you should rest, Sora," he heard his voice saying.
But a voice in his head told himself that he wanted her to stay- to lie with him near the campfire and-
Whoa, who was he kidding? This was Sora! He'd even seen her blowing her nose on toilet paper. They were like siblings!
Sure, when she was staring at him, it sparked up some strange feelings, but she was just a friend. A close friend.
Right?
Well..
The tall and wiry digimon Piedmon looked boredly at a screen showing the remaining digidestined.
"Ah, same old, same old." He remarked to himself. "This is no fun! I need to do something.. like turn the Digidestined against each other!" Piedmon chuckled evilly. "I've got just the idea."
Snaremon hid in the bushes, waiting for the Digidestined to come. Piedmon has hired him and if he didn't do his job correctly.. well, he didn't even want to think of the consequences.
Then the squashed digimon heard footsteps. It was time for some action.
"Total Exposure!" He cried, flashing a bright light at the kids.
This was going to be fun
.
Tai stopped walking. "Did you hear something?"
Izzy grumbled. "Great, he's hearing things."
"What"
Suddenly, he realized what he did. "Did I say that aloud?" Izzy murmured.
"Um, duh," Sora spoke. Wait, she actually said that!
Tai turned to face them. Well, they are acting weird, he thought.
"What Tai?"
Hey, what was going on! Did they just read his thoughts?
Kari walked up to her brother. "Are you ok, Tai? You're talking to yourself."
This is getting freaky, he thought.
"What is?" Sora asked.
It happened again!
"Sorry, but I think something weird is happening. I mean, you guys can actually hear my thoughts." He explained stupidly.
How dumb would that be? Well, this is the digital world, so I suppose anything can happen.
"Hey, I'm not dumb, Izzy!" Tai exclaimed angrily.
Izzy blinked. He heard that?
"Whoa, sorry Tai, I didn't know-"
But Tai already grabbed the collar of his orange shirt and was about to beat him up.
"Hey cool it you two!" Sora yelled. How immature could they get?
"Hey, we're not immature!" They yelled back.
Now this really was creepy. They could hear one another's thoughts!
"This must be the work of the Dark Masters!" Tai decided furiously.
"We must try to defeat them, but we need to do it together.. They're trying to turn us against each other by using this cheap trick!"
T.K. whimpered. If only Matt was here.. he really needed his big bro right now.
Suddenly they all stopped.
Tai was the first. He walked to T.K. "Don't worry, Tk, you don't need Matt. You've got us! We'll take care of you." He gave the boy a big smile.
"Wha..?" T.K. was in awe. He didn't actually tell the others that he missed Matt.
This was going to be a weird day.
And it sure was. Reading each other's thoughts was creepy, and they tried not to think of anything embarrassing or personal.
But how do you control your mind?
Gatomon caught some fish for them, and after eating, Izzy was fiddling with his laptop, and Kari and TK played hide-and-seek-in-the-dark.
"You're not missing home, again, right Tai?" Sora asked, watching him throw pebbles into the river,
"Nah, I'm thinking of how to defeat the Dark Masters," he lied. Actually he didn't know what he was thinking about. Well he knew he was thinking of something but it was so .. distant. And strange.
He was thinking about Sora. He remembered how he felt when this girl appeared on the boys soccer team and when they won their first victory.. together. But he felt nothing for her. Then. Now, well, he didn't know.
There was something about Sora. Her soft brown hair.. how she stood by him.. the way she looked to sad when she cried..
Suddenly Tai was embarrassed. Like he never realized his friend before as a girl.
He remembered how she clung onto him when Whamon appeared, and how he felt when she was kidnapped by Datamon. He never really knew how much he..
God, it was scary.
"Um, Tai, are you okay?" Sora asked, finally breaking the silence. She was getting strange vibes from Tai, and suddenly a flash of memories appeared in her mind. They were playing soccer.. and then the picture changed and instead she saw Tai noticing her, in a different way. But it all vanished quickly when he turned to look and her..
"Sure, I'm ok. Why, am I acting weird?" Tai responded quickly with a fake over-cheery grin.
Wow, she has nice eyes. They look so concerned..
"Um, you're speaking to yourself again. Maybe you should sleep." She told him. Did she just hear him say she had nice eyes? Nah, it was just her imagination.
"Oh, I'm okay." He turned his head so she wouldn't see him turn red. He was so stupid. Don't think about Sora, Tai. She can hear you, damn it!
This really was getting creepy. Did Tai just say he was thinking about her, Sora wondered. "You're thinking about me?" She looked into his eyes with a questioning look.
Tai was acting so weird! He wasn't homesick or anything..
Could it be that-
No. no. No. She repeated to herself. We're friends.
"No." Tai confirmed her thoughts.
Suddenly she felt hurt, but why?
"I mean, no I didn't- I mean, I wasn't.. well, I mean I wasn't thinking about-" Tai stopped in frustration. How was he supposed to explain to her that he wasn't thinking about her? Even though he really was..
Man, why do I feel this way about Sora, he asked himself.
Why do I feel this way about.. Tai, Sora murmured silently.
Tai leaned over.
Sora closed her eyes.
It didn't happen. Instead she felt him touch her hair.
"Um.. I just wanted to get this out," he explained quickly, holding a tiny break crumb.
"Oh," Sora blushed. What did she expect?
Tai felt so.. anxious. He saw the look of anticipation on her face. Did she want him to..
No. She was probably just-
"OW!" Sora yelled, toppling over Tai.
Suddenly T.K. was sprawled on the grass and Sora on top of Tai.
"Oops, sorry, Sora. I really didn't mean to push you, but- aaaaaaaaaah!!!! Kari's gonna get me! ok bye-" T.K. ran into the forest, panting and giggling.
"Um, Sora, can you get off me?" Tai asked, embarrassed.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Things could not get worse.
Her hair was ruffled and the wind blew through it gently. Tai knew he would regret it for the rest of his life, but he could resist.
He leaned over before she could even get off, and gently kissed her. Suddenly he felt that this was what he needed to do all along. And now he couldn't stop.
Finally they let go.
Sora stood up, remembering that she was still on top of him.
"Um."
"Uh.."
They looked at each other for a while.
"Sorry," they both blurted out in unison.
Sora couldn't sleep that night. Tai kissed her! It was so .. sweet, and unexpected. But why?
She already knew.
Tai was awake. What went into his mind when he did that? This was too much even for him.. even if he was supposed to be courageous and all that!
But, he stopped and realized, she had accepted the kiss and even returned it! Did that mean-?
He touched his lips and smiled.