The Courage to Love

Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon and I am not affiliated with Toei or Saban.

Author's Notes: Just in case you wish to know, the story will contain Taiora and maybe additional made up characters later on. The Matt and Sora event from 02 will happen, but not to worry Taiora fans this story is staying true to the Taiora theme. The original Digi-Destined will make their appearances as well and the 25 years later after 02 scenario will also be included. The rating will get higher later on and the story won't always have too much romance, just in certain chapters where there needs to be A LOT of romance ^^. Well enough with me talking , on to Chapter 1.

Starting out

Yagami, Taichi. Journal entry #14 Date: June 7th 2001.

Do you love me? I don't know…do I love you? I don't know that either…years have passed by so fast…without me saying a word…or maybe it's just me, thinking I'm running out of time to say "it" to you. Your birthday just passed again a few weeks ago, I still remember your smiles on that day, heck I remember all the smiles you've had on your birthday every year since we were really small. Maybe I can say "it" to you later on, we're still pretty young, maybe we should grow up a bit more. Gee…I keep stalling, but the problem is I don't know if I'll have the courage to tell you "it" when I find it in me…I'll find it in me one day, I've gathered my strongest courage many times before…I'll do it…I'll do it for you…

1993, 5 years after the birth of Taichi Yagami

"Aaah, ow!" yelled little Taichi Yagami.

A few kids laughed at him while running across the field. He had tripped over a hose in the small soccer field while trying to get to the net. He lifted himself up with a determined look on his face and charged forward into an opposing player and was making sure he knocked whoever it was down. With great speed for a little kid, he rushed to the player and tried to steal the ball, but to his dismay the person just swayed to the side and made poor Taichi fall flat on his face.

"Yuck!" he spat out some grass and wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve. He also had to wipe his eyes since some mud had smudged on his face. At this moment Taichi was getting furious, he jumped up and got into a runner's stance.

"I've had enough with this guy, I'm gonna show him who's the best!" Tai reached to the top of his forehead and pulled down his goggles onto his eyes.

"It's time to use these" said Taichi while adjusting his goggles. "No one beats me" he muttered, soon a smirk appeared on his face and he dashed towards his target. The player, unaware of this sudden attack only had enough time to gasp before being hit to the ground. Taichi stumbled over the player and fell on his face again. Grass had once again gotten into his mouth but he simply just spat it out again. He was too concerned about winning more than the taste of grass in his mouth. The goggles had prevented any mud getting in his eyes, so he immediately pulled them back up to his forehead and went for the ball which was surprisingly still not taken. He smiled and took the ball, kicking it towards the net and trying to look graceful. He was nearing the goalie and started to slow down, however the goalie was paying attention to something else instead of Tai. Pulling his leg back, Taichi quickly thrust forward his leg to kick the ball straight into the net.

"I scored! I won!" Taichi was jumping around happily, indulging in his victory. "I did it! No one can stop me! I'm…huh?" Tai noticed that everyone was huddled around in a circle on the other side of the field.

"Why's everyone over there?" He slowly jogged over to the circle of people. "You guys, how come you aren't jumping around like me?" Tai questioned his team. No one answered. Tai frowned and decided to see what all the fuss was about.

He pushed the other kids out of the way and got into the middle of the circle. Taichi saw, lying on the ground was the kid he had tackled earlier. Taichi knelt down "Are you, okay?"… Silence. "Hey say something." Again there was no response. He looked closer at his opponent, brushing the hair out of his face. He closely examined the face and when he realized what wrong he had done, his heart started to pound fast.

He mentally yelled. "I hit a girl! I hit a girl!" Tears started streaming down his face. He lightly shook the young girl hoping to awake her. "Wake up please! I'm so sorry!" he wailed. Taichi cried harder and harder and soon rested his face on the girl's stomach, his hands clutching her's. "Please get up…please" came his muffled voice.

He soon felt a twitch in his hand. His sobs started to get softer as he lifted his face from her stomach. "Are you okay...?" Taichi asked while sniffling and looking at the girl's face.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open and at that moment Tai felt his little heart jump a bit as he stared at her face. She carefully began to sit up, holding her arm. Her vision was slightly blurry and all she could see was a big blob of brown. She wiped her eyes a few times, and looked again. The brown blob was actually a big mop of hair and belonged to the little boy who had tackled her.

"You're the guy that hit me" came her little voice. Tai snapped back to attention and looked at her in a formal way.

"Yeah it's me…listen I'm really sorry, I just really wanted to win and I didn't know that you were a girl. I didn't get to see how you looked very well." He started to get tears in his eyes again. The girl noticed that his eyes were red from before and that her shirt was wet with tears. "Hey don't cry, its ok" She hugged him and Tai's eyes suddenly widened. She let go of him and got up.

"I have to go now, I don't know if I'll play here tomorrow, bye!" She started running towards the park away form the soccer field.

"Wait!" Tai got up and ran as fast as he could to the girl. He caught up and grabbed her arm. She turned and looked at him curiously.

"I'm still really sorry I didn't mean to…" she put a finger to his lips. "I told you, its ok…"

"Well I don't think its ok yet" said Tai, his head looking down. He went to a nearby bench and sat down. The girl followed him.

"You play a lot of soccer don't you?" said the girl. Tai was still looking down and managed a low "Yeah…" I think you're really good, the way you run and tackle. I know you'll get even better when you get older. There was Tai listening to the girl he tackled, complimenting him! He looked up and faced her.

"I think you're really good too, the way you dodge, you're really fast!" He saw the expression on her face change from surprised to happy. The way she smiled made him blush.

He looked at her shirt and noticed all the tears that had accumulated on it to make it so wet. The girl raised a brow and looked to where Tai was looking at and she began to smile a bit more.

"You stayed close to me and cried on me until I woke up, right?" the young girl questioned.

"H-huh?" Taichi looked up and met her gaze.

"You're really nice…staying with me like that" she started blushing.

"Well hehehe I guess" said Taichi while scratching his head.

"Umm…you never told me your name yet, can I know?" asked Tai very shyly. The girl grinned

"Sora Takenouchi" she then made a cute little girly look and Tai couldn't help but grin back

"My name is Taichi Yagami, the best soccer player in the world!" He shook her hand and they both giggled. "I've got lots of money too" said Tai

"Really?" asked Sora. Through the corner of his eye, Tai could see an ice cream man coming by with his cart.

"Yeah, I'll prove it!" Taichi grabbed her hand and led her to the ice cream man.

"Hey Mister" Taichi said with a smile on his face. The young man looked down at Tai.

"Hey there kid, you want some ice cream?" the young man asked Tai kindly.

"Yup!" I want two Popsicles for me and my friend Sora!" The man looked at Sora and smiled.

"Ahh…you have a little girlfriend I see" said the man

"Huh? A girlfriend?" Tai asked confused. "Never mind heh, so what flavors would you like?"

Tai turned to Sora. "What flavor do you want Sora?"

"Hmm…I want cherry" she said sweetly.

"Alright, one cherry and one orange please!" Taichi started to get excited.

The man opened the cart and took out a cherry Popsicle and an orange Popsicle. "That'll be $1.00"

Tai dug into his pocket and took out a bunch of coins. "Uhh…one cent, 6 cents, 17 cents…" Tai kept counting and counting.

Sora looked at Tai while he was counting and smiled. The man also watched Tai count and figured that it might take too long for Tai to count, plus he had to sell more ice cream before the end of the day.

"Hey little guy, it's on me you can have these for free, ok?" The man handed Tai the Popsicles. "See you again!" and with that the man hurried off to sell the rest of his ice cream supply.

"What just happened?" Tai looked a little confused, and then he smirked. "See Sora, I told you I'm rich, I had too much money so the guy gave me the Popsicles for free and ran away!"

Sora laughed. "I guess so, Tai"

"Here you go Sora" Tai gave the cherry Popsicle to her.

"Thanks Taichi" Sora gently took the Popsicle from him. The two ate their Popsicles on the way to Sora's place. Tai didn't even notice where they were going until Sora stopped in front of an apartment building.

"Well, this is where I live" said Sora, a bit less energetic.

"Oh…" said Taichi, also a bit less energetic" "We can see each other tomorrow right? Just meet me at the soccer field"

"I hope I can come tomorrow" said Sora.

"If you can't come how about I come over?" asked Tai, full of hope.

"I guess that would be ok" Sora smiled a bit. "Sora, honey" Sora's mom came out the door of the apartment building.

"Where have you been? Your clothes are all messy and look at those grass stains" Sora's mom was getting frantic on how dirty her daughter's clothes were.

"We were playing soccer Mrs. Takenouchi" said Tai. Sora's mom looked over at Tai

"Hmm…who is this young fellow Sora? A friend?" Sora's mom began to smile.

"Yup, mommy his name is Taichi Yagami and he's the best soccer player in the world" Sora and Tai giggled again.

"Aww…how cute" said Sora's mom. "Did you take good care of my Sora, Taichi?"

"Yes m'am!" exclaimed Taichi. Sora's mom laughed.

"Such a nice little boy, hmm… you've got some stains of your own I see" Sora's mom inspected the stains of grass, mud, and orange Popsicle. "Why don't you come with me and Sora to wash up?"

"Well I guess" Taichi said. Sora, Tai and Sora's mom all went up to the Takenouchi's apartment. Sora's mom washed both Taichi and Sora's faces and then later decided that Taichi should just wash himself off at his own place and that Sora should take a bath when Taichi left

"Taichi dear, what's your phone number? I need to call your mom" It had reached 6:30 pm in the evening and Tai was supposed to be home at 6:00 pm. Taichi came over and told Sora's mom his number, after that he went back over to Sora so they could play Tic-Tac-Toe. Mrs. Takenouchi dialed the Yagami's number, it ringed a few times and then someone picked up.

"Yagami Residence"

"Hello, is this Mrs.Yagami?"

"Yes, may I ask who is calling?" Tai's mother seemed very distressed.

"This is Mrs.Takenouchi, your son Taichi is over here at my place. He was playing soccer with my daughter earlier today and he brought her home. My daughter and Taichi seem to have become good friends.

"Taichi is there?! I'm coming over, please tell me your address"

Taichi looked over at the phone, he could hear his mom from the other side. Mrs. Takenouchi told Mrs. Yagami the directions and then said bye and hung up.

"Uh-oh" said Tai

"What's wrong Taichi?" asked Sora.

"My mom is coming over, I hope she's not mad"

"Don't worry, I don't think she'll be mad" said Sora

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Sora's mom answered the door and told Mrs. Yagami to come inside. Tai's mom thanked Mrs.Takenouchi, took off her shoes and walked slowly inside.

"Taichi I was so worried, it may have been half an hour but I was still worried. And I even have the baby to take care of." Tai's mom had a baby carrier with her.

"Oooh, a little girl, what's her name?" Mrs.Takenouchi asked

Mrs.Yagami smiled "Hikari Yagami"

"That's a wonderful name" Sora's mom complimented.

"Thank you" Tai's mom replied. "I'm sorry but I have to get going, I have to get home to cook dinner for Tai and for my husband when he gets home later tonight, thank you so much for watching over Taichi this evening"

"No problem, he's welcome to visit anytime" said Mrs.Takenouchi. Mrs.Yagami walked over to Tai and took his hand and then noticed the girl beside him.

"Hi there, what's your name?" asked Tai's mom.

"My name's Sora, the second best soccer player in the world" Tai and Sora once again giggled. Tai's mom faced Sora's mom.

"They're so adorable!" exclaimed Mrs.Yagami.

"I know!" replied Mrs.Takenouchi. The mothers had a little laugh and then it was really time for Tai to go.

"Well we've really got to get going Mrs.Takenouchi, Sora's welcome to come over to our place anytime. Say thank you to Mrs.Takenouchi Taichi" said Tai's mom.

"Th-thank you Mrs.Takenouchi"

"You're welcome Taichi, take care, goodnight"

Sora waved goodbye to Taichi and Taichi waved back. Mrs.Yagami said her goodbyes after putting on her shoes and getting the Takenouchi's number. On the way out Tai helped his mom carry the baby carrier.

Later on when Tai got home, he didn't want to eat. He went straight into his room to think about all the things that happened today.

"That was really fun…I hope we can meet again tomorrow" Tai thought. Now that he was home, he started to get really bored, really fast. Taichi's mom was busy preparing dinner for Mr.Yagami when suddenly Taichi emerged from his room and ran to the phone.

"Mom! What's Sora's number!?"



Author's Notes: Well there's the end of chapter 1 ^^. Please review and tell me if you want more. If there are any questions, you can post them in your review or you can IM me on AIM. You can also e-mail!