Dandelion
Part Two

"Well… that… was…" Tai was desperately thinking of what to say to hide his disappointment, but to no avail. "…a fail. I guess I'm going to have to grow up forever alone with Neko and a dozen other pet cats." His attempt to lighten the mood didn't make the silence any less awkward. Sora remained soundless once more, intensifying the atmosphere, as if it could not possibly get any worse as it already is. He turned to her, trying to make out what she could possibly be thinking with her expressionless face. "Hey, no big deal. Who needs that stuff anyway?" The silence was slowly but surely killing Tai.

Sora leaned back to lay on the grass. She spread out her arms and legs, as if she were about to make a snow (or, rather, grass) angel. Tai took her lead and laid down next to her, staring up towards the sky. Some clouds had shifted over from the mountains to overlook their secret spot, looming over their bodies and slowly heading over towards the city.

"It's just… " Sora began. Her voice was hushed, as if she didn't want anyone to hear her even though no one was around to eavesdrop. "Nothing. So who's the lucky girl?"

Tai scratched his head, giving the sky a puzzled look. "Who says she's lucky? I'm the lucky one." He smiled to himself, thinking of the possibility that Sora may feel the same way. Who needs dandelions and wishes to make things happen? Still – Tai had felt this way about Sora for a long time now, and it never seemed like she returned the feelings at all. Even with wishes at 11:11PM, coins thrown in a fountain, and now blowing on a dandelion flower, nothing had changed with Tai's relationship with Sora.

Wait a minute. Tai bolted upright, startling Sora. She frowned, thinking – for a second – that he was going to leave her, until he said, "You know, we – or, well, I – can't just keep wishing or wondering for something to happen between… this girl and me."

Sora raised her eyebrows. "I thought you said you had everything you wished for already?"

"I thought I did, but I realized… I always subconsciously do these things. I mean, you know, making wishes at 11:11 at night… tossing a coin into a wishing well, that sort of thing. Okay, yeah, I know that sounds lame – and by the way, what happens in our secret spot, stays at our secret spot – but I'm just now realizing none of that is any use. We're living in the real world. Wishes don't just come and go as we please, no matter how often we try. Things only happen if you make it happen."

By now his heart rate was going off the charts. It was skyrocketing out of control. Am I really going to tell her how I feel… right here, right now? Tai was desperately trying to make sense of what was happening. He knew this day would come eventually, but he had always feared what the result of his confession would reveal. If she doesn't feel the same way, it's over. But… I have to take action myself. It's clear that nothing would happen if I didn't say anything. Having something happen instead of nothing – I guess I'd rather take that anyday. "Sora, you said it felt like your wishes had come true. What were they?"

She sat up, staring into Tai's eyes with both such a happy and sad look, that Tai didn't know what to make of it. "Just… I don't know. I wished for my relationship with my mother to get better, and it did, but –"

"Because you made that happen. Remember how you used to think she didn't love you? And then you realized it was all just a misunderstanding, and that she really does love you? She was just looking out to protect you, and once you let her in your life, your relationship with her has been better than ever. I've seen it. You're so much happier than you used to be at home. Okay, what else?"

"Well, I … I wanted to pass all my classes with A's… I wished for that so badly…"

"Are you kidding me? You're saying you passed because of some stupid wishes? Sora, I've seen you practically live at the library, studying your butt off for our exams! Do you remember that time you got mad at me for forgetting to tell you that the teacher canceled the test that you almost pulled an all-nighter for?"

Sora giggled, giving Tai a gentle shove as she was recalling that night. "Yeah, stupid Tai… and the thing was that you were with me while I was studying for that test."

"Weren't you wondering why I wasn't studying?!"

"I just figured you were pulling a typical Tai."

"Hey!"

They both laughed, taking in the slight gust of wind that blew their way, and soaking in the rays of the warm sun. The mood had definitely lightened up, and Tai was glad to see that Sora was finally smiling again. However, it never left his mind that he was going to tell Sora how he felt about her… eventually. Possibly soon. Or –

"Now… Sora, I need to … ask you something. Not that it matters to me or anything, but this person you thought of whenever you blew out the dandelions… you said all of the seed heads flew off, but you've been single this whole time I've known you," Tai said, carefully choosing his words. He added, "Unless you have a secret boyfriend that I don't know of."

Sora shook her head, embarrassed. "I guess I was wrong. That was just wishful thinking, too. The truth is, I have no idea how he feels about me, but I'm content with my relationship with him now. I've always been too afraid to do anything because I don't want to ruin what I already have with him." Her face had flushed into a light pink now, and she turned to Tai. "Do you know what I mean?"

Tai smirked, laughing at the very idea in his head because that was exactly how he had felt about her.

"Sora, that's the story of my life. I've always had the crest of courage, and I feel like I can take on anything but this stuff. It's funny – when I blew out the dandelion, I was really hoping all of the seed heads would fly off so I would know if you felt the same way about me, but -"

He froze. Did. I. Really. Just. Say. That. Out. Loud?

Tai mentally slapped himself – multiple times. That's certainly one way of confessing, I guess. WHY AM I SO STUPID? He didn't even want to look at Sora, so his gaze focused on the mountain he saw in front of him, beyond the secret spot's endless field of bright green grass. Don't look at her. Don't look at her. Don't look at her.

He gave up, looking at her after what seemed like an eternity.

To his surprise, Sora was smiling. He flashed a grin in return, sheepishly rubbing his head. This … is a good sign, he thought. I mean, at least she doesn't look absolutely horrified or disgusted. Or maybe she is on the inside and she's just trying to be nice and not show me that she is, in fact, grossed out by me.

"Look, Sora," Tai began. He was searching for the best way to approach this awkward situation, with three options that immediately popped into his head.

Option A: Pretend that she was the one that misheard me and deny anything and everything she tries to say. "Tai, you like me?!" "What? That's crazy! Oh, look, a squirrel!"

Option B: Run away, lock myself in my room for the rest of summer break, and never return to the outside world (unless going to the bathroom was necessary – oh, and if I need to eat).

Option C: (The least desired option). Just go with it and tell her the truth.

Tai was mentally kicking himself, knowing which option was the one he had to take.

He gathered up all of his courage. If he could save the world multiple times from evil Digimon, then he could definitely tell a girl how he feels about her. Before he could begin talking, Sora moved her hand over his, placing it right on top.

"Tai… did you really think of me when you blew out the dandelion?" she asked.

I could easily go with option A right now. No! Come on, Tai! Make magic happen.

"I… did…" he answered, hesitating, but then shaking off the fear. "After all of this time, I've realized… that I really like you. As more than a friend. As more than my best friend. We've always been more than friends, always less than lovers…but I want so much more … with you. Unless, you know, you don't feel the same way about me, which would be totally cool with me—"

She leaned into him, pressing her lips against his, and without a moment's hesitation, he returned her kiss, feeling as if their hearts were beating as one, and that several hours may have possibly gone by without them knowing, because time seemed to have frozen still even though, surely, only thirty seconds had passed by. Either way, it was as if he had soared across the galaxy and back.

They broke apart. Not one of them said anything for a few moments, taking in what had just happened.

"You're right, Tai," Sora finally said. "It's no use making wishes every day. After all this time I saw no results, thinking that you probably just didn't like me… but, like you said… nothing was happening because neither of us were making anything happen on our own."

"I'm always right!" Tai grinned, making Sora giggle and roll her eyes. He intertwined his hand into hers, feeling her warmth surge throughout his body. "I'm just sorry it took so long for me to do anything about it."

She squeezed his hand, leaning towards his shoulder and resting her head against him. "Took me long enough, too."

They sighed softly, as they stared out the field, with the grass seemingly dancing along with the breeze. Tai could have sworn he saw the hurricane of dandelion seed heads pass by them again, floating up towards the sky. No more dandelion wishes were needed for either of them ever again. Tai smiled to himself, happy that this was the start of something rather beautiful (though he would never say that out loud. That's way too girly.). Though neither of them had to state it, they both felt the neutral agreement that whatever happens at their secret spot, doesn't always have to stay at their secret spot.

Fin.

Author's note: I hope the moral of the story is obvious because I tried to emphasize it throughout part two of this story, which explains why Tai's attempt to blow out all of the seeds failed. Ultimately, though, that doesn't mean anyone should give up hope if it seems like a wish isn't coming true! :) I know this could have been a one-shot, but I didn't want to make the one-shot TOO long, so that's why I split it up into two parts (plus I liked how dramatic the ending was for part one XD).I'm not sure how I could have expanded it to be any longer than this and I am quite satisfied with the results (because I had no idea what the ending would be, though the only thing I was sure of from the beginning was the last sentence.)

Be sure to please review and tell me what you think! Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks to Andrea and Valechan92 for the previous reviews and kind words! :)