CHAPTER 2: Meeting Of Lovers

Taichi fell off his bed. He was speechless.

"Taichi… Taichi are you listening?" Mrs. Yagami went on speaking from the other end.

He immediately composed himself again.

"Huh… Yeah. Yeah Mom I heard what you said. I…um…. I got to go Mom. Just remembered something very urgent." He clicked the phone shut.

"What crap!" He murmured. Then probably noticing for the first time that he was on the floor slowly got up. His brown hair were a much worse mess than they usually were. He took a deep breath and quickly got dressed. He was in need of a walk. A long and quiet walk but unfortunately he never ever could get one since always somebody would end up staring at him or in case of girls gazing at him or maybe some paparazzi would just take pics of him and make it the headlines of their gossip section that soccer star Taichi Yagami was out for a walk…..duh… It was not easy being famous. Though if his one and only love had not been famous he would not be able to catch a glimpse of her every now and then on T.V. or on news. He had never quite understood why he was not able to bring himself to go meet her. Some internal fear or whatever. Anyways she had made it clear that she did not want him back when they were fourteen so there was no hope on that issue.

After a little more deliberations he was finally able to bring himself to open the door of his house and move out. As expected as soon as he got out on the street he was greeted by whispers and people pointing in that direction. Oh! Why did he just not simply get a job? To heck with soccer. He dared to look around and he saw a group of teenage girls giggling and as soon as he looked at them they turned and blushed. And then he saw a boy looking at him with some sort of admiration and then another with a weird sense of envy. All lost in their own emotions. Well not everybody got a call at 8:00 in the morning by their mothers telling them that their sister who is being forced into marriage is ending up marrying his once best friend. No, really not everyone had such an experience.

Taichi had totally been against his mother doing what she was to Hikari. He had been outraged. He had even said that if she did not want Hikari living alone she could stay with him which Hikari had very much wanted but no his mother was adamant. And then this whole marriage thing came out of the blue. And now what does he come to know that the guy his sister is marrying is Yamato Ishida his old best friend cum rival. Well, what could be up with Yamato? He is not the kind of guy who would like to get himself into arranged marriage. Or rather he was. Five years is a long time for a person to change and he had not met Yamato since five years. Yamato had initially dated Sora. Sora was the girl he loved and who also he had not met in the past five years. And he still remembered that Christmas day when Sora had rejected him. But in the end it did not work out and they broke up after which Yamato started dating Mimi and they had been dating happily till the last time he had seen them. But after Yamato and Sora broke up he never could bring himself to ask Sora again after that rejection. He was sure that Sora never saw him more than a friend or else she would not have rejected him.

Taichi sighed as those memories came flooding back to him. He was lost in his own thoughts and then BANG! He had walked straight into another pedestrian sending the folder she was carrying flying to the ground.

"I am sorry, I am sorry. I was just not paying attention." He said quickly as he fumbled about for the folder.

"Taichi!"

It was common for Taichi that whenever he banged into any person they would exclaim his name. But this voice… he could recognize it even after so many years. He looked up and indeed it was the girl about whom he had been thinking a minute ago.

"Sora…"

He got to his feet and helped her up handing her her folder.

Then they did not know what to say and just stood looking at each other. They were both amazed. Taichi was in partial shock. He had just been thinking about her and here she was. Could he be dreaming all this?

Sora too could not believe Taichi was here. All these years she had avoided him and here he was. It was not that she did not want to meet him. She had been scared. To anyone it would sound hilarious that a girl was scared to meet her own best friend but to Sora Taichi was not just her best friend. She loved him. And in all stupidity she rejected him when she had had the chance to be with him and after that she had never been able to bring herself to go to him and apologize. Yamato and she never did work out. It was a wrong decision and she was glad that they did broke up and Yamato started dating Mimi. She was happy for them.

There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Finally Taichi broke it.

"It has been some time Sora."

"Glad you remember me after becoming so famous."

Taichi's face broke into a grin. And his old mischievousness which he had long forgotten began to revive. "Oh! And after becoming one of the most famous designers in Japan you remember me… I'm honored Ms. Takenouchi"

"Shut up! Idiot!" And she hugged him.

"Come on. My car is parked right there." She pointed to the nearby parking lot. "Come with me to my house."

"Gladly." Taichi replied with a wink.

"Hikari? As in Taichi's sister Hikari?" Yamato said. He was surprised. This was the least expected. Or forget least this was not expected at all!

"Yeah" Takeru said.

"But Takeru you loved her. How can I marry her?"

Takeru told Yamato Hikari's story. "So, you see she would rather marry you than anyone else and she told me that she likes you too."

"Then why don't you marry her? She likes me but she loves you." Yamato said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

This was Takeru's sensitive point. That was what he badly wanted. But he knew that that was not what Hikari wanted. And he wanted Hikari to be happy. He could do anything in the world to gain Hikari's trust back but he knew that he would never be able to do so. Then he swallowed the lump forming in his throat and very coolly so that his brother will not realize that he was lying spoke.

"See Yamato I loved her ages ago. Five years is a long time you know. I had quite forgotten about her. And she too doesn't love me anymore. Why, she has dated God knows how many guys since I left. That was just a teenage crush and nothing more believe me. We both got over it."

"Really? You seemed quite mad about her." Yamato said finding it hard to believe that Takeru had merely 'forgotten' Hikari.

"I told you bro. Just a teenage crush."

"Um….. OK."

"So you will marry her?"

"I'll think about it. I will talk to her first."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

Takeru sighed. He did not know why he was lying. Probably because he knew that Hikari would be happy with Yamato and not with him or with any unknown person. He sighed yet again and wondered what would Mimi do when she came to know about this?

"Why did you never come to meet me Taichi?"

Taichi did not know what to say now. She was asking him what he had been fearing she would ask him ever since he entered her house. The question to which he had no answer. Why did he not meet her?

"I… I don't know. Why didn't you meet me?" He challenged.

Sora did not know what to say too. She could not tell him the truth.

"I…um…. I asked first."

Taichi laughed. "I suppose neither of us have an answer to this particular question, do we?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Let's change the topic."

Taichi eyed her. She still seemed the same in the tomboy jeans and plain T-shirt. Not the kind she'd wear on the ramp.

"Not the way to dress for a fashion designer, is it?"

Sora rolled her eyes. "I'm still the Sora Takenouchi you knew Taichi. I'm still a tomboy. Even though I have to wear those clothes on T.V. Or have grown my hair." She pointed to her auburn hair which were now somewhere around her elbows and shrugged. "You know I would never dream of wearing the clothes that I myself design."

"Well then why did you ever become a fashion designer?"

"I don't know. I don't like those dresses but I like sketching them and seeing my imagination in front of me. It's complicated."

"I understand. A tomboy fashion designer. Interesting."

"Sora gave him a blow on his head. "Glad you kept your hair like that."

"You like them."

"I always loved them." Sora said and then blushed slightly.

Taichi laughed seeing her turn red. "It's okay you don't need to tell me that. I know you loved them. You only prevented me from getting them cut, remember?" And that is why I kept them like this all these years. For you.

Sora smiled. "Yeah, I remember."

"So we will meet from now, won't we?"

"Of course. Don't you even think of leaving me again!"

Taichi winked at her causing her to blush again. Sora was irritated at herself. Why was she blushing so much right in front of her love.

"Taichi. I have been noticing you seem kind of distracted."

"You still can read me like an open book."

"I am still your best friend right?" Though I wish I was more than that.

"Yeah." Though I wish you were more than that.

"So tell me everything."

Then out it all came about Hikari and Yamato.

"But, how can your mother do that to her. We all make mistakes."

"Who is going to explain this to her?"

"And what about Takeru? He and Hikari were once THE couple."

"I don't know. I am going to Mom's house just now. You wanna come?"

"Sure. It has been quite a while since I met her."

"Believe me she is nothing like when you met her." Taichi said picking up his jacket.

"Know what Taichi I think if your mother is so adamant on getting Hikari married and if she is satisfied with Yamato and if Takeru has no objections we should let Hikari marry Yamato. It would be better for her than to marry anyone else whom she dosen't know."

"So many ifs. I wonder what happened between him and Mimi. I suppose they both did go to USA together."

"Yeah they did. Well we will find out in a short while."

Mimi sighed and got back in her car and drove away from Yamato's apartment. She had come there at least six times that day and had driven away again and again. She somehow could not bring herself to enter. She was sorry about last night. She had over reacted about Clara. And now Yamato hated her. What a mess had she gotten herself into? Thinking this she drove away.

Little does she know that soon she will be entering a bigger mess than this one. She was going to be a part of a great circus in Japan….

So how was it? Do tell me any ways I can improve my writing and I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks to all my reviewers;

Endlessfun; Thank you.

Valechan92; Thanks. I have to make them a little OOC to fit the plot of the story.

Mimato love4ever; Thank you. I hope you will read this again when your exams are over. I know how dreadful exams can be. I wish they were never made.

Missylea; Thanks! And thanks for your review in the other fic. too. MBKD is my fav too and I thought that it will be interesting to place Yamato and Takeru in place of Ali and Imran ;) One on DDLJ would actually be cool Digimon style.

Giraffeshelf; Thanks for the review. They sure will turn ugly in the later chapters ;)

Me; My dear friend Thanks yaar! Tumnein at least padh to li. Please yeh waala bhi padhna…