The Goggles and the Hat
Volume 2: The Dragon and the Phoenix
Chapter 1: Daikanransha
It had been a week sense Tai confessed his feelings for Sora in the park, and not a minute had gone by that they weren't at each other's side, sleeping, or on their way to sleep. Seven days of pure bliss for Tai and Sora. One day they sat together in the park, in the very same place they had confessed feelings for one another not too long ago. Matt came walking up the hill towards them. "I thought I'd find you guys here." Matt said.
"Hey Matt what's up?" Tai asked
Matt laid down on the grass and said, "Nothing much, I just needed to escape for a bit. Any way when are you two going for your first date?"
Tai and Sora looked at each other, they hadn't thought about it. After a bit of thought Tai said, "Well I'm free Monday."
Sora smiled and nodded "Monday it is."
"So where do you want to go?" Tai asked her
"Hmm… how about the Mongolian grill down the street from my mom's shop?" Sora said
"Sounds great, I'll pick you up at five." Tai said as Sora snuggled closer to him. Mat got up and walked away, his work here was done.
Monday came and Sora heard a knock on her front door. She opened it up and saw Tai standing there. He wore a dark purple dress shirt and more formal jeans, semi casual. Sora herself wore a red tee shirt and blue jeans. Tai asked her "Ready to go?"
"Yeah. Mama! I'm going to be out for a while!" Sora called to her mother
"Be careful and have fun, both of you." She called back. Neither of them could drive yet, so they walked to the restaurant talking and holding hands. When they arrived Tai paid for both of them, they ordered drinks and got in line for food.
They watched the two talented chiefs toss the random assortments of food around a huge grill always opposite one another. As the couple watched Tai leaned over to Sora and said "They're really good." Sora nodded her agreement.
When their food was done cooking they sat down and began to eat. Tai was careful to net eat too quickly and look like a slob on his first date with Sora. When Sora noticed his slower pace she asked, "Is something wrong Tai? You're eating slower than you normally do."
Tai laughed and said, "No I'm fine, I'm eating slower on purpose."
Sora giggled and understood his reasoning perfectly. They had only been a couple for only a week but they already clicked really well, they could finish each other's sentences and practically read each other's minds, something it takes other couples years to do, it could have been because they were such close friends for so long that they achieved it so early. When they finished their food they walked out of the grill and Tai took her to Palette Town to ride the Ferris Wheel, Daikanransha. It was rather dark out so Daikanransha glowed like a beacon calling to them. As they got on Tai slipped the person working the ride some yen and whispered something to him. Sora didn't notice as she was stepping into their pod. Tai rushed in so she wouldn't notice anything odd. The ride started and Tai put his arm around Sora as they went up all 115 meters. When they got to the top they had the most splended veiw of the city. And on their way down they were facing the city and watched as it twinkled in the darkness. Suddenly the ride came to a gentle stop when Tai and Sora were a third of the way from the top and a worker's voice came over the speakers "Sorry we're having some minor technical difficulties, do not worry, it's just a minor glitch and can be fixed quickly."
Tai grinned and kept looking out at the city. Sora placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. They sat like that for a while before Tai turned to face Sora more. He placed a hand of her chin and lifted her face towards his. She didn't resist and infact placed her hands behind Tai's neck with and pulled him closer to her, they inched closer and closer until the ride lurched back to life and began to spin slowly again. Tai and Sora pulled their faces away from each other and both blushed slightly. After they got off the ride it was getting rather late so Tai walked Sora home. In front of her door they hugged and Sora kissed Tai on the cheek and whispered "Goodnight" into his ear before going inside. Tai stood outside and placed a hand on where Sora had kissed as a grin spread across his face. He walked home smiling, as happy as can be.
The Dragon and the Pheonix
Chapter 2: Matt's Torture
The next day Sora and Tai met in the park, where they met up with some of the others. Kari was the first to speak "Sora! How'd the date go?"
"Tai didn't tell you?" Sora asked
"No, all he did all night was lay on his bed grinning." Kari said, sounding somewhat upset about it.
Sora giggled and snuggled close to Tai then said, "It was great. We went to dinner, then to the Ferris Wheel and when we were riding it…" Sora trailed off remembering how close they came to kissing and blushed, Tai, remembering the same event, blushed as well. TK was the only one who noticed, as he had been spending time with Matt and picked up a few things. He silently pointed it out to Kari, who giggled quietly. Matt walked up to the group and said, "Hey everybody. How'd the date go?"
Neither of them responded right away but instead blushed more fiercely, it was now becoming apparent even to Cody. Finally Tai said, "It was great."
"When are you going to go on date number two?" Matt said
"We haven't talked about it yet, we just met up a little bit ago." Sora said wanting to subject to change "So how about you Matt? When's the next time you're going on a date?"
Matt was caught off guard by the question and thought about it for a bit. He hadn't had any girls come up to him in the last couple of weeks, well except Davis' sister. TK grinned an evil grin and said, "How about you go on a double date next time Tai?"
Matt took advantage of the situation and said, "That's a great idea TK, you and Kari could go with Tai and Sora."
Kari had sensed what TK was doing and decided to play along. She said, "It would be kinda weird, going on a double date with my brother. Why don't you get one of the girls who chase you around?"
At this point Yolei understood the game too and added, "Yeah, it'd be perfect. Even if the girl's a total bore, you've still got two of your best friends there."
Davis, who had no idea what they were all playing at, actually played his part perfectly. "But the only girl chasing him now is my sister, she scared all the others away…"
A look of distress crossed Matt's face. He only had one way out, and that was to take a friend instead of June, and with Sora dating Tai, and Mimi in America, that only left him with one choice "Well how about you Yolei, we could go on a friend's date."
Yolei, determined to see the game to the finish quickly said, "I… I can't… because… because… I'm… going out with Davis!"
"We're WHAT?" Davis yelled
Yolei hooked her arm around his and pulled him close "Don't be silly Davey, we can't hide forever" then hissed, "Just play along" so only he could hear it. Yolei began to laugh and walk away with Davis.
Matt hung his head in defeat. Then said, "Who's got Davis' house number?"
Kari took out her cell phone and gave Matt the number who punched it in his phone then said to Tai and Sora before hitting the send button "Thursday work for you two?" they nodded both smiling, they may not have helped the others when they attacked Matt, but they had still enjoyed the show.
The phone rang around three times before he heard a woman's voice say "Motomiya residence, June speaking."
Matt took a long breath in and mentally prepared himself, "Hey June, this is Matt, I was just wondering if you were available Thursday afternoon."
Matt then heard something that surprised him, a scoff. "Yeah, right. Very funny Davis, like THE Matt would be asking me out, I'm not falling for that again. Though your impression has gotten better."
"What? You think I'm Davis. Wait did you say "again" he's pretended to be me, just to humiliate you after getting your hopes up? That's so wrong…" Matt said the others were cracking up after they heard what Matt said
"Yeah, well if you're really Matt then you'd know the answer to this question: What was the name of the first Teenage Wolves song that was never released or sang in any concert?"
"Are you talking about "Friendship's Blizzard"?" Matt said
"Ok, but you could have read that on the internet." June said "What did Matt, the real Matt, want to name the band before he settled with "Teenage Wolves"?"
"The Blue Blasters. And how are you finding all of this out? I've never told anyone that name!" Matt said. Then there was silence on the other side of the phone followed by a thud. "Hello? June?" Matt hung up the phone and said, "I think she fainted"
Everyone started laughing even harder when they heard that. Matt left to go make sure she was ok, and to ask her in person, so he couldn't be mistaken for Davis again.
The whole thing was cleared up and June agreed (of course).
The Dragon and The Phoenix
Chapter 3: Flowers and Fathers
The next day, Matt and Tai sat at a local fast food place, outside, to talk about where to go. Eventually they settled on a dinner and a show. After the decisions were made Tai asked Matt, "So how'd June react when you asked her in person?"
He laughed and said "She walked to the bathroom saying she was dreaming, then she splashed cold water on her face and slapped herself, only when she didn't wake up did she accept that is was real and she fainted again." They both laughed "But when she woke up she was actually cool. She's a nice girl when she's not spewing her crazy on you."
"So she's nuts to get attention?" Tai said.
"I guess it makes sense to her. Thought it seems like a bad idea to me." Matt said
"I'll tell you man, there are some things about women I'll never understand." Tai said leaning back in his seat to look at the sky but not two seconds after looking up he saw Sora's face, and she didn't look happy, she didn't look mad per say, it was more of that playful anger.
"Never understand women huh?" she said
"Nope, but that's why I like them." Tai said "Or one of them to be specific" Tai added as he winked at her. She smiled and kissed his forehead and walked away.
When she got back to her friends one of them said, "I don't know what you see in that guy."
Then another added "especially with that other guy right next to him."
A few of the let out dreamy sighs in unison and Sora rolled her eyes. "You want to know what I see in Tai? I see a person who loves me and is dedicated to me, what do you see in Matt huh?"
One of them said, "Well he's a hottie, he's got great hair and-"
Getting the answer she expected Sora said "No, I asked you what you see in him not on him. I see things in Tai that you couldn't understand." These were the girls that she didn't care for, she was only with them because they were her friend's friends. Her real friend, Motoko, laughed when she saw the looks on the faces of the others when Sora said that, she understood what Sora meant, but she wasn't so sure some of the others did. They walked the rest of the way to the mall with no one daring to ask Sora why she liked Tai again. Motoko wasn't afraid to, like the others, but she could already see it and was a little jelious of Sora because of it and infact just before they went their separate ways she said, "You've got yourself one hell of a man, hold on to him, because if you guys split up I might go after him."
Sora didn't take it as a threat like most other girls would have. She took it like Motoko had meant it, a compliment. It ment that she saw the same thing in Tai that Sora did. She smiled and said "Well you're out of luck because I don't intend to let go any time soon."
Motoko smiled and walked away. Sora walked to her apartment and thought about her exchange with her best-friend-who-was-still-just-a-friend-and-lived-in-this-country. To anyone else it would have seemed like an odd thing to say, but that was just how they talked to each other. Maybe that is what Tai meant when he said he'd never understand women.
Thursday rolled around and Tai stood in front of Sora's apartment and knocked. She answered the door and before she could even say "Hello Tai" He handed her a bouquet. She smiled it was made from Daisys with a Gardinia in the middle, dasiys were her favorite flower, and the Gardinia was an exquisite flower that mixed well with the others. She thanked Tai and took the flowers to show her mother after inviting him in. As she hurried off to show her mother, a man came out of a near-by room and sat across from Tai in the living room. Tai recognized him as Sora's father. Tai had been dreading this from the time he and Sora began dating, but Tai thought he'd have more time to think about what to say, after all, he worked far away and wasn't home often, in fact, Tai had only seen him a handfull of times in all the years he had known Sora.
"So you are dating my dauther, Taichi." He said looking Tai right in the eyes, but as much to his surprise as Tai's, Tai met his gaze and shot it back.
"Yes, and I love her very much." Tai said
"She's my little girl, Taichi, and I love her too" he said
"I know, I would never and will never do anything to hurt her." Tai said.
Their stairing contest continued for a short time until Haruhiko smiled and said "I trust you'll treat her well." He didn't say it as a question like most people, but as a proclamation. He slapped Tai on the shoulder and left the room.
Meanwhile Sora rushed into her mother's room and showed he the flowers Tai had given her. "Look, Mama, look! Tai got me flowers!" Sora said, sounding very unlike herself, but she knew how hard it was to get a Gardinia, and how expensive it must have been. Toshiko looked over and was visable shocked then smiled.
She said "Ah, a Gardinia. Not an easy flower to find, but it carries a powerfull message and that alone makes it worth all the work to find it." She walked up her daughter and gently took the white flower out and motioned for her daughter to follow her. She walked into the bathroom and took her florist's knife and cut most of the steam off the flower with Sora watching in horror. She then asked Sora to sit down who complied, hesitently. Toshiko the tucked the flower into her daughter's hair and played with it for a bit to get the flower to stay in place. She then said "Take a look in the mirrior." Sora stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. The flower seemed like such a natural thing to put there, it fit Sora perfectly, her crest symbolizing the same thing and the gentle flower adorning her head. Her mother then said "I think we've kept Tai waiting long enough" Sora nodded and hugged her mother, then left the room to join Tai. As she walked away Toshiko thought, "I don't remember Tai coming into the shop, but I do remember making that arrangement."
The Dragon and The Phoenix
Chapter 4: Fireflies
Tai and Sora left Sora's apartment and met Matt and a very excited June in front of the movie theater. Matt and Tai bought tickets for themselves and their dates. Sora detested to Tai paying for her yet again, then Tai made a compromise with her. "OK, if you let me buy you your ticket, then I'll let you pay for snacks." Sora agreed and was happy until they went in and all Tai ordered was the theater's complimentary water. She pouted about Tai not letting her spend her money on him then Tai told her, "OK, if you really want to you can plan the next date and pay yourself."
"You wont pull the water thing again?" She asked.
"Digidestined promise" Tai said.
Sora smiled and all four of them walked into the theater. They took seats in the dead center to watch. They were hard to get in and out of, but they had the best view in the house. The movie started and they were watching "Little Miss Sunshine" (I looked at the movie collection and that was the best "feel good" movie I could see.) they enjoyed the movie but Tai's focus was on Sora for most of it. He wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the screen, but he wasn't watching the movie, his focus was on Sora. When the movie ended they walked over to a 70s themed diner. The fireflies were out as they walked adding a sense of romance, even for Matt, who was determined to treat the night as a casual outing. When they arrived, they all ordered burgers as that was basically all they served. Half way through the meal June excused herself from the table to "go to the little girl's room" (Sora had always hated that term) and Matt took the opportunity to give Tai and Sora some privacy and insisted he had to go to the bathroom as well. Tai took a big bite out of his burger, chewed, swallowed and felt something on the corner of his mouth. He turned to Sora and asked "Do I have something on my face?"
"Yeah, a little ketchup, here let me get it" she said as she grabbed her napkin. She got close to Tai and focused on wiping away the small glob. When her task was done she looked up to Tai's face, then realizing how close their faces where. Sora closed her eyes and inched ever closer, Tai responded in kind, their lips where so closed Tai could feel Sora's sweet breath on his lips, they were nearly touching when the waiter came up with the check. The two backed away from each other and Tai placed down money for his and Sora's check and half the tip. Sora and Tai walked out of the diner and back towards Sora's apartment, the fireflies where zipping about all around them.
When they got to her door and she said "I'll see you tomorrow Tai." Then as she was about to go inside she turned around and hugged Tai tightly who did the same in kind. They stood there for a long time, having never been as content as they were to stay in each other's arms for an eternity. Slowly as they broke their embrace and Tai whispered, "I love you Sora." Who replied, "I love you too Tai"
The Dragon and the Phoenix
Chapter 5: Girl Talk
Tai met up with Sora as always in the park. Where they met up with the others, Mimi and Joe, who had recently returned from America, were among them. The beginning of the conversation consisted mostly of Joe describing his trip to New York, and Mimi announcing that she was moving back to Japan. Then Cody asked, "So how was your double date?"
Mimi, who hadn't heard that they were going on dates, was ecstatic. She grabbed Yolei and Sora by their wrists and said "Girl talk time!" Sora looked back at Tai and shrugged as Mimi pulled her along, she was surprisingly strong for someone who had never seen a weight in her life.
Tai watched her go and chuckled. Then he turned to Cody and said, "It was fun. You're getting older, and should look into getting yourself a girlfriend too." Tai then looked over at the other 2 at the park that day and said "And how about you guys? Any special girls?"
Joe pushed up his glasses and said, "I don't want to talk about it." But because of the look on his face, they could tell there was a girl, he just wasn't going to tell them.
Then Izzy said "I've been exchanging IM's with a girl online for a while now."
It was about at that point that Mimi was satisfied that they were far enough away from the guys that they would be heard. "So?" Mimi said, "What happened? Tell me everything."
"Well we went to the movies and then a diner." Sora said, "We ate and when Matt and June left for the bathroom… then Tai and I paid and left."
"You left something out" Mimi said
"How would you know, you weren't there." Sora said back.
"You paused in the middle of your sentence, then skipped to leaving. What happened when Matt and June left?" Mimi said
Sora blushed a deep red and didn't say anything.
"Come on Sora! Tell us!" Yolei urged
All Sora could hear was Mimi and Yolei trying to get her to tell them, and she knew that neither of them were going to stop until she told them. She took a deep breath then said "Alright. Tai and I almost kissed again."
Hearts practically replaced Yolei's eyes, but Mimi said, "Wait, 'again'? You and Tai have kissed?"
"No! When I said again I was referring to the time we almost kissed on the Roller Coaster." Sora blurted out
Yolei's eyes (that were now back to normal) narrowed to slits as she said "You didn't tell us about that the day after your first date."
Sora giggled uncomfortably "Well…"
"So when are you going to kiss him?" Mimi asked
"I have!" Sora said
Yolei replied by saying "She's not talking on the cheek girl, when are you going to kiss him for real?"
Sora stopped and looked at her friends, she felt like a sheep cornered by wolves. She then took the only path she could and said "I'll kiss him when the time is right."
Mimi smiled and said "No better time than the present."
"No, Mimi, I don't just want it to be a kiss, I want it to be special, it'll be my first kiss and I don't want to ever forget about it." Sora said.
Mimi and Yolei were shocked, they had never seen Sora like this before. Being with Tai had changed her, before she wouldn't have kissed a guy based on her moral beliefs, but now it was because of something that was totally foreign to the old Sora, romance.
"So you didn't kiss him those other times because it didn't feel right?" Mimi said
"No, that's not it at all. The moments were perfect, but something got in the way both times, like at the diner, the waiter showed up at the perfect time to interrupt us. And on the Ferris Wheel, the ride had stopped and it was so romantic, but just before we kissed the ride began to move again and the moment was lost." Sora said feeling weird saying all this.
"Well what are you going to do to get the moment you are looking for?" Yolei asked.
"I'll just wait until the time is right, I waited 17 years, what's a few months?" Sora said.
Mimi crossed her arms and said, "Well what are you guys doing on your next date?"
"I don't know, I haven't thought of it yet." Sora admitted
"Wait, you plan the dates?" Mimi said in disbelief
"Not normally but I wanted to and Tai said he'd let me plan the next one." Sora said.
Mimi and Yolei looked at each other and began whispering. Then Yolei said, "We've come to a conclusion." Mimi continued by saying here's what you have to do…"
The Dragon and the Phoenix
Chapter 6: At long last.
Tai was about to begin his nightly ritual of staring at the phone debating if he should call Sora or not when he heard a knock on the door. He walked over and opened it to see Sora standing there. "Go get ready for the next date." She said with a sly smile on her face.
Tai nodded and complied. As he looked over his dress shirts trying to pick a color he thought about Sora suddenly showing up like that, she wasn't normally that spontaneous, sure she was spontaneous, but never like that. A short while later he walked back into the living room and before he could say anything Sora grabbed his wrist and said "Come on! We've still got the whole night ahead of us." Before he shut the door he yelled back "Mom! I'm going out for a while!"
The two of them went all over Odaiba, and even to mainland Tokyo, seeing all of what the city had to give during the night. Sora took them all over to each and every one of Mimi's designated "Kiss spots". Mimi had given her a list of nearly one hundred great spots for a first kiss, and Sora was burning through the list fast. Before long Sora was exhausted and out of locations. Not one of them had felt right. Tai noticed Sora's growing exhaustion and picked her up. She began to detest but Tai silenced her by saying "Shh, I want to carry you." He then added, "Wanna get a cab and head home?"
She nodded then checked her purse. To her dismay she had run through all the money she had brought on cab fair all over the city. She voiced this to Tai, who checked this wallet to find it empty as well. Sora began to panic but Tai said "Relax, do you have your Digivice with you?"
Sora nodded and then realized what Tai was hinting toward. She put all her feelings into the digivice calling out the Biyomon. Back at her apartment the small bird Digimon heard her partner calling to her and flew to where she felt Sora need her.
A few short minutes later Sora saw Biyomon flying towards them. She landed next to them and said, "What's wrong Sora? What do you need?"
Sora smiled weakly, the call had left her feeling more drained than before. She said, "We just need a lift back home."
Biyomon sighed with relief. "So that's all"
Sora nodded and Biyomon Digivolved to Birdramon. Tai lifted Sora and climbed onto the Digimon's back, whose flames parted and left a place for them to ride. Soon they were home and Tai helped a now sleeping Sora into her bed. He was about to leave when he felt a hand grab him. It was Sora. He looked down at her and saw that she was still asleep, and he heard her mumble, "don't go…" Biyomon left the room and Tai sat on Sora's bed. For a time Tai just sat there gazing at her, but as it grew late Tai knew he had to return home and get some sleep himself. He brushed her hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek. He then got up to leave again when Sora grabbed his arm and now awake said, "Please don't leave Tai…"
"It's late Sora, and I've got to get some sleep." Tai said sitting down again.
'Then sleep here' she thought "Then sleep here…" she repeated in a mumble.
Tai heard her and was shocked he then kicked off his shoes and laid down next to Sora. She snuggled as close to him as she could and nuzzled her face against his chest. Tai shifted so he laid parallel to Sora facing her at eye level. Tai brushed her hair behind her ear again and placed his hand on her back. He put his forehead on hers and whispered, "I think it's time I followed through on what I meant to do on the Daikanransha and in the Diner."
Sora's heart skipped a beat and she closed her eyes and whispered "Tai…"
Tai and Sora's lips inched ever closer and they could feel them brush against each others. They then stopped for a moment afraid of having the moment stolen again, they didn't pull away from each other but hovered on the brim. Then after the moment's hesitation was up Tai pulled her to him and their lips finaly met. They laid there atempting to put all their feelings for each other into their kiss, and though they failed to capture the vastness of their affection for each other, it resulted in a kiss that neither one would forget. After a solid two minute long kiss Tai and Sora reluctently drew apart. The rested against each other and slept peacefully together.
DT: That's game. I avoided the kiss in the first one to make it more realistic, but in this I felt that I had little to lead up to if I didn't put the "Carrot" on a stick and make you run around for it a little bit. I did the best I could and spent around 4 days working on this instalment. I might make a Volume 3 if I get a good enough idea, but for now I think I'll work on something new, it seems like all I've written recently is new parts of old stories. Until next time this is The Digital Typhoon not owning Digimon at all.