Every Minute, Every Hour (Part 2 and final)
By Firenze

A/N: Here's the sequel! That cliffhanger was just wrong and it's weighing down on my conscience for some reason. (That's right, I actually have one) No, the truth is, I'm actually into this story and I wanted to finish it quick so I could see how it turned out. Anyway, this is a DRAMA romance, so don't expect any sap in this. This does have the tiniest hint of Taiora, but don't expect that to be the big ending. And it's a songfic. So I hope you like it...and if you do, review!

Disclaimer: Who does Digimon belong to? Is it: A) Toei, B) Saban, C) Both of those, along with others, or D) Me? ... Is that your final answer? If you answered A,B, or especially D: I'm sorry. That answer is incorrect, it's C. Are you stupid or something?!?!?! If you answered C: Good for you! You've just won a million dollars! J/K, your prize it...you get to read my fic! Oh yeah, "Every Minute, Every Hour" belongs to 2GE+HER. It's my favorite of their songs!

* * *

"Did you come to see me?" Sora asked excitedly.

Taichi nervously glanced at the man. "Well, um, yeah. I mean, it's been a while since we've been together, and I thought I'd pay you a visit because I was looking through some old photo albums and I just realized that it's been so long since I've talked to any of the -- err, you know [Digidestined]."

"I'm so glad you're here! Come in!" she said eagerly, letting him in. "Wow, you look great!" She turned to the man next to her. "Oroka, you this is Taichi Kamiya. I told you all about him."

"Great to finally meet you," he replied, extending his hand. "Oroka Makeinu." (If you didn't read the first part [you're an idiot! j/k], that means "stupid loser")

He shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too. So how do you know Sora?"

"Oh, Tai, did I forget to tell you? Oroka and I are married."

Taichi blinked a few times and then shook his head. He had a very big headache. Sora had thrown something huge on him -- was he supposed to be happy? Had that been what Mimi had been trying to warn him about? He wished he had listened... But nothing could truly ever prepare him for what he had just discovered. He tried to fake enthusiasm, but it was hard to force a smile onto his face when it was the last thing on Earth he felt like doing. "Oh, that's -- that's great. Really -- uh, great." He wanted to faint, he wanted to cry, he wanted to throw up, he wanted to do anything but pretend to be happy and stay in Sora's home with her husband, and her --

Son?

A young child stumbled into the room. "Mommy, who's the man with the big hair?" he asked, holding a security blanket under one arm and his thumb in his mouth. His hair was dark brown like Oroka's and his eyes were a fiery red like Sora's.

"Well, uh, it's an old friend of mine," Sora said gently. She nervously faced Taichi. "Um, Tai, meet -- Taichi." She looked away. "I named him after you."

"Oh, well, I -- Sora, I'm --" Taichi stuttered.

"Flattered? Grateful? Shocked? Utterly, utterly horrified?" she asked, trying to decipher his expression. "Taichi, I'm sorry for throwing this all at you at once. This must be a real surprise."

"More than you'd ever know," he said, his throat feeling very dry. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. "I thought it would be a bad idea to come here. Now I know that I don't belong. I should probably leave now."

"Now, Tai -- don't say that. Stay here, please. We have so much catching up to do. Ten years! Where are you living? Who are you living with? What's your job? Basically, how's life?"

"I'll make some coffee," Oroka volunteered, sensing that his presence was causing discomfort to Taichi and Sora. "Taichi, come here," he said to his son. The boy waddled over, still staring back at Tai.

Taichi ran his hands through his hair while Sora walked him to the living room, where he collapsed on the sofa. "To, uh, answer your questions, I still live in Odaiba. I got a nice apartment there. I'm currently living alone -- enjoying bachelorhood, I guess you could say. Life's a little rough..."

It was hours until they caught up with each other's lives. They had just sat and talked and droned on, but it was very strange. It wasn't the happy reunion any of them wanted or expected. The air was thick with tension, and the laughs and chuckles were often forced in a vain attempt to lighten the mood, but everything tried was unsuccessful. When the topic came to how Sora and Oroka met, it became very still and quiet.

"I completely understand if you don't want to talk about it," Taichi said, sipping his fourth cup of coffee. "I was just curious is all. But if's fine it--"

"No, it's okay, I'll tell you," Sora said uncomfortably. "It all started a few years back..."

"I met Sora right after she graduated from college," Oroka said.

"Oh, really? RIGHT after?" Taichi asked, trying to remain calm without exploding. 'Under a year from when we broke up then? I thought her life was too busy for a boyfriend. When it wasn't, couldn't she have come back to me? This Oroka is so unbelievably dull...' It was true, he was more plain and boring than his eye color. He had a boring job, a boring life, a boring everything...except he had Sora, who was so special to Tai that she could replace all those boring things easily and make his uninteresting life the opposite. "Right after we graduated from college?"

"No, a little before," Sora said, not able to look at him.

"That's terrific," he said falsely. "How was your first date?"

It didn't take a genius to realize Sora couldn't go on anymore. Her husband answered. "I asked her if she'd like to watch a tennis invitation with me at a resort my parents own. And I bought her flowers."

'Asshole!' was Tai's instant reaction.

"My favorite kinds, too. Also my mother's favorite--" she said quietly.

"Calla lillies," Tai said quickly.

Time froze for a mere split-second.

Oroka coughed. "I got her red and pink tulips... She said those were her favorites. We had tons of them at our wedding. That's what she held in her bouquet. There's actually a vase of them on the dining table."

Taichi couldn't believe his ears. He had known Sora practically all his life. Mrs. Takenouchi had been like a second mother. He KNEW that it was calla lillies they both loved. He even knew the story behind it. That was the first bouquet of flowers Sora's dad had given her mom and also the last. She always kept them all over the house, and it always made Sora and Mrs. Takenouchi smile just walking into a room with them. "Really," he said, trying to catch Sora's eye.

Her eyes met his for a short second, and she looked away. She cleared her throat and tugged at her collar. "Um, excuse me. I need some fresh air to clear my head." She started to get up, but Taichi stopped her.

"No, don't worry about it. I should probably head off. I just left Hikari and Takeru at my house without properly saying goodbye or anything. Anyway--" His eyes flashed towards Oroka. "I've already overstayed my welcome."

"Taichi--" she protested. "Where are you going? What are you doing?"

"Funny, I was asking myself the same things the whole entire time I was driving here," he replied. "I'm sorry. Oroka, it was great meeting you, Sora, nice seeing you after so long, little Taichi...nice meeting you too, buddy. Well, I should leave now. Thanks a lot for the coffee and everything, but I just can't do this anymore." He got up and walked out the door.

Sora looked downcast, and Oroka draped his arm around her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know you were planning on visiting him for so long, and I know for a fact that you didn't expect anything like this."

She sighed miserably. "Of course I didn't expect this. Oh, this was absolutely horrible. I'm just going to pretend none of this happen--" Her eye caught something. Taichi's jacket. "Oh no, he forgot his jacket. I better run over and give it to him." She picked it up and walked off. She opened the door, when a few things slipped out of the pocket.

An envelope addressed to her, a single, pure white calla lily with a tinge of yellow, a royal blue, velvet box...

Taichi let out a deep breath. "I can't believe this. She's married to that boring idiot? Oroka...stupid. Makeinu, loser, hell yes. Ugh, I can't believe she would marry that guy. They had a son..." He shoved his hands in his pockets, and only then did he realize the absence of a few things... Mainly, the coat everything had been in...

Sora pulled the crisp sheet out paper out of the envelope. It was dated with the day's date.

*Dear Sora,

*It's been so long since I've talked to you and heard your lovely voice, seen your beautiful face. But I can still hear, see, remember you clearly in my mind. For those ten years we've been apart, I've been thinking of you. I've been thinking of you all the time, actually. Every minute, every hour, I just can't get you out of my mind, no matter how hard I try. Every day, every night, I wish you were back in my life. Can we give it just one more chance this time? Looking back on it now, where we went wrong, I can't figure out. I don't remember what I ever did wrong? Wish I could turn back the time, and make you mine. Is it too late for us to try a second time? Can I make it up to you somehow? (P.S. I snuck some lyrics in there)

* For those ten years, my life has been a living hell. I just don't see things the same, I can't get out of the rain. It's clouding my mind. Ask Hikari, ask Takeru (that's right, was scrawled in Kari's handwriting). I've become a total slob with no life, who just mopes around all day, wishing I could be back with you. It took me forever to finally gather up the courage to tell you all this. I still love you with all my heart. Every thought I think, every emotion I feel, everything I do is because of you. I'll give it all up to you, just tell me what I should do. I want you back in my life. You can help me become a better person again. Without you, I'm just nothing. We should be together. I need you, Sora. I don't know how you feel about me, but I just want you to know, whether you love me or not, I'll always love you, and I'll never be able to stop thinking about you.

*Love always,
Taichi *

She drew in her breath. 'He still loves me?' she thought. After all this time? "Oh my god, I have to catch up with him!" She dashed out the door and down the hallway. "Taichi!" she yelled, as he was reaching the elevators. "Come back!"

He stopped in his tracks. "A man's heart can only be broken so many times in such a short amount of time. Just let me go home, Sora. I want to pretend none of this ever happened. I want to go home and live like a lazy, good-for-nothing slob -- the person I became after you left me. I just want things to go back to normal, because even with how bad that was, it was a hell of a lot better not knowing where the hell you were, who you were with, or who you loved -- than knowing that you lived so close, with a husband, a son, and that I mean nothing to you anymore." He leaned against the railing of the balcony and hung his head.

Sora stood next to him and put her hand under his chin. She lifted his face up and looked into his deep chocolate brown eyes. "Tai, you mean A LOT to me," she told him. "Don't ever think otherwise."

For a moment, he was in heaven, but then his misery that had added up to so much after the years caught back up with him. "Why shouldn't I? At one of the hardest points of your life, you shut me out of it completely. I could have helped you get through it, but I suppose you preferred Oroka to do it. Then, for ten whole years, you never spoke to me once. You didn't invite me to the wedding, tell me about Taichi, anything! You sound like you care a lot about me," he said sarcastically.

She looked crestfallen. "Tai -- I never talked to you after that because I hurt you too much and I knew it. I was too much of a wimp to apologize, and I figured you'd hate me too much to accept that apology anyway. I never thought you'd still love me. But even if you didn't, it would still be too hard. Because I don't love Oroka... Well, I do, but it's not very strong. I've been making myself believe that I did to help myself get over you. 'Cause Tai...I never forgave myself for what I did. And I felt so horrible -- especially since I never really got over you either."

"You -- you--?" he stammered. "You still love me too?"

"Sort of, yes," she said shyly. "But that's absolutely horrible."

"Why? You think you shouldn't love me?"

"I really shouldn't. I have a husband, Tai." She held up her left hand and showed the gold bands on her ring finger. "And I have a son. That's the real reason I can't divorce Oroka. I want the best for my child. And Taichi would have a lot of problems in his life if Oroka and I started fighting and divorced, and then I remarried and all."

"This Taichi would have problems too," he said glumly. "I already have lots of them. Ones that I can't fix without you."

"That's one thing... We love each other TOO much. We're miserable without each other and we can hardly survive. I've been going crazy. I never thought I'd be able to tell you I still loved you."

"Why did you have to go and have that kid? I mean, I love kids, I always wanted to be a dad, but... Taichi is really in the way of us."

Sora slightly nodded. "I love Taichi a lot, and you know I want whatever's the best for him. That's why it's a real pity you couldn't be his father. Oroka is a really horrible one. And he's just too dull..."

"So why did you marry him?" he asked, somewhat angrily.

"I was vulnerable, I was confused, I was...I was stupid, Tai! It was very stupid of me, and not a single day goes by when I don't regret falling into his trap, believing every promise he told me, agreeing to go out with him, to marry him... I wish I could just go back those years, unsay what I said to you. We could have still been together. Oh, I was such an idiot!" She began to cry. "I'm so sorry, Tai. I wish I had never left you. What was I thinking? That one mistake has haunted me for ten years...I suppose it will for the rest of my life."

"I'd tell you not to cry, I'd hold you close and say it'll all be okay, but... I feel like crying too. And it won't be okay." He bit his lip, trying to keep the tears from coming.

"For a second... Could we for one second pretend none of this had happened?" Sora whispered desperately. "If I hadn't married, if I stayed single this whole time... And we got back together after ten years, what would that be like?"

Taichi leaned closer to her. She felt herself being drawn closer also. They closed their eyes, and their faces were close...

Taichi sniffled and gulped. "But none of it's like that," he whispered, their faces still merely inchese away. "We can't pretend none of this has happened, because the truth is, it has. And the truth is stronger than any fiction -- no matter how true we want it to be."

She opened her eyes again, the tears falling even more freely now. "I suppose it was stupid of me to think we could just act like our lives were just all playtime. That we could pretend nothing was the way it was. I was stupid, and I still am. Why do you love me?"

"You're not stupid," he told her. "Making mistakes isn't stupid. It happens to everyone, it's normal. And if you learn from your mistakes, it really wasn't actually that stupid, but better off."

"How can you make this huge negative into a positive right now?" she asked. "No matter all the bad things that's happened, you can always make it seem less terrible than it really is."

"Lately, my life has been too miserable for me to even describe. A million bad things have happened. Bad things are always going to happen. And we can't deny that. So instead of moping around about it, the motto for this is,
'it could be worse.' I don't quite see how, but..." He paused, sorting his thoughts through his mind. He had so much he wanted to say, to express.

Instead, he tried again. "For ten years, that's all I've been doing. Moping around and crying that you weren't with me. Look where that got me. Nowhere. Kari told me how useless it was. I finally understood. That doesn't mean I still don't hate what happened to us, but I know there's nothing I can do about it anymore. It's the past, it's done, it's over. And...it's just one of those things you can't fix anymore. Just being here with you for the short while we've had, even if it wasn't the reunion we had wished for, gave me the strength to understand all that. You... When I'm with you, I realize I'm a better person. But now that I've already learned that lesson, I suppose I can always apply it to my life, along with everything else you've taught me, because I'll never forget it. I'll never forget you."

There was nothing more she could say, and she was too speechless to even attempt it anyway. "I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"I've learned that wishing is useless. Wishing gets you nowhere. It brings out a hope in you, expectations, and it only hurts you worse when that wish doesn't come true. I learned the hard way."

She sighed. "Still, I wish your life didn't have to be so horrible. I'd love to marry you, live with you, have children, live the rest of our lives together, but I know that can't happen. I do understand it now, but why couldn't life be far less complicated? It's all my fault."

"Stop thinking that," he told her firmly. "Self pity gets nowhere either. And it isn't your fault. Do you believe in fate and destiny, Sora?"

"Yes, I suppose so. It's nice to think that everything happens for a reason."

"Then what you did ten years ago was fated. It was supposed to happen. And we can only hope -- no, just wait and find out what will become us...to see if we were truly meant to be. A wise person once said 'What will come will come, and we'll just have to meet it when it does.'" (Or something like that, Hagrid said it in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which belongs to J.K. Rowling. Not me, of course!)

She nodded. "You're right, as always. You're a great person, Tai, you're a strong person. So if we can't be together, I don't want you to not live any day of your life to the best it could be, just because of me. We've taught each other a lot right now. All we have to do is use that knowledge to our advantage, and a crummy situation will seem more bearable."

"Well then, everything seems wrapped up," Taichi said, putting his hands in his pocket.

"Not quite," she replied, holding up his coat. "I read the letter inside already, but there are some things I'd like you to explain for me." She pulled out the flower and the ring box. "The ring... Were you going to propose to me?"

"Of course not!" he said. "We've been away from each other for ten years, the first words out of my mouth would not be, 'will you marry me?'. And what makes you so positive it's a ring?"

"Well, what else would it--?"

"Open it," he interrupted.

She obeyed. And sure enough, it wasn't a ring, but a necklace. A locket to be precise. To be more specific, Sora's locket, from years ago. The one she had given Tai a short while after they had started dating. "Oh my god...you still have this?"

"I promised I would keep it. Forever. I could never lose it anyway, it means to much to me. I've kept that locket with me everywhere I went," he said. "But I want you to have it back. It really is yours."

She gingerly opened it, and a picture of her was in it, opposite a picture of him. She stared at it for a few moments and then made up her mind. "No." She closed the locket, shut the box, and held it out to him.

"No?" he asked, a little hurt, but mostly confused.

"No," she repeated. "I want you to keep this. I said it would be forever, right? And I still love you, you still love me, we still love each other. Keep it."

"All right. I'll keep it forever then," he said, placing the small box into his pocket.

"Now the flower then," Sora said softly, holding it in her hands and marveling at its beauty.

"Oh, simple. Before I knew about -- about everything in your life, I got these things ready. I had a whole speech ready. But that got very messed up. Anyway, the calla lily is because I know it's your favorite -- your REAL favorite. I've known you too long for you to trick me into believing your mother loved tulips, even if you do love tulips more now."

Her expression showed he was right another time. "I don't love tulips. I told you I was forcing myself to love Oroka. He was so sure that tulips were my favorite, and I didn't want to let him down. For some reason, I had wanted us together, just because I wanted someone to love so much. And I still loved you, but I had no guts to tell you that. But Oroka could never replace you, ever."

"I think this flower can work out either way for us," he said. "Because this could symbolized that after so long, we're getting back together and it started a new beginning. Since that isn't true, it could be because a calla lily was the last thing your father ever left your mother. And that flower meant the end."

"It's neither. Because we're not quite together yet and it's definitely not over between us," she said. "But I'll keep the lily. It can have lots of meanings, and it's been a while since I've gotten one of these, my true favorites. Plus, anything from you is something I want to keep and cherish for as long as it lasts."

"So everything is tied up then? For now, anyway?" Taichi asked.

"No."

"No?"

"No," she repeated. "There's one more thing."

He was a little puzzled. "We've tied up all the loose ends. What else could there possibly--?"

She caught him completely off guard. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. Tai was surprised, but it was something he wanted. Something he needed, something he had wish--no, waited for for ten years. The kiss was long, deep, perfect, and neither of them wanted it to end. For that one moment, it seemed that the present time didn't exist. They were back in the past, without even having to pretend. And it was precisely what they had needed to fully get closure -- for the time being.

"I've wished for that to happen for ten years," Sora replied breathlessly. "I decided I should do something about it."

"Or that was just the way fate intended it to be," Taichi said. "And speaking of fate and destiny and all, I think I should really go right now. If I don't leave soon, I'll never be able to leave you."

"But I suppose that really doesn't matter anyway. To think we're not acting upon our own actions is slightly unnerving. And to think that if you and I really aren't meant to be is--"

"Well, maybe fate can be changed," he replied, looking for the bright side again. "Maybe we're supposed to be together, and if we're not, maybe there IS something we can do. Maybe so, maybe not. We can't live life on maybes either. There is an answer to everything, and eventually, we'll find out. If we just continue living life, after some time, we'll know how things should be. There's no maybe to that."

"What will come will come," she remembered. "Okay then. Goodbye, Taichi. For now only. Because I know that we'll find some way to be together again, whether fate wills it or not. We'll find out."

"Yes," he said softly. "Bye, Sora. I love you."

"I love you too, Tai," she said tearfully.

"I better go right now," he said. "Each second, it's getting harder and harder to go." So then he left.

Neither of them were sure if they'd ever see each other again or somehow get back together. But they rememeber to keep their promises not to get their hopes up and wish for something that they couldn't control. They went back to living their lives as promised, except better than it had been before, especially in Tai's case. And so they waited, wondering if things between them could end happily....and they're still waiting to this day.

*Another day has gone by
Still have your picture by my side
I can't forget what you said
When we said goodbye
I know it's hard to carry on
Can I survive?

Every minute, every hour
I just can't get you out of my mind
No matter how hard I try
Every day, every night
I wish you were back in my life
Can we give it just one more chance this time?

Looking back on it now
Where we went wrong, I can't figure out
Wish I could turn back the time
And make you mine
Is it too late for us to try a second time?

Every minute, every hour
I just can't get you out of my mind
No matter how hard I try
Every day, every night
I wish you were back in my life
Can we give it just one more chance this time?

I just don't see things the same
I can't get out of the rain
It's clouding my mind
I'll give it all up to you
Just tell me what I should do
I want you back in my life

Every minute, every hour
I just can't get you out of my mind
No matter how hard I try
Every day, every night
I wish you were back in my life
Can we give it just one more chance this time?*

* * *

A/N: Hmmm...this was supposed to be sad, wasn't it? I didn't mean to put more sap on there! You know I didn't! Read the first author's note and you'll see! But being nearly out of school (this quarter, at least) and parent-free, my spirits are kind of up. It's too hard to make this sad, but I bet most of you wanted it to be Taiora anyway. Well, this way, there really WAS no end. And don't ask for a sequel, because I'm not going to do it. I still have that sad ending to do too, though no one really cares anyway.

I meant for this to be a songfic, but I was in no mood to split the song apart (I had all those lyrics in my head, by the way, so if anyone notices any that are wrong [if anyone's even heard the song], I was in a rush, all right?) and change the story to match the lyrics. The whole two part thing pretty much does match the lyrics...and the scary thing is, I hadn't intended it to! I had this whole idea, and then while thinking of a title, it finally struck me how perfect it was! (I always wanted to make a songfic with this anyway) And this is one long ass 2nd author's note, so I'll shut up now. Just as long as you do your part and review! I've got plenty of time on my hands, and I'll have a lot more in December to write fics, but I need your comments, your thoughts, encouragements, if you will... Please?