When Courage Falters
Chapter 4: When Knowledge Shines
Sora browsed through the Wedding catalogue looking over the dresses and other such things with Tai next to her not even pretending to look at the small book. "Tai." Sora pleaded "Aren't you going to look through this with me?"
Tai smiled and said "As much as I love doing anything with you, no. Our wedding day will be all about you, so I think its fair that you choose every aspect of it."
"That's not going to stop me from asking you about everything, you know that right?" Sora said
"That's not going to stop me from saying "yes" to everything you choose." Tai said
Sora laughed "All right, what do you think of these napkins?"
"They're almost as beautiful as you" Tai said. That was his strategy, tell her that her choice was good and then compliment her. It was working so far.
"So how about these for you and you're groomsmen" Sora asked turning to a picture of several men wearing pure white tuxedos with pink ties and white fedoras with a pink ribbon around the brim.
"No" Tai said, "I'm not going to wear that, nor will I condemn my friends to that fate."
Sora laughed loudly "I know, I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. You can pick what you want to wear, I just get to tell you if I'll let you or not."
"Drat" Tai said, "That means I wont get to wear my silly floppy hat, I guess I'll call Matt and tell him not to bring his either."
Sora laughed again "Alright Jungo the Clown, what DO you want to wear?"
Tai picked up the book and glanced through it then stopped on a page and showed it to Sora "That" he said. The picture had a man wearing a Black Tuxedo Jacket, Black slacks, and Orange button up, and a red tie. It was a good combination with Sora's bridesmaids, who were wearing Red dresses with an orange stripe crossing from their right shoulder to their left hip.
Sora smiled at Tai's choice "It'll do, but you owe me." In truth it had been the one she wanted in the first place, but if she could get something out of Tai for it, then she wasn't going to pass it up.
The rest of the day continued much the same way, Sora picking things, Tai saying they were great, and Sora testing Tai to make sure he was paying attention on some level.
Later that night Tai bid Sora goodnight as he left for his Bachelor's Party. Sora giggled and told him "Don't have too much fun!"
Tai smiled and said "You wont be there, so how can I?" That was what she loved about Tai, the little things he said and did that made her feel special.
Tai arrived a short while later at the juice bar that Matt had told them the party was at. Inside Tai saw Matt, Izzy, TK, Davis, Ken, and even Joe waiting for him. Matt had planned for the party to occur at a juice bar so TK, Davis, and Ken could attend. The night consisted mainly of drinking non-alcoholic beverages, reminiscing, and towards the middle Tai being humiliated by the female "entertainers" who worked at the bar. (To keep this at a "T" rating I'll not say what happened, but let's just say that Tai won't be living it down for a while.) Because he had everyone there already he decided to talk to them about being Groomsmen. "So guys" Tai began "I've already chosen Matt as my best man, but I was thinking about who I want to be my Groomsmen."
"Tai, with all do respect, I think I should step back as a choice" Ken said, "I'm honored to be going at all, and am grateful for being invited to… this… But I don't think we've known one another long enough for me to stand up there."
"That's very mature, Ken" Izzy said
"I would want to Tai, but I'm allergic to standing in front of audiences" Joe said
They all laughed, and knew that Joe couldn't be telling the truth, but Tai knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't enjoy the attention. Tai looked at the three remaining men. Sora was going to have three bridesmaids so it would be perfect. "I'm thinking TK, Izzy, and…" Tai pretended to be thinking, Davis looked like he was about to explode, this was pay back for what he had the bar employees do. "Davis." Tai finished. Davis jumped out of his seat with exuberance.
"So who's walking with who?" Matt asked.
"Well you are walking with Mimi, she's Sora's Maid of Honor. TK will walk with my sister" Tai said, then looked over to Davis "You'll walk with Yolei, and Izzy can walk with June." Ever since June had stopped stalking Matt, she and Sora had become good friends.
Davis said what everyone knew he was going to and was in fact waiting for him to say, "Why can't I walk with Kari?"
Tai turned to him "Because TK has known her longer."
Davis looked upset and to cheer him up Joe said, "Well you might not get to walk with his sister, but be happy that he isn't having you walk with yours."
Everyone laughed, including Davis, he knew Tai was right, and a bit later Tai told them where to get measured for their tuxedos.
Everyone left the bar at closing having had a good time all around.
Tai woke the next day later than usual. Sora had already left for work and left a note for Tai. "Izzy called, he told me to tell you that class will be starting late today. Be at the Dojo at 3:00. Love, Sora " Tai looked at the note and then notice something at the bottom "PS I left you some breakfast on the stove." Tai walked into the kitchen and saw a scramble in a pan in on top of the stove. He ate breakfast, got dressed and left with Agumon at 2:30.
It was a rather uneventful day of teaching. Tai lectured on Digivolution among other things. The only thing that happened was after class a student came up to Tai and asked him "Is it true what I heard?"
Tai smiled at the young child "You're going to have to be more specific Yorichi."
The girl blushed and said, "About you and Sora-Sensei, I heard you were getting married."
Tai laughed and said, "You heard right. Word gets around quick around here."
When Tai got home he saw Sora cooking dinner. He walked into the kitchen and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I've got the cooking under control but if you want to set the table…" Sora said as she flipped the contents of the pan in front of her.
Tai walked into the dining room portion of the living room and put down all the plates and silver ware. Then Tai got an idea and grabbed some candles, placed them in elegant holders and lit them with his orange Zippo that he had his crest engraved on. Tai and Sora ate their dinner by candle light that night. Life was great for the couple in the week leading up to their wedding, they didn't even have one "argument". The day before their wedding Tai noticed Sora acting strange. He asked her about it after dinner.
"Sora, what's bothering you?" Tai asked
"Nothing Tai." Sora said smiling, it was obviously fake.
Tai frowned and said "Don't lie to me Sora, I know you too well to not be able to tell."
Sora's fake smile faded and she looked down "Tai… I don't know, I guess it's just cold feet…"
Tai wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. But before he could say anything Sora said "I talked to Mimi, and she assured me it was just that, I love you Tai, and I do want to spend the rest of my life with you, I've just feeling a bit unnerved right now."
"Cold feet huh?" Tai said, "Lets fix that." Tai grabbed her feet and began massaging them, he knew that Sora's feet were her most ticklish spot and he began dusting his fingers over the bottoms before long. She was laughing and trying to pull her foot away from Tai, when it didn't work, she began to fight back by tickling Tai just below his rib cage, his most ticklish spot. Before long the two were in the middle of a tickle war and Sora forgot all about her cold feet. It ended with Sora sitting on top of Tai kissing him gently. Now she saw just how right Mimi had been.