A/N: Okay, I'm giving up on Saturday posting. I like Friday's much better.
This is...hard. Yeah. Sora, in general, is difficult to write (really, I complain too much. None of them are impossible. I just have a few that are ridiculously easy to write, and a few that require a bit more of my efforts...), and her subject matter is very tense. I'm trying to work out emotions that she may have kept hidden and influenced her later decisions.
And I have to remind you all, I am not solving anything. It stays as it is, bad feelings and arguments and misplaced judgments aside. I love Sora, but her relationships are very interesting to explore...I'll be honest, she's probably my favorite character to try to figure out through writing...
Enjoy! Review if you feel so inclined!
"Well, how about this purse? Isn't it cute?"
Sora stole a glance, before turning back to the street. "I guess."
"You guess?" Mrs. Takenouchi gently set the embroidered purse back on its stand and frowned at her daughter. "Sora, can you be any less interested in this? It's supposed to be fun."
"I guess," Sora repeated, frowning.
Her mother sighed. This was supposed to have been a fun trip; it was planned as a rare excursion of mother and daughter, for some proper bonding. Her daughter was turning eight in a few weeks, after all, and it was about time the two did something proper together besides minding the flower shop.
However, Sora Takenouchi was insistent on not having a good time.
"Are you hungry? We could grab some street vendor food. My treat."
This was tempting, Sora would admit; her mother was one who wholly endorsed whole-wheat bread and fat-free substitutes. Street vendor food, greasy and artificial, was something Sora wasn't allowed to get too often.
But, still. She wasn't about to be tempted by food, of all things. "No, thanks."
Mrs. Takenouchi sighed. "Can you try to have a good time? Please? For my sake, at least?"
"Not really, no," Sora muttered to herself. She was pretty sure her mother heard her mumble; the woman's eyes widened, but she wisely didn't say anything.
Mother and daughter walked down the street, side by side. To any individual passing by, it might look like a normal family relationship. Let them think what they wanted. Sora knew better. She was almost eight, and she was sick of her mother controlling what she did.
Perhaps her mother had some parental instinct after all; after a few moments waiting for a crosswalk to indicate their turn to cross the street, she cleared her throat and said, "This is about last night, isn't it?"
Last night, Mrs. Takenouchi had started a conversation during supper about Sora's soccer schedule. She was too busy, her mother had insisted, she was away from home too much. Mrs. Takenouchi couldn't always pick her up after school, and that worried her.
Sora had stared up from her food and blinked. "I can get home by myself. It's no big deal," she had said simply.
"It is, though. There's another thing; I need you here at the shop more. We're understaffed, you know that."
"...you want me to quit soccer to work at the flower store?"
As Sora reflected on the discussion, she chuckled, a dry, ungracious sound. Her mother had all but admitted that she disliked Sora doing something so...masculine, so dirty, so far from the realm of flowers and plants and boredom.
Sora wasn't one to get angry at someone for a long time. But this was different. Her mother...
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm going to make sure you don't get ahead of yourself, but you can play for now," her mother said, somewhat apologetically, somewhat irritated. "Now at least pretend to act sociable."
Sora hesitated before nodding, smiling slightly.
Her mother sighed in relief. "Can I buy you something? You're almost a year older...maybe a purse? Or a new skirt?"
There were vendors all around the street, selling their wares. Sora examined each briefly, looking for something that struck her as...well, her.
And that was when she saw it. "That," she said, pointing at a hat vendor a few spaces away.
"But...it's very..." Mrs. Takenouchi pursed her lips together. Sora wasn't purposefully trying to vex her this time; she merely didn't want a girly purse or a stupid skirt. What use would she have for any of those things? This, on the other hand...
"I need a new helmet, anyway; Tai ran mine over with his bike during recess. And it's flexible, look."
Her mother sighed again. "The color is nice, I'll admit...and it seems sturdy..."
"Please? I'll wear it every day?"
"Not every day! Just...when you need to..." She shuddered at the thought of what her daughter would be doing that would require her to need to wear a helmet.
Sora nodded energetically, grinning as her mother bought the blue helmet and handed it over. She then did something rather rare for her; she hugged her.
Although Sora didn't see it, Mrs. Takenouchi's eyes widened, and the woman smiled.
It was stupid. It really shouldn't have happened. Which meant, of course, that it had to happen at the most inopportune time.
"Sora! Look out!"
Something was falling. Something dark and heavy looking, dropping from the sky...
Before Sora had a chance to blink, let alone move-where had her soccer reflexes gone?- the object struck her against the head, and she fell down.
Her head pounded. The world dimmed for a moment, sound fading, before coming back in a rush of light and noise, overwhelming. Above everything was a high-pitched voice.
"Sora! Sora, are you okay?"
"Yeah...I think so..." She gingerly sat up, blinking back the wavy light. "What...what was that?"
"Sora! You scared me! A rock fell down from that cliff, and I didn't notice in time..." Her pink Digimon partner sounded close to tears.
Sora smiled, although it didn't feel natural. Stupid rock. "Biyo, it wasn't your fault. And I'm all right. Promise." She tenderly lifted her blue helmet off of her head and examined it. There was a slight scuff mark where the stone had fallen atop it, but, other than that, it looked as it had before, a bit frayed, a bit dirty, but completely usable. "The helmet protected me."
"But I'm supposed to protect you, not a hat."
"How about I rely on both you and the helmet, okay?"
"This is why we should have stayed with the others!"
Standing up, Sora tested her balance. After blinking a few times, she didn't feel like falling over, so she decided to start walking again, ignoring Biyomon's condescending look.
"Wait! You were injured! You should rest!"
"Biyomon, it was a just a rock. It didn't even dent the helmet."
"But it could have!"
"But it didn't," she said patiently.
A few minutes passed in uncomfortable silence before the pink bird spoke again. "Can we head back to Gabumon and Palmon and the others now?"
"Why would we do that?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because this is too dangerous. Look at what nearly happened."
"Listen, Biyomon. I'm not heading back because of a rock. I've got a helmet for a reason." She hit it a few times to prove that it was sturdy. "I appreciate the concern, but we need to find Tai."
"And why can't we find him as a group?"
"It was my fault, with Datamon. I need to set things right."
Biyomon seemed pleased by this answer. Sora was about to ask why she looked so smug when the bird opened her beak. "It was my fault that the stone hit you, so I need to set things right and make you take a break."
"I told you, I'm fine."
"Sora? Please?"
The girl sighed, but couldn't avoid smiling. Biyomon was too nice and considerate; she wasn't sure how she was lucky enough to be partnered with her. "Okay. Just this once."
"Sora?" Mrs. Takenouchi stood in her daughter's doorway, hand poised to knock. However, there was no need.
The girl was staring out her window, holding her blue helmet-the helmet Mrs. Takenouchi distinctly remembered buying-tightly against her chest. She didn't make a noise, but she nodded when her mother spoke.
The woman took this as a signal that she could enter. "Sora? Are you...how are you doing?"
" 'm fine," the girl muttered. Then, without a warning, she stood up, dropped the helmet, and ran to her mother. And, of all things that could have happened, Mrs. Takenouchi hadn't foreseen this: her daughter hugged her around the waist, burying her face in her purple blouse.
Sora wasn't sure why she was holding so tightly, but she didn't want to let go. Biyomon had reminded her to make things right; this was how she could do it. "Mommy. I'm sorry." She was surprised to feel a few tears falling down her cheek.
Then she felt arms embracing her back. "Dear, why are you sorry?"
Sniffing, Sora looked at the ground. "I never listened and I was mean and I didn't tell you about Biyomon and now I'll never see her again and you'll never meet her properly..."
"To be honest, I'm not sure I want to know the full story." But, instead of looking stern, Mrs. Takenouchi-her mother-was smiling lightly, happily. "I'm sure I wouldn't approve, but I can respect what you had to do. Mr. Ishida was telling us a little about it, and...well, us parents were all cheering for you, up in the sky."
Surprisingly, this only made Sora want to cry more. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."
Her mother's grip tightened for a moment, then released. Sora felt, rather than saw, Mrs. Takenouchi lean down and pick something up. "What happened here?"
Oh. It was the helmet. Of course. "It ripped, when we were running away from Pied-when we were running." She decided to lighten the mood; talking about Piedmon's ferocious attack would surely not help her mother understand anything. And she had said she didn't want to know it all.
Her mother inspected it. "Perhaps I could sew it up for you?"
"I...I thought you didn't like it?"
"Well...I'm sure it worked well. It'd be a shame if it couldn't keep doing its job."
Sora let out a choked laugh. Her mother didn't sound pleased admitting that a helmet could be useful, especially such an un-girly one. "That's okay. I'm not going to wear it anymore."
It was a sudden decision. People always said one had to compromise, to concede, to have a good relationship. Maybe it worked that way with familial ones, too.
"Really? Should we go out tomorrow to find a new one?" Her mother sounded surprised, if a little hopeful.
As she nodded in return, Sora took the blue helmet and placed it on the floor of her closet. "That's okay. I don't think I'll be needing another one for a while."
Biyomon would be proud.