Here's chapter 7 part 1 setting the mood for part 2. It's taking place 4 months after the happenings of chapter 6. Changed the rating to M for safety and future content. This chapter is more like a T+ I guess?

Sora's POV. Have fun ;)

7.1. Italian French kissing

"Sora!"

Her heart made a little jump hearing his voice calling out her name first. Not Hikari's, not Takeru's, but hers. She waved at him flashing him a big smile across the face. Even though she was tired from the long flight, she couldn't help but feel energized. Especially upon seeing him. He answered her smile with one of his own as he made his way to them through the crowd at the Italian airport.

Taichi had to leave to Europe head over heels, only one and a half month after their semi date at the Ikebana exhibition. The government department he started working for after receiving his Master degree sent him on an international internship for diplomatic purposes. In Taichi's words: "Meeting new people, talking a lot and expanding the political network."

In the month following the exhibition, and thus the night of their second ever kiss, they had not talked about the kiss. Just like they didn't 2 years ago. She had hoped he would bring it up once, but he never did. Sora had tried to bring it up a view times herself, building up the courage to do so. However that courage went away as quick as it came every time she and Taichi were together.

But she was sure she had romantic feelings towards her best friend, ever since that first kiss 2 years ago. Or maybe even longer, she couldn't tell. All she knew was that she was sure about her feelings, but wasn't sure about his or how to tell him. She was afraid for the consequences and lacked the courage to openly love him.

The evening she had built up enough courage and intended to confess her feelings, Taichi told her about him going to Europe for 9 months. It was a harsh moment and Sora felt her heart dropping through the ground, her eyes had never teared up that fast before. She had to swallow hard, but couldn't stop the crying. He was startled by her reaction as he completely froze. She was sad and angry. Sad to know he had to leave her very soon. Angry with herself for not being able to confess her feelings to him.

Taichi had a mere 2 weeks to prepare for his travels, so the last 2 weeks before he took off he had been extremely busy, leaving Sora with her unresolved and unsaid feelings. The right time for them to talk about all that happened had to wait. Again.

"Would you like to go on a trip to Italy with Takeru and me to visit Taichi?"

The unexpected question came from Hikari about a month ago. To Sora that question felt like a present and she was excited to say the least. She covered her excitement by calmly excepting Hikari's offer, but deep inside she was longing to make the trip. She missed him and she had to get something off of her chest. A month later after a long flight they arrived in Rome.

They had just collected their baggage and were waiting at the exit of the gate when he spotted them. She noticed his haircut. It was quite strange to see him without that signature bushy hair, but the shorter coupe suited him well. The light blue button up he wore showed off his lean but muscular build, the darker shorts exposed his tanned legs. He looked grown up, but that glow of childlike innocence never faded. She casually decided she liked the way he looked, butterflies filling her up all over again.

He took her in a firm, warm and long embrace. Somehow she could feel him smile from ear to ear as he only tightened his grip around her. She wasn't sure, being totally relaxed and happy in his arms, but she thought to hear him say he missed her. Hikari made a comment about the lengthy embrace which made Taichi let go and shift his attention to his little sister. After all the hugs and handshakes were given, they made their way to their Airbnb for the upcoming two weeks.

In the next three days Taichi took them on a tour through the old historical city of Rome, introduced them to multiple colleagues, brought them to different restaurants and little bars and some of his favorite spots to watch locals and tourists. During and in between the little trips they caught up about their lives. It made her genuinely happy to hear about his adventures and see him being so energetic and ambitious.

For Taichi it was still a normal workweek, making him go into work every now and then. Sora admired his skill to squeeze in as much time for his guests in his busy working life. The times he was at work, she spent some quality time with Hikari and Takeru. At the times Hikari and Takeru were too busy with other things Sora went strolling through the Italian streets, taking in as much culture as she could. Though she was happy when the evening hit and Taichi came home from work. Her courage to tell him how she truly felt was slowly building back up again.

Taichi had taken time off from work around the 1st of August. On that day he took the three of them for lunch to a small restaurant of a young couple he had befriended being in Italy. It was closed, but Taichi had made 'special reservations' for them, because it was a special day after all. It had been exactly 15 years since they first went to the Digital World. She felt old by the thought it had been 15 years already. This year was also the first year without Digimon partners, Iori being the last to lose his partner.

Koshiro and Taichi had set up a video call between Tokyo and Rome so everyone could be together and toast. The Tokyo group just finished dinner around 9 p.m. Tokyo time and Mimi had ordered prosecco to toast. The small Rome group made the toast at 2 p.m. with some fine Italian wine which made a lot of the people in Tokyo very jealous.

After everyone exchanged some stories, Taichi stood up telling everyone he had prepared a speech. Everyone still treated him as the leader of the group even though there weren't any Digimon partners left. Fortunately he got better at giving speeches due to his work and his natural leader skills. It was a sweet and encouraging speech about this being a family and them being a home to him. A home he could always fall back to if necessary.

"I'm proud of all of you and everything we have accomplished together in the Digital World and for the community. But I'm more proud to what you all have accomplished so far in your private lives. So let's stand and toast to all of you," he held his gaze to the laptop screen standing up, especially looking to Yamato, Daisuke and Ken.

"Cheers to friendship and kindness," he nodded in their direction. "To knowledge and reliability," Taichi said, his gaze shifting to Jyou, Koshiro and Iori. Then Mimi and Miyako, "To sincerity," Sora saw Miyako wiping away a little tear in the corner of her eyes.

"Cheers to hope and light," he raised his glass to his little sister and her male best friend who were standing more close then before. Sora smirked at the sight of them being so affectionate all of the sudden. She then made eye contact with Taichi who had locked eyes with her. She knew what would come next.

"And to love," he said locking his eyes with her, leaving a short silence. It was the way he had said it that gave her a tingling sensation through her whole body. She gave him a smile back before he returned his eyes back to the camera. "Because you're all giving me the courage to actually say these things," he uncomfortably wrapped up, topping it off with a raise of his glass and a loud "Cheers!"

The rest of the day was just the four of them casually hanging out, walking through the city and reminiscing old adventures from back in the days.

In the evening, Hikari and Takeru had planned for dinner together which left Taichi and Sora alone with each other. This was it, Sora thought to herself. Tonight could be the night. She was too nervous to think of something to do. He suggested they would take some time to rest in the apartment before attending Italian nightlife. She was excited to go out with him.

Taichi had explored nightlife in the city before and knew which were the places to be. They decided to go out for drinks and dances, so he told her he would take her to a nightclub with good and danceable music and a menu full of cocktails to choose from.

For her outfit, Sora went for a denim blue high waisted skinny jeans and a yellow haltered crop top with on her feet a pair of casual grey sneakers. Taichi made a comment about her choice of clothing by saying he missed her blue hat. At first she didn't get his joke, until she looked in the mirror and figured out he referred to the clothes she wore back in the Digital World 15 years ago. It was sheer coincidence that her clothes were kind of like a remake of her old outfit. She had to give credit to his detailed eye and memory of her outfit back then. Taichi himself wore a denim blue jeans matching hers and a simple white blouse that casually fitted his upper body. To Sora he looked very handsome.

"Shall we?" he said while taking her hand in his own. The touch and his gentle grip made her blush. He didn't let go of her hand while walking through the streets to their destination. She didn't mind, feeling comfortable with him being so touchy with her. It was what she wanted, right? Maybe it was a sign tonight had to be the night of her confession, her confidence building and building.

Once in the club they found a spot at the bar, making small talk and enjoying the drinks and music. He had recommended a local cocktail which they shared and made her drink a few shots. She thought they were too old for this, but with him she somehow felt younger and confident. She smiled, twinkles in her eyes.

"You look happy," he told her in her ear when the music was too loud. She blushed happily thinking about him not only making her feel younger and confident, but happy too. He made her feel good about herself.

After a while they made their way through the crowd to find them a spot to dance. They had danced before, the slow dancing in his apartment after graduation that led to them kissing one of her most vivid memories. But this time the music was different which meant another kind of dancing.

She was nervous to dance with him while he on the other hand seemed to have no nerves at all, taking her hands into his own and making her sway with him. She had always thought he would be a clumsy dancer with no sense of rhythm, especially at the Junior High party where she had tried to convince him to dance, but he proved her wrong for the second time in her life. She thoroughly enjoyed herself and the time she spent dancing and laughing with him.

At some point he left her alone on the dancefloor to get them some water, making sure they would stay hydrated. She thought he was such a subtle carer. As soon as she was alone in the middle surrounded by dancing people, different men sneaked in trying to dance with her. She politely declined all of them and impatiently waited for Taichi to come back with their drinks. As he did, all of the nosy Italian men vanished back into the crowd.

"You should loosen up Sor," he said in her ear, smirking and pointing to the attention she got earlier when he left her. He didn't seem affected by the attention she got which made her sad and annoyed with him. Had she hoped he had been disappointed? "Go dance with a guy! Seems like a lot of fine Italian men are interested."

"But I'm not," she straightforwardly pointed out.

He laughed handing her the cup filled with water. "Whatever Sor, I'm just saying you should make a little fun tonight."

Should she? Maybe he was right.

"I'd rather dance and make fun with you though," she smirked and caught herself giving him a sensual look. At first he answered her with a raised eyebrow and smirk of his own, then he shook his head and laughed while she drank her cup filled with water like it was a shot. He took the cup from her, placing it on a the tray of a waiter passing by. An old memory of him placing her wine glass with bubbles on the coffee table in his apartment 2 years ago flashed before her eyes. Back then that move had been him signaling her to dance with him. Sora took this was the same kind of signal from his side.

So he wanted her to loosen up? He wanted her to dance? Fine. Then that's what he could get, Sora thought, her confidence level shooting through the roof. Music echoed through the club, making the dancing crowd go wild. Everywhere around them men and women danced seductively to their significant others, dates or one-night lovers.

The rhythm made her body move in a way she knew she could move, but only showed to others on special occasions. This moment being one of those. She caught his deep brown eyes and gave him a little show of her own, lip syncing with some of the lyrics and dancing. Years back she had told Taichi she was a virgin, even after dating Yamato for a total of 6 years. She remembered he answered calling Sora a prude. She wasn't prude anymore and right now Sora felt the urge to prove him she had changed when it came to sensuality.

A smirk crept up his face as he closed in, following her moves. She bit her lip thinking back to the last time they shared a kiss in front of her door 4 months ago. It had been nothing more than a peck, but now she wanted more. She cupped his face with her hands for a brief moment before teasingly turning around one-eighty so she faced her back to him.

She felt his warm hands carefully caressing her waist, his breath in the crook of the right side of her neck. Her left hand gently found his left hand on her hip, her right hand clasping around his neck as she fervently danced against his body. Was he turned on? She definitely was and she felt her face blushing hard, her heartbeat getting faster by the second. Sora could stop it, but she didn't want to. Besides he didn't give her any signs or reasons he wanted to make it stop as well.

To tease him a bit more she broke the contact, immediately regretting losing his touch. She danced away from him, shooting him a seductive glimpse of want over her right shoulder. In response he quickly grabbed her wrist before she could be too far away from him, spinning her back around into his arms. Their faces were just millimeters apart. They were for sure playing each other, heavily flirting through dancing. Her stomach was aching from all old and new romantic feelings towards her best friend. Or whatever he was to her at that moment.

As the music took a turn into the bridge, his left hand held her lower back while his right sweetly brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. His eyes pierced through hers. She moved her head to the touch of his hand on her face, their bodies still slowly dancing to the rhythm. She had no idea her heart could even beat faster than it already did.

She placed her hands on his chest, now feeling his heartbeat matching hers. Their faces closing in, both of their lips slightly parted in preparation for what they both knew would happen any second. She had no clue she was longing for him so badly until this very moment.

Her hands still moved up to his face and neck, but Taichi was quick. He pressed his lips passionately on hers asking her for access with his tongue. She granted it, even deepening the kiss by pulling his face closer to hers. She had never French kissed like that before nor had she ever been kissed the way Taichi was devouring her. She could feel him smile widely in the kiss and couldn't do anything different but brightly smile too.

The rest of the night they danced comfortable in each other's arms, sweetly laughed together and passionately kissed some more. Sora was aware they had to talk about it eventually without waving it off as a mistake. Because it wasn't a mistake, although she had no idea how to properly tell him that. For now all she wanted was to be close to him, be with him and feel him. Somewhere deep down, or not so deep down, she knew the night was far from over.

A/N!
Hikari has enough of her brother and Sora dartling around each other without openly fall in love with one another, so she decides to play matchmaker haha. She just wants Sora to be her sister-in-law. Well, looks like she's going to get what she wants!

Thanks for reviews and feedback. It's kind of good to see some of you getting frustrated about the gaps between chapters hehe (sorry)... Next 2 chapters are a pain in the ***, so it might take longer to update. Be aware ;)

Also thinking about starting a new story as a spin-off with little side stories and drabbles (filling gaps...); About all the moments in between. So stay tuned.

Liefs! DFS