Trouble at Home
by Kari
A/N: This fic hits close to home for me... I really hope you guys like it! TAIORA!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^ R&R, pleeeeeeeeeeeease people, for the love of pete, review!! (You know, I've always wondered who pete was... ^_-) I own nothing. Again, I'd like to thank Logan for all he does... I can't thank him enough... he's helped me with some stuff that's been going on with me... to some extent, what is happening in this fic. I'd also like to thank everyone who has stuck with me and even who has only started to read my fics. I love you all! Hikari-chan, Destiny, ROBSTER80, Aushie, and all of you other authors that read my stuff (or, I read theirs ^_^) I luv you guys! This is just part one, there's more, but I'm not done with it yet... this is the first time I've ever posted a fic without being finished with it first... I won't keep you all waiting long though, I'll have the next part out soon! ^_^ Now that I actually know where I'm going with this story I'll have it done sooner!
Kari :)
********************- indicates a flashback
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"SORA TAKENOUCHI!!!"
Sora stirred in her bed, not wanting to get up. She closed her eyes tightly and breathed deeply, pretending to be asleep. Her mother's angry footsteps could be heard pounding down the hallway towards her room... Sora felt an all too familiar fear settle in her stomach and her heart raced, but she remained motionless, still pretending to be sleeping.
Ms. Takenouchi burst into Sora's room with a blast of anger-charged air. Sora could feel her mother's mysterious rage pushing down on her, and she inconspicuously clutched tighter to the pillow she rested her head on. Her breathing was quiet, shuddering, uneven as she awaited her mother's shouts.
"Sora Takenouchi, you better wake up right now you lazy mess for a daughter!"
Sora's fear quickly turned to anger as well... it simmered deep inside her like lava in a volcano. She slowly turned her head to face her mother and scowled coldly at her.
"I'm up..." she fumed in an icily low, quiet voice.
"Good! Now maybe you can make yourself useful for a change."
Sora's mother stormed out of the room, no doubt to gather a list of things for Sora to do. Sora rolled her eyes dramatically and muttered a few choice four-letter words under her breath. Sora usually never cussed, but when her mother was like this... her anger had its own free reign on her tongue.
Sora climbed out of bed and threw on a pair of black bootcut pants and a red long-sleeved shirt that her best friend, Taichi Kamiya, had gotten her for her birthday that year. It had replaced the old yellow no-sleeved shirt she had worn that one summer when she first traveled to the Digiworld as her favorite shirt... it smelled distinctly of Tai, and even though it was made of a thin fabric, it gave Sora a strange feeling of warmth every time she wore it... no matter how cold it was outside. She smoothed the shirt down with her hands, smiling lightly, thinking of him lovingly. *Oh Tai... if only you knew...* she thought to herself.
*******************Sora sat in her room, looking miserably out of her window. Her birthday was last week, and Tai still hadn't said anything to her about it. Well, no... that wasn't completely true... he had told her, through Kari that is, happy birthday, but other than that, she hadn't heard his voice at all. That was very unusual for Tai. She and Taichi had been best friends ever since they knew what a best friend was, and were practically inseparable.
For instance, when Sora moved to Odaiba when she was 9, Tai had secretly locked himself in the trunk of the Takenouchi's car and when they had opened it to get all the boxes and things out, out popped Tai, grinning his same lopsided, funny grin that Sora had long since fallen for. Since they had been so far away from Heighton View Terrace, Tai was allowed to spend the weekend at Sora's new apartment... a sort of last request kind of thing, for when Tai returned home, his parents were going to kill him for doing what he had done. Of course, they had never done so... but he was in DEEP trouble when he got home. He helped the Takenouchis settle into their new home and spent all of his time at Sora's side.
That was just one thing she could think of... there were a billion times that she and Tai had been together. Especially in the Digiworld... when she was upset that her crest wouldn't glow and he told her the crest was perfect for her and helped her to get ther crest to glow, and he tried to make her laugh when she was sad; the time she was kidnapped by Datamon and Tai came to her rescue; that time when they had returned to Heighton View Terrace to look for who turned out to be Tai's little sister Kari and he had thrown himself upon her when she was in danger of being hit by Mammothmon's attack; when he and she were under the control of Puppetmon and were transported to a secluded area away from the others - how she had tried desperately to help him down or at least flip him right side up when he was twisted upside-down in the air - the laughs they had shared trying to do so, even though they were scared out of their wits; when he promised her he wouldn't let anything happen to her when they were facing Puppetmon's mansion; when Tai had asked her to take care of Kari for him while he went out and searched for medicationns and told her he was leaving his sister in good hands; when she had been so worried about making Tai proud of her that she was sucked into a cave similar to the one Matt had unknown to her recently escaped from, even though Tai had been proud of her all along; when they had fought side by side during the battles with Piedmon and Apocalymon, and every other battle as well...
The memories rushed through her head in a frenzy... once second they were relived and enjoyed, the next second they were gone and another had taken its place. Tai and Sora had been together more than ever in the Digiworld, and both of them loved every minute of it. Even though Sora teased him at times, and he made fun of her, they remained best friends through it all and stuck by each other... looked out for each other... helped each other through thick and thin.
But now... Tai was being so distant... she couldn't figure out why. Had she done something wrong? She felt tears rising to her eyes, and she tried to swallow them, but to no avail... the dams broke and Sora cried rivers... that is, until the doorbell rang. Sora's mother wasn't home, so she figured it was Ms. Takenouchi at the door, probably full handed, as she usually was coming back home from running however many errands she ran a day. She tried to dry her tears on her sleeve, but her eyes were still red and puffy when she opened the door.
"T-Tai!" Sora gasped in surprise.
"Hey Sora," Tai said quietly, shamefully bowing his head and lifting only his eyes to look at her. Sora loved when he did that... he looked just like the small boy that had popped out of the trunk of her mother's car, grinning wildly... even at his age of 15. (Eh, so it's not that old... it feels old to me! ...Yes, I'm 15, I'll be 16 in two months. Now you know. ^_^) Sora smiled at his cute expression, but then hers quickly turned to one of anger.
"WHERE have you been Tai, my birthday was last week and all I get from you is a happy birthday from Kari's mouth?! "
Sora crossed her arms and stood defiantly before Tai, watching him wince and raise his hand to an ear in pain. Yes, she loved him dearly, but he made her SO mad sometimes. *He'd better have a good reason for missing my birthday for the first time in 13 years...* she thought angrily.
"I... I'm so sorry Sora, my parents grounded me, and they wouldn't let me talk to you... they knew that would be the worst thing they could ever do to me."
Sora's angry expression turned quizzical. "Huh?"
"They know I hate being away from you... so they used it as my punishment."
Sora's heart fluttered and caught in her throat. Tai loved being around her so much that his parents used keeping him away from her as a punishment? *I hope they don't give mama any ideas,* she thought happily. Sora smiled sweetly at Tai, then grinned mockingly. "Geez Tai, what was so bad that they unleashed they ultimate punishment on you?"
"I failed three classes."
"That's it?"
"Yeah... but it's the ultimate sin to them, so I got the ultimate punishment." Tai's gaze remained sullenly on the floor, and suddenly, Sora began laughing hysterically. Tai looked up at her as she doubled over in laughter. Tai grinned, then smiled, then flat out joined her in laughter. Tai always thought Sora's laugh was infectious... he loved it so much, and it always made him happy enough to laugh even if nothing was the least bit funny.
"W... what's... so funny?" Tai managed through his laughs.
"I... don't remember," Sora giggled. They laughed even harder at this. Tai was bending over clutching his stomach and Sora was sitting on the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks. They finally calmed down, but they were definitely in better spirits.
"So what are you doing here?" Sora smiled, wiping her tears from under her eyes. Tai's face was blank for a moment, and then lit up.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot..." Tai reached into his bag that he had brought with him... apparently he had just finished soccer practice, seeing as how his hair was still a bit damp from his shower. He pulled out a beautifully wrapped package. "Happy birthday Sora," he said sweetly.
"Better late than never," Sora joked as she accepted Tai's gift and ripped off the wrapping paper. She pulled out a beautiful red long-sleeved shirt with a v-neck made of a thin fabric. She spread it out before her and admired it. "Oh Tai, I love it," she breathed.
"That's not all of it."
Sora looked again in the box and saw a smaller, rectangular box. She looked at it in anticipation and reached for it. She opened the box with trembling fingers that she tried to conceal from Tai and pulled out a silver heart locket. She opened it and saw no pictures, but instead saw the crest of love engraved on one side and the crest of courage on the other.
"....!" Sora was speechless as she dangled it in front of her, lookin wide eyed at it.
"Well, you're not supposed to look at it!" Tai said playfully. He took it from her hand, brushing hers gently with his as he did so, causing them both to blush a bit, and un-did the clasp. Sora held her hand to her chest in a loose fist as he gently placed the locket around her neck.
"There..." he smoothed down the chain with his rough fingers, which sent chills down Sora's spine. "Now, let me look at you," Tai said, softly turning Sora around to face him. He looked her over, overexaggerating his concentration, sending Sora into a fit of giggles. He finished looking her over and nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect."
Sora smiled, and then held up a small card that she had found at the bottom of the box. It bore a simple message:
You always looked good in red. You better wear this on our first date!
Best friends forever!
Love always,
Tai
Sora looked up with a shocked expression at Tai's widely grinning face.
"Our... first date?"
"Sure! Whenever you want...we've got to go on a date sooner or later, don't we?" Tai said playfully.
"Of course I'll go on a date with you, Tai!" Sora smiled as happy tears filled her eyes. "I'm so glad you got grounded!" she said happily as she flung her arms around Tai's neck and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, just as he had done so many times before. Yet this time it seemed deeper than usual.
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but I'm glad I did too."***************************
"SORA!"
Sora narrowed her eyes in anger as her mother's shrill yell broke through her happy thoughts. Sora glanced at her expression in the full length mirror on her closet door as she passed, not recognizing the face that scowled back at her because of the sheer hate plastered on her face.
"SORA, GET IN HERE NOW!!"
Sora dragged herself as slowly as possible to the kitchen, simply to spite her mother. From the look Sora saw on her mother's face when she finally reached the kitchen, it had worked.
"About time," Ms. Takenouchi said coldly. Sora narrowed her eyes even more and angrily tightened her lips. She flexed every muscle in her body to try and release some of the anger that was building within her, to no avail. She was SO close to strangling her mother with her bare hands. Ms. Takenouchi turned her back on her daughter and gathered a few papers and things from the kitchen counter. *Now's my chance...* Sora thought blindly, clenching her fists. Sora was too slow to do anything, because her mother turned back to face her with her arms full of things.
"Now Sora, go put these away where they go, and then the paper I gave you has some errands I want you to run."
Sora stood stock still as her mother dumped her load into Sora's arms. She remained standing in her position with an icy look on her face.
"Are you deaf, girl? I SAID MOVE IT!"
Sora reluctantly spun around on her heel and headed towards her room. She entered it in a huff and dumped her armload onto her bed. Sora sat and looked at the pile of stuff her mother had given her and sighed in frustration. She picked up the paper, which had half a page of errands she had to run today. *There goes my date with Tai...* she thought, her eyes filling with tears.
*******************Sora propped up her head with an arm on the cashier's counter in the flower shop. She was so bored... business was slow today. She closed her eyes and listened to someone come in the shop. She didn't even bother to open her eyes to see who it was... probably a bad move on her part, but she was tired. She only mumbled, "Take your time," to whoever was shopping. A few minutes later, Sora smelled flowers in front of her face.
"I'm ready now," a familiar voice said playfully. Sora opened her eyes and looked into a loving pair of chocolate brown ones, very close to her own. She straightened herself in surprise.
"Tai! What are you doing here?" she asked in shock. Tai came to the shop to visit her sometimes, but he was supposed to be at soccer practice today.
"Soccer was cancelled because of something the coach had to do today, I think his wife finally went into labor or something."
"That's great!" Sora exclaimed, her old coach's face appearing in her mind. Tai stood at the counter expectantly.
"What?" she queried.
"I want to pay for these." Sora's face was blank for a moment, and then lit up with hope.
"O...okay," Sora stammered as she rang up the bouquet. "They're very beautiful," she commented as she examined them to determine the correct price. "Who are they for?"
"A girl even more beautiful than they are."
Sora's heart sank, but she tried not to show it. *No way they could be for me then,* she thought sadly.
"Eighteen dollars," she read from the cash register. She looked up at Tai and watched as he pulled a twenty from his wallet.
"Here ya go," he said with a smirk. Sora began to pull out his change, but he stopped her.
"You can keep it, but only on one condition."
"What?" She looked at him with a curious expression. He held out the flowers to her. "Why are you giving these back, you just paid for them."
"It's not that hard to figure out... they're for you," he said softly, a small blush appearing on his bronzed cheeks. Sora was taken aback... what had he said? That they were for a girl more beautiful than the bouquet? But... that meant...
"Only if you take these and if you go with me on that date you promised me can you keep that extra two bucks," Tai grinned. Sora looked up and him and smiled sweetly, gladly accepting the bouquet.
"Sure Tai, that'd be great!" She grinned slyly at him. "You did pay me, after all." Tai laughed.
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow at three then!"
"Three!?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"It's just that..."
"It's a little early? Is that a problem?"
"Of course not!"
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then!" With that, Tai walked out of the shop, glancing back at her when he reached the door, smiling, and then continuing to wherever he was going. Sora smelled her bouquet of flowers and sighed happily. *Tai asked me on a date...* she repeated over and over again in her mind dreamily.
"SORA TAKENOUCHI, what are you doing with those flowers???"
Sora looked back at her mother in surprise. "Tai just came in and bought them for me," she answered casually.
"I'm sure... where did he go then?" her mother said a bit suspiciously.
"He just left... what are you trying to say, mama?"
"Put them back... now." Ms. Takenouchi growled.
"But he bought them for me, they're mine!" Sora cried.
"Maybe I should tell him what you're saying... wouldn't that be embarrassing for you."
"Go ahead, you'll see I'm not lying."
"Well, let's just call them right now, shall we!" Sora's mother stormed to the phone and dialed the Kamiya's number. She was good friends with Mrs. Kamiya and had been since high school, so she had it memorized.
"Hello?" a young female voice answered.
"Hello, is this Kari?"
"Yes, this is she, who is this?"
"Hello dear, this is Sora's mother, is Tai home?"
"Um... no, he went to buy flowers for Sora, to ask her on a date or something," Kari answered in a partly playful, partly awkward, but mostly happy voice. "I guess he's been talking to TK, that's what he did for me."
"Uh... oh... okay, thank you Kari."
"No problem!"
Sora's mother hung up the phone. The look on her face caused a feeling of triumph to rise in Sora's chest.
"See?" Sora glared at her mother.
"Well... just don't show them off!" Mrs. Takenouchi sputtered in an angry, frustrated, and slightly embarrassed tone, and with that she stormed back to the back of the shop once more. Sora wanted to cry, but held back her tears. How could her mother even assume that she had been lying? How could she not believe that Tai had asked her out...?*********************
"Stupid mom..." Sora mumbled to herself, tears clouding her eyes. That day was when her mother had really started being cruel to her, and for no reason at all. Ms. Takenouchi would yell at her daughter to get up out of bed... first thing in the morning, so Sora couldn't possibly have done anything wrong yet. That would start Sora's day off badly... and the bad mood she had gotten from her mother's yelling would continue on throughout the entire day. When Ms. Takenouchi got really mad, she would hurt Sora... usually no more than grabbing her arm gruffly and squeezing tightly or hitting her... Sora's mother even smacked her a few times across the face. Ms. Takenouchi would make Sora's life a living hell the entire day... at least when Sora wasn't with Tai. Tai could make all the bad feelings disappear... he always made her feel better. And she had plenty today that she would've loved for him to get rid of. Sora sighed in exasperation and reluctantly made her way out of the apartment, grabbing her jacket on the way.
It was late October, and the fall weather had set in weeks ago. The leaves on the slowly thinning trees had already turned numerous shades of orange, red, brown, green, and yellow. Wind blew mercilessly and tried desperately in its own little game to knock all of the leaves off of the trees as soon as it could to rid the trees of their multicolored coats and prepare them for winter. Already fallen leaves blew about in miniature whirlwinds on the ground. This day was so brisk that Sora could see her breath being expelled from her mouth in small white puffs as she hurried through the streets. She ran all of her short errands, dropped (literally) the things she had gotten at home, and then made her way to the flower shop, which her mother had told her to watch for the rest of the day.
As Sora made her way to the flower shop, her mind wandered to the past years of her life... they were almost all filled with Tai. Tai had always been a major part of her life, as her mother and Tai's mother had been good friends in high school and had kept in touch ever since. Tai had been born only a few weeks before Sora had, and they had been together in the hospital for a few days in the nursery. Tai had had some health problems when he was born, something like a cold but for an infant, so the doctors kept him at the hospital for a few weeks after he was born so as to prevent any further sickness.
Sora's memories stretched to kindergarten, and to she and Tai's first day of school. Their mothers had been so clingy that day that when they weren't looking, Tai had grabbed Sora's hand and pulled her into the school and away from their moms. They had gotten lost inside the large building before actually finding their class... and a couple of angry mothers.
A couple years later, Sora and Tai started playing soccer together on a community team. They had continued doing so for years. They went to soccer camp every year together... except that one, when they were eleven... that summer they had gone to a regular summer camp together. All they had wanted to do was go to the lake together, but then that blizzard hit... that summer they met not just five, but twelve new friends when they were sucked into the Digiworld for the first time.
All the times, the countless times that Tai and Sora had spent together there... the times they had saved each other's lives, the first time either of them truly realized the depth of their feelings for each other... so many memories of the Digiworld and the Digimon. Following that summer, Tai and Sora had been closer than ever. All of the group had, but especially Tai and Sora, TK and Kari, and Joe and Mimi. Matt and Izzy were always around, and they were just as close to everybody as everyone else was, but they didn't have the deep bonds that the three pairs had with one another. Matt had his guitar and Izzy had... too deep a bond with his computer... Sora smiled faintly and chuckled to herself when she thought fondly of her computer whiz friend and his prized possession. Izzy treated that old Pineapple laptop like money... he never left home without it.
Her mind again wandered back to Tai... he was everything Sora had ever dreamed of. She had heard Matt had a thing for her awhile back, and she tried not to hurt his feelings, but she never had any feelings of that kind for Matt. He eventually got over her, especially when his singing career took off and he had girls lined up for miles to go out with him. But Tai... she always had him...
Sora reached the flower shop. There was NO one there... the whole street was pretty much deserted. Not surprising... it was freezing outside. Sora shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm them. She fumbled with the key with trembling hands and eventually opened the door to the shop, rushing inside and feeling the heat of the store descend on her, warming her almost instantly. Sora hung her coat in the back of the store and proceeded with her assignment... she sat there and watched the shop. After about an hour, Sora looked up at the clock that was hung on the wall. It read 4:23 pm. *I hope he doesn't get mad...* Sora thought to herself.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head on her left hand, massaging her temples with the tips of her middle finger and thumb of her right hand. She suddenly felt the urge to cry creep up on her, but she swallowed it. If her mother walked in, crying would show that Sora was upset with her mother and that Ms. Takenouchi had won over her. If any customer walked in, they would be scared off by her sobbing. If her Taichi walked in... well, if he walked in, she didn't know what she would do. But her efforts were in vain... she opened her eyes to see small puddles of salty tears forming on the counter. This was too much for her to see. The bottled up emotion she had been holding inside her finally released itself, but not before Sora turned the sign that hung on the door to where it displayed the word "closed".
She prayed her mother wouldn't walk by... she'd probably smack Sora for closing the shop too early. Sora walked slowly to the center of the shop and by her favorite display of flowers... Sora had made it soon after Tai came to the flower shop that one day - it was the bouquet he had bought for her. She kept the flowers here so they would last longer. Sora stopped in midstride and collapsed onto the floor, her legs crossed and askew and her head buried in her hands. She cried for what seemed like hours... and hours... and hours. At one point, she thought she had heard someone come in, but she had locked the front door and her sorrow was too great for her to really care enough to check it out. She cried, and cried, and cried. She felt totally alone.. yet she could almost feel a presence there with her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she had felt this presence before... she didn't pay attention to figuring out the strange presence's origin however... she just cried. When she had cried until she had no more tears left, she looked up at the clock on the wall.
"OH MY GOD!" she cried as she jumped up off of the floor. Instead of the clock, she saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring worriedly into her own.
"AHH!" the bearer of the eyes yelped as her fell back in surprise. Sora regained her composure and looked to the person who she had opened her eyes to.
"TAI KAMIYA, DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" she screamed, clutching her chest and trying to catch her breath. Tai sat up straight and looked startled at Sora.
"I... I..."
"You scared me to death, Tai!" Sora closed her mouth as a realization hit her. "Wait a minute..."
"What?"
"When did you get here, and how did you get in without me hearing you?" Tai grinned at her as her knees hit the floor as she slumped to it, baffled.
"Well, I got here around 5, since we were supposed to go out today, and I knew you wouldn't have cancelled without telling me, so I came here, and here you were... crying your eyes out on the floor.... so I came in through the back since the front door was locked."
"So I DID hear someone come it... no wonder I felt someone with me. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't know what to say..." Sora kneeled on the floor across from Tai and looked into his eyes. Tai stared back into hers. "Sora... tell me..."
"Tell you what Tai? Nande?" she said loudly. (A/N: "WHAT?!") Sora became agitated, glaring at Tai unexpectedly. Tai's face reflected his hurt, concern, and confusion perfectly, and Sora felt a twinge of guilt twist in the deepest recessions of her heart. Why was she being so mean to Tai? So much like... like her mother? Sora's face twisted from anger to extreme distress as she again felt her eyes brimming with tears. She refused to cry in front of her best friend... but she had to. She had kept all this emotion inside her, and she desperately wanted to share it with Tai. She wanted him to feel her pain, her joy, her love for him. This would make them as one.
"Sora... daijoubu ka?" (A/N: "Are you okay?") Tai asked worriedly. Sora couldn't speak, for fear that her voice would fail her. She simply shook her head furiously. "Sora, tell me... aino-chan..." ("Sweetheart")
Sora looked up, her eyes wide. He had never called her that before...
"What did you call me?" she whispered.
"Aino-chan..." Tai stared into her teary eyes. "Please aino-chan, tell me what's wrong... maybe I can help you..."
Sora stared at the ground. "Please Sora, ai shiteru! Please let me help you!" ("I love you!") In a sudden burst of love and sadness, Sora broke out into a hysterical sob and threw herself into Tai's waiting arms. Tai was stunned at first, but then held her tightly, whispering words of comfort in her hair. "Shh... please Sora, please stop crying and tell me what's wrong... please Sora, you know how much it hurts me to see you cry..."
Sora had heard him say this before... when she was alone and crying in the Digital World, he had said this to her... he really cared. He had helped her then; perhaps he could help her now. She knew he could help her now. She looked up into his eyes and took a deep breath... then told him everything. "Tai, it's my okaasan..."
"Your mom? What's wrong with her, is she okay?"
"No Tai, it's nothing like that... she's been... so cold to me lately."
"But haven't you two always had a rocky relationship?"
"Well," Sora slowly admitted, "yes... but never like this..."
Tai was unsure of what to do in this situation. He always listened to Sora when she told him about her problems... he cared for her, what else was he to do? But this problem seemed so far out of his reach. He usually got along with both of his parents... except for that time when he was younger and his desire to play soccer almost cost him his little sister. But other than that, his home was almost always a peaceful setting.
"What is she doing?" he whispered in question.
Sora's tears refreshed themselves and more and more just kept rolling down her cheeks. Tai gently brushed them away as they came. "She's being so cruel... she treats me like a slave, she doesn't care about me at all... I'm beginning to think she never did..."
"NO Sora, she does care about you, I'm sure of it..." Tai looked down at the hopeless and unbelieving expression painted on Sora's face and thought quickly. "Sora," he continued whispering, "do you remember when your crest first glowed?"
"Yes..." Sora sniffed.
"Do you remember why?" He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gently caressed her tear-streaked face.
"...yes..."
"That's right baby, your crest of love glowed because you realized your mother loved you. You realized you've always had love... and not just from your mother either," he said softly, sweetly, still holding her tightly... he never wanted to let her go, now that she was within his loving embrace.
"That was 4 years ago Tai, a lot can change in 4 years. Like, for instance, I don't have a father anymore," Sora added bitterly.
"Sora, I know she may seem like she doesn't care, but she really does."
Sora became angry and pulled away from him, standing quickly. "Oh! So screaming at me to get up, dumping an armload of trash in my amrs, making ME put HER things away, making ME run HER errands and putting me in danger when doing so because she sometimes makes me run them late at night is caring for me?" she screamed, gesturing wildly in a desperate attempt to make a point.
Tai's heart sank. He was hoping he could help her, but it just wasn't working. "Sora..." he began softly, "...I'm sorry I couldn't help you..." Tai felt tears rising to his eyes. He looked into hers from numerous moments, and then, sorrowful, salty tears running down his bronzed face, he turned away from her to leave. Sora stood suddenly.
"Tai, wait!" she called. He turned half of his body around so he could see her. His expression was one of pure sadness. Sora had also begun crying again... "Tai, please... don't you leave me too..." she sobbed. Tai knew she was referring to her father. Sora's father, in the past, had been the only one that she could trust, goof off with, tell her secrets to, talk to... at least besides Tai... and now he was gone. Often Mr. Takenouchi had been the one to try and prevent fights between the two females, and Sora had once said to Tai that he was the only thing that kept her sane at her house. "Tai, I don't think I can stand it if you're not here with me..." Sora cried shamelessly. Tai felt fresh hot tears crawling down his cheeks as he went to Sora and held her. He didn't know what to say in this situation, so he simply held her. He had nothing else to do.
"Shh... hush now... no more tears..."
"T...Tai...I can't..." Sora choked out between sobs and gasps for air.
"Sora, look at me."
Sora opened her tear-weary eyes and looked up into the chocolate brown eyes she had fallen for so long ago. They reflected her every emotion... every pain, every sorrow, every joy, every hope, every problem, every solution, every single feeling that Sora had, she saw in Taichi's eyes. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before... the way that his eyes told exactly what he was feeling. The way he could read her every thought simply by looking into her eyes, and the way she could do the same to hiim... the way that she so easily was lost within the gorgeous depths of his eyes. She stared into them now and slowly she felt pains leave her body, heart, and mind. He pulled away from her for a moment...
"Sora, you're not alone. Trust me. If your mother doesn't love you, which she does, then I promise you here and now that I will take you away with me, because I WILL love you forever, nothing will ever change that. If she does anything, I'll take you as my wife and take you away forever, away from your mother, from everything you have trouble with." Sora started blankly at him a moment. "That is, if you want to..."
Sora pulled further away from him and walked over to her flower display and again began to cry as she thought his offer over. She loved her mother, deep down... she had to... otherwise she wouldn't have been crying. But she couldn't live with her mother when she was like this. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Tai, of that she was certain. She had been certain of that since she first met him. Since the first time they had ever played together... the first time he had looked at her... grinned that funny lopsided grin she loved at her... smiled at her as they sat beside each other in school... the first time he had held her hand... passed her a note in class... sat in detention with her for it and passed her a note in there as well, apologizing profusely... the first time he had helped her up when she fell on the soccer field... saved her life again and again in the Digiworld, like that time she was kidnapped by Datamon... cried with her when she was hurting... when he had stayed with her when her father had died... She had always known that he would be hers forever, and she would always be his. She thanked God for him everyday. He walked cautiously over to her and held her to him. "Tai..." Sora managed in a whisper through her tears as she cried against his shoulder, "take me home with you."
"Okay Sora," Tai whispered back as he rocked her back and forth.
"Okay..."
A/N: Okay all, that's part one! I have about a quarter of the second part written, and I'm pretty sure there's only going to be these two parts, but there may even be three... hope you guys liked this, as I said, it's kind of a semi-bibliography,,, but my life isn't all yelling! I promise! ^_^ Part two will be coming soon! Luv you guys! Oh, and if there's any part in here where it kinda drops off and starts up again in a different part, tell me... my mind is half into typing this... I'm talking to Tachikawa Mimi right now on the phone and I'm listening to her and blindly typing this at the same time. Don't worry Mimi, I'm hearing every word you say!!! Before you become a memory... OH well I won't give away your next songfic... very cute so far!! Luv ya girl! Bye everybody! Gotta do my three projects that are due tomorrow... eep.
Kari :)