Taking Back Love

by KarissaEB

I'm BACK! With a full-length fic this time! ^_^ I don't know if this deserves the R rating... some parts probably do, but it's nothing bad, promise. Taiora, with a bit of Takari splashed in for fun ^_~. I don't want to do a full summary, or I'll give

3. Taking Back Love

Taking Back Love

by Kari

A/N: *wipes her brow* Now that I have outrun the angry males... ^_~! Here's chapter three for ya! There's an epilogue coming up next, so don't think that it's over when it's over. ^_^ Did I fully confuse you now or what! Oh... and not all guys can do just one thing at a time... I know plenty of smart ones that can manage two! Okay, I'll stop guy-bashing now... you're not bad, really! Enough, enough... disclaimer's the same, dedications are the same, bla bla bla... Here's chapter three! R&R please! ^_^

Kari :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Previously, in Taking Back Love... (Now this sounds like a soap opera! *shudders*.... o.O)

The message ended quickly and Tai stood upright again, waiting for Mr. Miura's response.
"Okay Tai, I need you to come to the station right away," he told him.
"I'm on my way."
"Did you get any sleep?"
"Do you think I could've? Or can, now that I have something to find Sora with?"
".......Good point. Get over here now."
"See you soon." Tai hung up the phone and scribbled a note to his parents explaining what had happened, telling them to listen to the message and get to the police station as soon as they could. He then grabbed his blue Adidas jacket and sprinted to his car, started it up, and raced to the police station.

~o.O~

Chapter 3:
Taking Back Love

~o.O~

Tai took the stairs up to the police station two and three at a time. He was lucky he hadn't been stopped for speeding... he had made it to the station in a record 5 minutes, where the trip usually took at least 10. He burst in the doors, panting, beads of sweat dotting his sun-bronzed face. mr. Miura was near the entrance of the station waiting for Tai.

"I got here as soon as I could," Tai said through gasps for breath.

"From the looks of you I don't doubt it," Mr. Miura said honestly, a small grin etched on his features.

"What are we going to do now? Are we going to find Sora?"

Mr. Miura shook his head. "Not right at this moment. We are putting together a list of places they might be. Officers are out patrolling the streets right now, checking out various abandoned warehouses and buildings to see if anyone is in them."

"But we'll go find her tonight, right?" Tai asked anxiously. Mr. Miura turned back and grinned with determination and anticipation.

"You bet. Keisuke Kawamura is going to regret the day he stole Sora Takenouchi from Taichi Kamiya." Tai returned the grin... the first time in days he had truly smiled.

"Great! .....I get to come, right? I mean, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't come to get her. I am the one who lost her, after all..."

"You didn't lose her... we'll get her back, Tai. And of course you can come! Go home at the moment and get anything you may need, then come straight back here."

"I've got everything I need."

"You sure?"

Tai was about to nod, but suddenly remembered something that was on his nightstand at home... something he wanted to give to Sora the moment he saw her. "On second thought, there is something I want to bring," he said with a small smile. Mr. Miura smirked, as if he knew exactly what Tai was planning.

"Sure, hurry back."

"Thanks," Tai said, and he turned to leave.

~^_^~

Tai hurried home, rushed into his room, and grabbed what he came for... Sora's ring. It was still wrapped in the red silk cloth that it had been in the night Sora had been taken. Tai looked at it as it lay in his hand... it briefly caught the light of the late afternoon sun streaming in the room through Tai's window and glinted brightly. Tai smiled in content as he imagined how much more beautiful it would look on Sora's finger.

He snapped out of his daydream, closing his hand over the ring and stuffing it and the cloth in his jacket pocket. He then hurried out of his apartment and flew down the stairs. Just as he was about to jump back in his car, he heard someone call him.

"Tai, wait!"

Tai impatiently turned to see his sister and her boyfriend running towards him. "Kari? I thought you were staying at T.K.'s until 7:30!" Tai said as they ran up to him.

"I was, but I forgot to bring something for T.K."

"Homework I missed," T.K. explained.

"Where are you going?" Kari demanded.

"Mr. Miura said we're going to get Sora back tonight!" Tai told them excitedly.

"Really?" Kari asked, making her way to Tai's car. T.K. followed close behind her. Tai looked blankly at them, then shook his head.

"Ohhhhh no, it's too dangerous for you two."

Kari and T.K. ignored him and climbed into the backseat of his car. Tai looked at them from outside the car on the driver's side. They looked back innocently.

"You're not going," Tai said firmly.

They said nothing.

"Get out!"

"No," Kari said, her tone indifferent.

"Mom and Dad won't know where you are!"

"I'll call them from the station."

"T.K.'s mom won't know where he is!"

"She won't mind if I call her," T.K. cut in cheerfully. Tai huffed impatiently.

"Get out... now."

"You're wasting time, Tai," Kari said softly, her voice overlapping his. Tai glared at her and T.K. for a few moments, then with an exasperated sigh, got in the car and started it. He watched T.K. and Kari smile at each other in triumph in the rearview mirror. They saw this and tried to suppress their grins, though unsuccessfully.

"Don't get used to this me-giving-in stuff," Tai growled, though traces of a grin were apparent on his face as well. "I promise you it's not happening often."

"Sure Tai," Kari smiled.

"I only let you two come because we're going for Sora."

"Okay!"

"Okay then... just so we're at an understanding." Kari and T.K. just laughed, deciding to let Tai continue to believe he was the one in control.

"So how did the police find out where Sora is?" T.K. asked.

"She called me."

"Seriously?" Kari asked, her jaw scraping the floor of the car.

"Yeah... she left a message on the machine while we were at school. Mr. Miura said they've sent patrols out to all the abandoned warehouses and buildings in the area," Tai explained.

"An abandoned warehouse? How cliche..." Kari muttered.

"Awesome! We get to go get Sora!" T.K. exclaimed. Tai glared at him and Kari in the rearview mirror for the second time that day.

"I'm letting you come to the station, but you are NOT coming to get her," Tai growled. Kari opened her mouth to argue, but Tai shot her an icy look, very uncharacteristic of him, all but daring her to say something. She indignantly closed her mouth and crossed her arms across her chest. T.K. put his arms around her shoulders and squeezed them gently.

"At least he's letting us go," he whispered to her. "And besides... I'm sure we can find something to do at the station." T.K. said this with a sly grin. Kari looked up at him and a bright pink blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Takeru Takaishi, you are so bad! Who'd have known the innocent little bearer of hope had a bad streak," she teased, lightly punching his shoulder. "You learn something new everyday."

T.K. chuckled and squeezed her shoulders again. They heard a low growl from the front seat and looked to Tai, surprised. Kari grinned when she saw her brother glancing at them and scooted closer to T.K. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. T.K. looked confused (yet very content ^_^), and Kari whispered to him, "Overprotective brother alert!"

T.K. grinned in understanding and slipped his hand from her shoulder to her waist. He kissed her briefly, causing her to blush yet again. Tai glared at them and they laughed.

"Calm down Tai, T.K. won't hurt me, and he's no one to be afraid of," Kari smirked.

"Yes... and I trust him with you..." Tai began, "but he IS a member of the male species and I know how we get when we're around our girlfriends."

"Or the girl you wish you were with," she teased. Tai glanced at her again and prepared to say something back, but decided against it. She wasn't wrong, so why should he say she was?

~^_^~

They drove the rest of the way to the station, T.K. and Kari talking and Tai deep in thought... unusual for him. His mind kept wandering to the ring in his pocket...

Tai, you put it off too long on Saturday... and you lost your chance then. Now you have your second chance tonight. Stop wasting time! You HAVE to propose to her as soon as you see her, or else it might be too late again.

Tai smiled in determination, his mind made up. He pulled up to the station and parked in the small lot next to it. "Alright you two, out of the car," Tai barked as he jumped out of the car. T.K. and Kari rushed out as well and Tai locked the doors. He ran up the stairs again, this time closely followed by Kari and T.K., and entered the station. Mr. Miura was again standing near the entrance, waiting for them. He laughed when he saw the two younger teenagers alongside Tai.

"Is this what you had to go back for?" he chuckled.

"No, I had to get something else, but these two wanted to come along," Tai explained, glancing back at them with a frown.

"What did you go back for?" T.K. asked, grinning. Kari giggled. Tai shot him a look, commanding him not to ask about it right now. T.K. raised his eyebrows and bent his arms at the elbows to raise his hands in the air. "Fine, I don't want to know..."

Mr. Miura laughed. "Uh huh. Well, I have some good news and some bad news for you," he said.

"Did you find her?" Tai asked anxiously.

"Well, yes... and no."

"Huh? What do you mean yes and no?"

"Well... why don't you come into my office and I'll explain." Mr. Miura turned and motioned for Tai, T.K., and Kari to follow suit. They walked into Mr. Miura's office and sat down in small cushioned office chairs in front of his desk. Mr. Miura stood behind his desk and leaned on the top of his.

"Here's the deal..." he began, "we've found the abandoned warehouse we believe Ms. Takenouchi and Mr. Kawamura are in..."

"Is that the good news?" T.K. asked.

"Yes... the bad news is that he knows we've found them. When we attempted to approach the building, he shot at us, telling us that if we came in he'd kill her."

"WHAT?!" Tai exclaimed.

"When they attempted to app..."

"I heard him Kari, it's a figure of speech!" Tai snapped.

"I know, I was trying to get on your NERVES," Kari shot back.

"What are you going to do about it?" T.K. asked from his place at Kari's side, his fingers intertwined with hers. Mr. Miura looked at him... he looked very frustrated and weary. The dark circles under his eyes gave the impression he had been very busy... maybe so much that he didn't sleep well.

"We're putting together a rescue plan right now... come into the interrogation room and my men will explain it. They're in there right now," he told them. Tai, Kari, and T.K. nodded, and followed Mr. Miura out of his office and into the interrogation room where Tai had been questioned Saturday night/Sunday morning. They walked in and noticed a map of Tokyo had been posted on a wall.

"Hm... not exactly what I was thinking, but a good attempt at color," Tai grinned. Unlike the first time Tai had been in this room, Mr. Miura chuckled. He then motioned to one of the young uniformed police officers to explain the operation to Tai and the others.

"This is Takeshi Shimamura," Mr. Miura introduced. Takeshi nodded to the others, then took his place next to the map of Tokyo.

"Alright. This," Takeshi pointed to a pushpin stuck onto the map, "is where the warehouse is that Mr. Kawamura is keeping Ms. Takenouchi. Our plan is that we call him on his cell and try to negotiate with him. While we do this, Mr. Miura, Mr. Kamiya, Aya Muyo, and Satoru Oikawa will sneak in through a back way already picked out by an officer on the scene. All of us on the outside will do our best to distract Mr. Kawamura. Mr. Kamiya, while Mr. Miura, Aya, and Satoru go after Mr. Kawamura, you will rescue Ms. Takenouchi. I believe this will please you?"

Tai smiled brightly, glad he was the one to actually save her. Takeshi smirked, then continued. "All of this has to be accomplished within the span of 20 minutes. We figure this is maximum amount of time that Mr. Kawamura will allow us to negotiate with him." Takeshi looked around to the rest of the people in the room and they all nodded in agreement. Mr. Miura went to the map and placed a hand on Takeshi's shoulder.

"Good work, Shimamura. It's an excellent plan." Takeshi smiled respectfully and stepped away from the map, joining 9 other men and women in the corner of the room. Mr. Miura cleared his throat. "Now, we need someone to stay here and monitor a radio transmission... any volunteers?" He looked around the room and saw everyone looking at each other, none of them wanting to back out of the sting operation.

"We'll do it," Kari suddenly spoke. Mr. Miura looked at them questioningly.

"Yeah, Kari and I can stay here and listen to you on the radio... Tai won't let us go on the sting anyway," T.K. added. Mr. Miura looked around again to the other officers and they all had small smiles of approval on their faces. Mr. Miura looked back at the two young teens and nodded.

"Okay then. Ayaka, please show these two how to work the radio," he said the the same middle-aged woman that had gotten Tai the Tylenol the night Sora had been taken. She stepped forward, nodded, and motioned for T.K. and Kari to follow her out of the room. Tai looked after them and Kari looked back. He smiled gratefully at her and mouthed a small "Thank you." She flashed a bright smile at her brother and then followed T.K. and Ayaka out of the room. Tai looked back at Mr. Miura when he had cleared his throat for attention once more.

"Now, we know that Mr. Kawamura is armed, so we'll need to wear bulletproof vests... Tai, Satoru, Aya, and I will wear them under our clothes, and the rest of you will wear the black uniform with the vests on the outside," he instructed. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Now let's get ready to go... we leave in half an hour."

~*_*~

Tai's hands shook in anticipation and fear as he attempted to put on his bulletproof vest. Mr. Miura noticed and looked at him sympathetically. "Nervous?"

"Kinda... are you sure this vest thing will stop any bullet?" Tai asked, his voice shaky. Mr. Miura smiled weakly.

"Well, not any bullet, but it'll stop the kind Kawamura has," he explained. Tai sighed in relief.

"Good."

"But the impact from the bullet will probably leave a good-sized bruise, and it'll hurt. Maybe even knock the wind out of you, depending on how close the shot was fired from."

Tai gulped audibly and Mr. Miura laughed. "Don't worry Tai, chances are good that we'll get in and out, with Sora, with no complications," he told him. Tai smiled nervously.

"I'm still nervous about it... but I guess I'll be okay."

"Good. Now let's get you a handgun, just in case, and then we'll get going."

Tai looked blankly after Mr. Miura as he turned his back to him. "W-wait, I get a gun?" Mr. Miura ignored him. "Hey! A gun, you said? I've never even seen a gun up close!"

~*_*~

Tai climbed in the back of the police's black van and sat on one of the benches lining the sides of the rear part of the vehicle. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and fiddled with the ring in the right pocket. Sitting down was hard for him, since the vest restricted the amount of flexibility his torso had. It was uncomfortable and hard to breathe, but he managed... how was unknown to him. Maybe it was the adrenaline that was coursing throughout his body that allowed him to breathe at all.

The other police officers climbed in after him and took their places on the benches. Each was armed with small semi-automatic rifles, most with smaller pistols. Tai looked around at them nervously... he didn't really like the idea of guns, especially when Sora was in danger of a ricocheting bullet hitting her. But he figured it was in her best interest for the officers to have them, just in case something did go wrong.

Tai looked out of the back of the van and saw T.K. and Kari standing outside of it, hand in hand. He waved to them, trying to disguise his fear as excitement. They saw right through it, however, but wished him luck regardless. Tai smiled gratefully at them and then the back doors were closed. Tai leaned his head back against the side of the van as it sped through the streets of Tokyo and sighed, trying to tame his nerves. The other officers looked at him occasionally, a couple of the more pompous men in spite, but most in sympathy.

Takeshi, who since he had met Tai had become his friend, looked at him from across the van and smiled. "This'll go smoothly Tai, don't worry... I don't think Mr. Kawamura will give us any trouble," he told Tai. Tai looked at him and nervously returned the smile, though it disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced and was replaced with a worried frown. "What's wrong?" Takeshi asked, his tone worried. Tai shook his head and laughed nervously.

"It's nothing," he lied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Takeshi looked unconvinced, but probed no further.

~*_*~

The rest of the ride was completed in silence. In all, the trip took at most 20 minutes. Tai looked out of the windows on the back doors of the van and watched as a large, old looking warehouse appeared in them. He felt anger suddenly stir within him, along with longing and anxiety and excitement... he was finally getting his Sora back, but he also had to see this Keisuke jerk again. That made Tai very angry... if Keisuke hurt her, Tai would knock his teeth out. All of them. He was that pissed off.

Mr. Miura looked back at them from his place in the front passenger seat. "Everybody out," he stated simply. The back doors were opened by the two officers at the far ends of the benches in the back of the van. Tai, Takeshi, and the rest of the officers climbed out of the van and met up with six other officers already on the scene. Mr. Miura went up to one of them and shook his hand.

"Everything ready?" he asked. The other officer nodded.

"Yes sir... Mr. Kawamura is getting a bit edgy from our presence here, so I suggest we hurry." Mr. Miura nodded in agreement and signaled for his men to gather round him.

"Okay people, you all know what to do." Mr. Miura picked up his walkie-talkie and spoke clearly into it. "T.K., Kari, you two there?" Their voices rang out over the airwaves as Tai listened.

"We're here," they said simultaneously.

"Good. We're about to start, so keep listening and make sure the whole thing is getting on tape.

"You got it!"

Mr. Miura quietly signaled for Tai and the others that were going inside the building to follow him while the older officer dialed Keisuke Kawamura's cell number into his phone...

~*_*~

Sora gasped in pain as Keisuke ripped the tape from her mouth. "Ow!" she cried. Keisuke looked down at her insanely.

"Okay little girl, you're going to give me what I want and you're going to give it to me now!" he shouted in a high-pitched, desperate voice.

"No, please!"

Keisuke ignored her cries and lowered himself towards her. Sora tried to fend for herself and fight him off... she tried to knee him as she had done many times the past few days, but this time, unlike the others, he pinned her leg down before she reached her target. Sora screamed inside her mind... that was her last chance of keeping him off and out of her. From the lack of food, water, and sleep the past two and a half days, she was extremely fatigued and could hardly even put up a decent fight. She felt dehydrated, sleepy, and hopeless. Painfully Sora squinted her eyes shut and tried to keep the tears from falling.

I'm sorry Tai... she cried out in her thoughts, I couldn't keep him from doing it... please forgive me! I'm so sorry I could keep my promise to you!

Keisuke laughed like a maniac when he saw that Sora was giving up the fight. "Hah! That's a good little girl, be good for Keisuke..." He lowered himself down until he laid on top of her. He felt Sora's entire body tense when his weight was pressed on her, but he paid no heed. He grabbed Sora's face in his hands roughly and pulled her up to meet his lips...

But before he could, his cell phone rang. He cursed loudly and looked back to the phone, rising to a sitting position on top of Sora. Sora opened her eyes wide with hope. Keisuke glared at the phone for a moment, but to Sora's horror, didn't get up. He simply looked back to her and cast her a devilish grin.

"Whoever it is, they can wait." Sora's mind raced for a way to get him to answer the phone. Then it came to her...

"Wait!"

Keisuke looked at her blankly. "What?"

"If you answer the phone, I'll..."

"You'll what?"

Sora lowered her eyes in shame. "I'll have sex with you."

Keisuke's face lit up... disturbingly. "You will!?"

"Yes," she whispered painfully.

"No more attempts to render me sterile?"

Sora normally would've thought this somewhat funny, but considering the situation, didn't even consider cracking a smile. "No."

"YEAH!" Keisuke exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. He jumped up from Sora's abdomen and ran for the phone. "Hello?" he answered, making his way back to Sora and sitting on her once more so she wouldn't get away.

"Mr. Kawamura?"

"Yeah, who the hell are you?"

"This is Officer Hida, and I'd like to speak with you about Ms. Takenouchi." Keisuke's expression turned to one of fury.

"How do you know I have her in here!?" he shouted into the receiver.

"Calm down Mr. Kawamura, we only want to negotiate with you."

Keisuke seemed to calm down a bit and relaxed his stance, but remained furious. "So negotiate," he said, his voice dangerously low.

"Well, do you have any demands, any ransom you want for the young lady?" Keisuke pondered a bit.

"As a matter of fact, yes, there is..."

~*_*~

Tai tiptoed through the back door of the warehouse, closely following Mr. Miura. Takeshi was behind Tai, Aya was behind Takeshi, and Satoru was behind her. Mr. Miura reached a door that led into the room where Keisuke and Sora were. He looked behind him at Tai and the others, took a deep breath, and opened the door without a sound. He started in, but suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked back at Tai again...

"Tai, remember... whatever you see, don't rush in. We have to take him by surprise." Tai nodded, not really sure why Mr. Miura had stopped to tell him that. He wasn't planning on doing anything to endanger Sora. Mr. Miura looked at him a moment longer, then turned and entered the room, signaling for Tai and the others to follow.

The part of the room they came in was dim, the light blocked by old, long shut down machinery. The five crouched behind the machinery and listened to Keisuke yell at the police over the phone. Mr. Miura cautiously stuck his head out from behind the machines and saw Keisuke facing away from him, sitting atop of Sora. He grimaced, knowing Tai would probably knock the guy's head in once he saw him.

Mr. Miura brought his head back into the shadows. "He's facing away from us. We have to sneak up on him so Ms. Takenouchi won't be harmed..."

As Mr. Miura was saying this, however, Tai was peeking out to catch a glimpse of Sora. He looked around and saw only Keisuke sitting on the floor talking on the phone. Where is she? he wondered silently. His chocolate brown eyes darted around wildly in search of his lost love... he was determined to take her back. His eyes suddenly shot back to Keisuke, and he noticed this time that he was sitting on something... something with red hair and wearing a blue dress...

"GET OFF OF HER NOW!!!!!" he roared, running out of the darkness and taking off at a sprint towards Keisuke. Mr. Miura turned at Tai's sudden outburst in shock.

"Well... so much for the element of surprise," he muttered.

~o.O~

Officer Hida heard Tai's shout over the cell phone. "I thought they were gonna sneak in," he said questioningly to a fellow officer nearby, who merely shrugged.

~o.O~

Kari and T.K. heard Tai over the radio transmission. "Weren't they going to surprise the guy?" T.K. asked. Kari shrugged.

"Well, my brother's never been known to sneak in," she said with a grin. T.K. laughed and wrapped his arms around Kari from behind.

"I don't blame him... I'd barge in like that if it were you in there." Kari smiled and turned in T.K.'s arms to kiss him.

~x_x~

Keisuke and Sora looked to Tai in shock as he rushed towards them. "Tai!" Sora cried happily. Tai stopped in his tracks about 5 feet from Sora and Keisuke and smiled in great relief and love for her. Keisuke suddenly withdrew his gun and pointed it down at Sora. She gasped in fear as she looked into the barrel of the pistol... every muscle in her body tensed as she whimpered in fear. Tai began forward again, but Keisuke waved the gun carelessly in Sora's face and he stopped.

"Ah-ah-ah!!" he chided, completely deranged at this point.

~*.*~

"Shouldn't we get in there and help him?" Takeshi hissed to Mr. Miura, the four of them still back in the corner.

"No," Mr. Miura hissed back, "if we burst in, Mr. Kawamura could panic and shoot Sora or Tai." Takeshi grunted his disagreement, but stayed where he was.

~*.*~

"Don't come over here," Keisuke warned, his demented nature showing through, "or I swear to God, I'll kill her!"

"Don't swear to God, especially if you don't know Him," Tai growled. Keisuke looked confused at Tai's reply, but quickly pushed it aside. He looked down at Sora and put his finger on the trigger.

"It was great while it lasted, but now it's time for you to say goodbye," he said. He flexed his finger slowly to pull the trigger, and Sora shut her eyes and cried out...

"WAIT!" Tai yelled. Keisuke looked up to Tai in annoyance.

"What the hell do you want, man?" he whined.

"Don't do it... please, don't kill her..."

"WHY the HELL NOT?" Keisuke paused and glared at Tai. "Give me one good f-ing reason why I shouldn't blow her away right now!"

"Because-" Tai began. His mind was racing. He fumbled his words as he tried to think of just one reason Sora should live. He was gesturing wildly as he sputtered out beginnings of sentences... there were so many reason why Sora should live... how could he choose just one?

Sora turned her head as best she could and looked at him as he stammered. Please Tai, say something before he loses his patience!

Keisuke was growing edgy. "SO WHAT'S THE F-ING REASON!?" he roared.

Tai froze with his arms in midair and looked in shock at Keisuke. His eyes then traveled slowly to gaze at Sora. He could see the tears collecting in her eyes. Just say it Tai, he told himself. Tai's expression turned to one that looked saddened, or desperate, and he dropped his arms limply at his sides. He took a deep breath, his eyes locked with Sora's...

"Because I love her."

Sora seemed surprised for the moment, but Keisuke grew very angry. "NO! You can't love her, she said she'd have sex with me if I answered the phone!!!!" he yelled, further proving how over the edge he was at the moment. He suddenly brought the gun away from Sora's face and pulled the trigger...

A loud bang sounded. Sora screamed...

Keisuke laughed maniacally...

and Tai fell backwards to the ground.

"TAI!!!" Sora screamed when she saw Tai fall. Mr. Miura stepped out from the shadows, but before he could do anything, a shot rang out from behind him and struck Keisuke in the right shoulder. The force from the shot caused Keisuke to fly off of Sora. As soon as she realized he was off she rushed to Tai's side.

Aya and Satoru ran forward to disarm and arrest Keisuke as Mr. Miura looked to the source of the shot, surprised beyond words. He saw Takeshi standing straight, his gun steady and smoking, his face set in a look of anger and revenge. Takeshi slowly lowered his gun, a smirk appearing on his face at the same rate the gun returned to his side. "I've always been a good shot," he said. Mr. Miura chuckled and the two went to help Aya and Satoru with Keisuke.

Meanwhile, Sora knelt at Tai's side and held his head up. "Tai, oh God!" she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. Tai coughed from the force of the bullet and weakly sat up.

"Man..." he muttered painfully, "when Mr. Miura said that would hurt, he wasn't kidding." Sora hastily unzipped Tai's jacket and lifted up his shirt, meaning to stop whatever bleeding there was, but what she found surprised her and her tears ceased.

"Tai..." she said, confused, "I don't recall you being black."

Tai laughed and lifted his shirt up to his neck, revealing a squashed bulled embedded in the bulletproof vest he was wearing. "So.. you're not..." Sora stammered.

"No, I'm not dead," Tai smiled.

"Oh thank God!" Sora said, her breath rushing out of her, and she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in the hollow of his shoulder. Tai laughed quietly and returned the embrace. He stroked her hair tenderly as she hugged him as if she never wanted to let go.

"I love you Sora," he whispered to her.

"I love you too, Tai," she whispered back, her voice thick with emotion. Tai shook his head and pulled away from Sora, gently holding her shoulders.

"No, you don't understand..."

Sora looked quizzically at him.

"...I love you."

Sora laughed. "I know, I love you too," she mimicked. Tai frowned and furiously shook his head again. He took the ring out of his pocket and thrust it in front of Sora's face. Her jaw dropped as she recognized it as the ring she had seen when jewelry shopping with Tai once. He hastily took the ring and slid it on her finger... it was a perfect fit.

"No Sora, you don't understand! I lo-mmph..."

Tai was cut off when Sora exasperatedly lunged forward and pressed her lips onto his. His eyes widened, then slowly closed as he was lost in the feeling of her lips against his. He reached up with one hand and caressed her cheek lovingly.

After they had stopped the bleeding from Keisuke's gunshot wound as best they could and handcuffed him, Mr. Miura and the others looked at Tai and Sora and smiled. "Who didn't see that coming?" Takeshi smirked.

Tai finally broke the kiss, though regrettably. "So you'll marry me?" he asked hopefully. Sora smiled through happy tears as she nodded.

"You got me the ring, didn't you?" she laughed. Tai laughed with joy as he met her lips once again.

~^_^~

A/N: But wait! It's not over! There's an epilogue! Go, go! On with you! R&R, I hope you guys liked this... but it's not over yet! Keep going! ^_^

Kari :)