A/N: Okay, after much delay, I am FINALLY back. First I was out of the
country on vacation, without electricity. Usually, this doesn't bother me,
but we DO have a generator so Grandpa can use his laptop, but can I use it?
Noooo! Not even to check my mail! Not that I got any... Well, anyway I return
home and what do I discover? Fanfiction is down! And just now my uploading
thingy has decided to work for me! *sigh* Okay, to get back on track, this
story came to me while I was at my sister's soccer game. (Do you know how
cute six- and seven-year-olds are? The play so hard!) And it sort of grew out
of an "interesting" situation involving the ref?
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, my sister's soccer team, or the stupid chair
my mom was sitting in. That said, on with the fic!
"What Are YOU Doing Here?"
Tai focused on the scenery outside the car window. He was unhappy because he
was being forced to go to his sister's soccer game. "Why?" was the question;
Kari was NOT the "go-out-and-play-sports" type. This new development seemed
odd to Tai, but maybe he was overreacting. He was probably just thinking of
her as a sickly four-year-old again.
He looked back on his sister, and smiled. She sat quietly, holding a soccer
ball on her lap. The car stopped and she looked at Tai, winking. They climbed
out of the car and began unloading. Tai picked up chairs for him and his mom.
Kari struggled to carry her soccer ball and water bottle in her
eight-year-old arms. Quickly, they walked across the parking lot. When they
reached the field, Mrs. Kamiya stopped suddenly.
"Debbie? What are you doing here?" She called to Ms. Takenouchi. Deborah
Takenouchi turned and waved.
"Hi Jodi! I was bringing Sora some supper!" Tai looked surprised.
"But I thought she quit! And anyway, even if she was playing, wouldn't she
play for the school team? I mean, she got too good for the rec league, ages
ago!" he babbled. Debbie laughed.
"She isn't playing, she's a ref."
"A ref? As in a referee? As in she...refs?"
"Yeah." Answered Debbie, worriedly. There always was something about Tai that
scared her.
"What age group does Sora ref?" asked Kari.
"Seven to Nine, co-ed." Kari grinned.
"That's my group! Tai, maybe she'll ref my game. Then you could say hi, and
see if she got your e-mail!" Tai blushed slightly.
"Yeah..." he said, scuffing his shoe along the grass.
"Well, it was nice seeing you Debbie, but we really have to go." They
continued on their way to the field. When they got there, Kari sprinted over
to meet her friends while Tai and his mom set up the chairs. After a few
minutes of sitting quietly, Mrs. Kamiya?s eyes lit up.
"Richard!" she called, "Over here!" The man, with two blonde headed boys
following him, smirked and walked over.
"Jodi! What are you doing here?"
"Actually, Richard, I could ask you the same question."
"Just taking T.K. to his soccer game."
"Oh, Kari?s is in about ten minutes."
"Really? Is she on this field?"
"Well, yes. Why?" Mrs. Kamiya said.
"How interesting, T.K.?s is too. I guess they?re playing each other!"
"You mean I?m against Kari?" piped up little T.K. "Wow!" He ran off to meet
up with his teammates. Matt sat down on the grass next to Tai. They rolled
their eyes while their parents spoke about what was going on lately. Matt lay
back and rested. Last night he and T.K. had returned from their Grandma?s
house. With all the traffic it was past midnight when they?d returned.
"So," Matt said with his eyes closed, "did you and Sora make up?"
"Yeah. Oh! And speaking of Sora, guess what I found out?"
"She?s dating Izzy?"
"NO! At least, she?d better not be! Uh, not that I care or anything!"
"Chill Tai, I was messing with your head. But seriously, I have no idea. What
did you find out?"
"She refs Kari and T.K.?s age group." Matt shot straight up.
"You mean that there is a chance, however remote it may be, that I could see
Sora? Today? HERE?"
"Yeah, weird huh?"
"Weird, but awesome!" Tai eyed his friend strangely.
"You like her don?t you?" he asked, a little hurt.
"Well yeah, Tai." Tai felt betrayed, but tried to keep his head. Matt saw his
friend?s reaction and immediately regretted his words. "Can you really blame
us, Tai? She?s great! But she?s known you for so long, it?s not like I have
much of a chance."
"Don?t be that way Matt. She probably thinks of me as a brother or something.
I?d have better luck with Mimi, but man, that girl annoys the heck out of
me!" Matt laughed.
"And Joe?d probably kill you! You know what he thinks of her?" They both
through back their heads and laughed uproariously. At a sleepover a few weeks
ago, Joe had revealed some things about himself that nobody would?ve guessed.
A shadow fell over them, and they both looked up. It was Sora, tired and
sweaty, giving them a death glare.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, "Stalking me?"
"No, Sora," said Tai, "I only just found out about you reffing today. Are you
doing this game?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, it?s T.K. versus Kari. Good luck," said Matt.
"Dear lord, with you two around I?ll need it!" She said before stepping out
onto the field and blowing her whistle. The kids scampered up to their
positions, and the game began. Though they were supposed to be cheering on
their younger siblings, neither boy could take their eyes off Sora. Despite
her less than attractive appearance, she looked rather pretty, sprinting up
and down the field, blowing her whistle occasionally. The score moved slowly
and by the end of the first quarter it was, 1 to 1. T.K. was beaming because
he had been the one to tie up the score.
Sora took a swig from her water bottle and looked in Tai and Matt?s
direction. They both looked so cute, and she knew it would lead to trouble.
For a long time she?d known their feelings for her, but she was unsure of her
own. They kept changing, swirling like a pinwheel, constantly changing. She?d
have to decide sooner or later, but she didn?t want to hurt either of them.
It was all just too confusing.
Walking back onto the field, Sora blew the whistle, and the game started
gain. All was going well until raindrops began to fall down. It quickly
picked up, and the players were obviously unhappy. Checking her watch, Sora
saw that the quarter had only one more minute. She let them play, and stopped
them for half time. The kids trooped back to the sidelines, and took refuge
under some low hanging trees.
Back on the other set of sidelines, things had taken an interesting turn.
Unhappy at her lack of umbrellas, Mrs. Kamiya had stood up and held her chair
over her head. She looked at her son, who seemed perfectly happy standing in
the rain. He and Matt seemed obviously preoccupied.
"Do you think she realizes?" whispered Matt.
"How thin the shirt is? I hope not!" answered Tai.
"I do love the rain!" But as suddenly as it had come, the downpour stopped,
and Sora called the teams back out. They played the third quarter quite well.
As it turned out, T.K. was a rather good midfielder, and Kari was a
practically impenetrable goalie. A few times, T.K. had gone to score, but was
stopped in his tracks by the bearer of Light. Those moments had caused Matt
and Tai to tense, but they decided that it wasn?t so bad. Worse case scenario
was that the two would be on the field at the same time, and one would trip
the other. Then the two would fall in a mass of tangled panting bodies. Of
course, not everybody played the way Sora and Tai used too, so once again, it
seemed the two were overreacting.
The game slipped into the final quarter, and was still tied, but now 3 to 3.
The kids seemed to realize this, and became much more competitive. Sora found
herself calling a few fouls that SHE remembered making. Was it really that
long ago that she and Tai had been that unstoppable force at soccer camp? Oh
well, there was no time for reminiscing, those kids were getting wild.
Suddenly, the ball went out of bounds, in Tai and Matt?s direction; the
opposite side of the field
"Could you get that for me?" she called. Tai and Matt looked at each other,
then broke into a mad dash.
"What are you doing?" yelled Tai; "she was looking at me!"
"No man she was looking at ME!"
"Sure, Matt, sure!"
"Shut up Tai, don?t be so thick-skulled!"
"Thick-skulled?" Why I..." The two completely forgot about the soccer ball
and began to beat each other up. In classic Tai and Matt style, punches led
two wrestling, and before they knew it, they were on the field. T.K. and Kari
stood shocked. Mrs. Kamiya and Mr. Ishida looked on, mortified. Sora just
rolled her eyes, and pulled them apart.
"Will you two EVER grow up? It?s JUST a soccer ball! Not the fate of the
world! Not the well being of your siblings! Not the needs of the whole team!
Not a digimon eating the internet! A SOCCER BALL!!! You two never CEASE to
amaze me! Now get off the field!" The two trudged back, embarassed. Though
there were still five minutes left in the game, they already knew who?d won.
Not the cool one. Not the brave one. Instead it was the one person who could
start and end such a fight: the referee.
Okay, I screwed up the ending, but I wasn?t sure how to end it anyway. Part
of me was screamin, TAIORA! But that wouldn't be fair to all the Sorato-ians
out there. So, what do you think? And remember, flames will be used to warm
everybody up after that cloud burst!
country on vacation, without electricity. Usually, this doesn't bother me,
but we DO have a generator so Grandpa can use his laptop, but can I use it?
Noooo! Not even to check my mail! Not that I got any... Well, anyway I return
home and what do I discover? Fanfiction is down! And just now my uploading
thingy has decided to work for me! *sigh* Okay, to get back on track, this
story came to me while I was at my sister's soccer game. (Do you know how
cute six- and seven-year-olds are? The play so hard!) And it sort of grew out
of an "interesting" situation involving the ref?
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, my sister's soccer team, or the stupid chair
my mom was sitting in. That said, on with the fic!
"What Are YOU Doing Here?"
Tai focused on the scenery outside the car window. He was unhappy because he
was being forced to go to his sister's soccer game. "Why?" was the question;
Kari was NOT the "go-out-and-play-sports" type. This new development seemed
odd to Tai, but maybe he was overreacting. He was probably just thinking of
her as a sickly four-year-old again.
He looked back on his sister, and smiled. She sat quietly, holding a soccer
ball on her lap. The car stopped and she looked at Tai, winking. They climbed
out of the car and began unloading. Tai picked up chairs for him and his mom.
Kari struggled to carry her soccer ball and water bottle in her
eight-year-old arms. Quickly, they walked across the parking lot. When they
reached the field, Mrs. Kamiya stopped suddenly.
"Debbie? What are you doing here?" She called to Ms. Takenouchi. Deborah
Takenouchi turned and waved.
"Hi Jodi! I was bringing Sora some supper!" Tai looked surprised.
"But I thought she quit! And anyway, even if she was playing, wouldn't she
play for the school team? I mean, she got too good for the rec league, ages
ago!" he babbled. Debbie laughed.
"She isn't playing, she's a ref."
"A ref? As in a referee? As in she...refs?"
"Yeah." Answered Debbie, worriedly. There always was something about Tai that
scared her.
"What age group does Sora ref?" asked Kari.
"Seven to Nine, co-ed." Kari grinned.
"That's my group! Tai, maybe she'll ref my game. Then you could say hi, and
see if she got your e-mail!" Tai blushed slightly.
"Yeah..." he said, scuffing his shoe along the grass.
"Well, it was nice seeing you Debbie, but we really have to go." They
continued on their way to the field. When they got there, Kari sprinted over
to meet her friends while Tai and his mom set up the chairs. After a few
minutes of sitting quietly, Mrs. Kamiya?s eyes lit up.
"Richard!" she called, "Over here!" The man, with two blonde headed boys
following him, smirked and walked over.
"Jodi! What are you doing here?"
"Actually, Richard, I could ask you the same question."
"Just taking T.K. to his soccer game."
"Oh, Kari?s is in about ten minutes."
"Really? Is she on this field?"
"Well, yes. Why?" Mrs. Kamiya said.
"How interesting, T.K.?s is too. I guess they?re playing each other!"
"You mean I?m against Kari?" piped up little T.K. "Wow!" He ran off to meet
up with his teammates. Matt sat down on the grass next to Tai. They rolled
their eyes while their parents spoke about what was going on lately. Matt lay
back and rested. Last night he and T.K. had returned from their Grandma?s
house. With all the traffic it was past midnight when they?d returned.
"So," Matt said with his eyes closed, "did you and Sora make up?"
"Yeah. Oh! And speaking of Sora, guess what I found out?"
"She?s dating Izzy?"
"NO! At least, she?d better not be! Uh, not that I care or anything!"
"Chill Tai, I was messing with your head. But seriously, I have no idea. What
did you find out?"
"She refs Kari and T.K.?s age group." Matt shot straight up.
"You mean that there is a chance, however remote it may be, that I could see
Sora? Today? HERE?"
"Yeah, weird huh?"
"Weird, but awesome!" Tai eyed his friend strangely.
"You like her don?t you?" he asked, a little hurt.
"Well yeah, Tai." Tai felt betrayed, but tried to keep his head. Matt saw his
friend?s reaction and immediately regretted his words. "Can you really blame
us, Tai? She?s great! But she?s known you for so long, it?s not like I have
much of a chance."
"Don?t be that way Matt. She probably thinks of me as a brother or something.
I?d have better luck with Mimi, but man, that girl annoys the heck out of
me!" Matt laughed.
"And Joe?d probably kill you! You know what he thinks of her?" They both
through back their heads and laughed uproariously. At a sleepover a few weeks
ago, Joe had revealed some things about himself that nobody would?ve guessed.
A shadow fell over them, and they both looked up. It was Sora, tired and
sweaty, giving them a death glare.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, "Stalking me?"
"No, Sora," said Tai, "I only just found out about you reffing today. Are you
doing this game?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, it?s T.K. versus Kari. Good luck," said Matt.
"Dear lord, with you two around I?ll need it!" She said before stepping out
onto the field and blowing her whistle. The kids scampered up to their
positions, and the game began. Though they were supposed to be cheering on
their younger siblings, neither boy could take their eyes off Sora. Despite
her less than attractive appearance, she looked rather pretty, sprinting up
and down the field, blowing her whistle occasionally. The score moved slowly
and by the end of the first quarter it was, 1 to 1. T.K. was beaming because
he had been the one to tie up the score.
Sora took a swig from her water bottle and looked in Tai and Matt?s
direction. They both looked so cute, and she knew it would lead to trouble.
For a long time she?d known their feelings for her, but she was unsure of her
own. They kept changing, swirling like a pinwheel, constantly changing. She?d
have to decide sooner or later, but she didn?t want to hurt either of them.
It was all just too confusing.
Walking back onto the field, Sora blew the whistle, and the game started
gain. All was going well until raindrops began to fall down. It quickly
picked up, and the players were obviously unhappy. Checking her watch, Sora
saw that the quarter had only one more minute. She let them play, and stopped
them for half time. The kids trooped back to the sidelines, and took refuge
under some low hanging trees.
Back on the other set of sidelines, things had taken an interesting turn.
Unhappy at her lack of umbrellas, Mrs. Kamiya had stood up and held her chair
over her head. She looked at her son, who seemed perfectly happy standing in
the rain. He and Matt seemed obviously preoccupied.
"Do you think she realizes?" whispered Matt.
"How thin the shirt is? I hope not!" answered Tai.
"I do love the rain!" But as suddenly as it had come, the downpour stopped,
and Sora called the teams back out. They played the third quarter quite well.
As it turned out, T.K. was a rather good midfielder, and Kari was a
practically impenetrable goalie. A few times, T.K. had gone to score, but was
stopped in his tracks by the bearer of Light. Those moments had caused Matt
and Tai to tense, but they decided that it wasn?t so bad. Worse case scenario
was that the two would be on the field at the same time, and one would trip
the other. Then the two would fall in a mass of tangled panting bodies. Of
course, not everybody played the way Sora and Tai used too, so once again, it
seemed the two were overreacting.
The game slipped into the final quarter, and was still tied, but now 3 to 3.
The kids seemed to realize this, and became much more competitive. Sora found
herself calling a few fouls that SHE remembered making. Was it really that
long ago that she and Tai had been that unstoppable force at soccer camp? Oh
well, there was no time for reminiscing, those kids were getting wild.
Suddenly, the ball went out of bounds, in Tai and Matt?s direction; the
opposite side of the field
"Could you get that for me?" she called. Tai and Matt looked at each other,
then broke into a mad dash.
"What are you doing?" yelled Tai; "she was looking at me!"
"No man she was looking at ME!"
"Sure, Matt, sure!"
"Shut up Tai, don?t be so thick-skulled!"
"Thick-skulled?" Why I..." The two completely forgot about the soccer ball
and began to beat each other up. In classic Tai and Matt style, punches led
two wrestling, and before they knew it, they were on the field. T.K. and Kari
stood shocked. Mrs. Kamiya and Mr. Ishida looked on, mortified. Sora just
rolled her eyes, and pulled them apart.
"Will you two EVER grow up? It?s JUST a soccer ball! Not the fate of the
world! Not the well being of your siblings! Not the needs of the whole team!
Not a digimon eating the internet! A SOCCER BALL!!! You two never CEASE to
amaze me! Now get off the field!" The two trudged back, embarassed. Though
there were still five minutes left in the game, they already knew who?d won.
Not the cool one. Not the brave one. Instead it was the one person who could
start and end such a fight: the referee.
Okay, I screwed up the ending, but I wasn?t sure how to end it anyway. Part
of me was screamin, TAIORA! But that wouldn't be fair to all the Sorato-ians
out there. So, what do you think? And remember, flames will be used to warm
everybody up after that cloud burst!