looking back & going forward

nightflame: *thinking* hmm I hadn't expected this story to be this long, but I keep thinking up ideas for this story. I think I'm watching too many korean dramas. So many ideas inspired by them. But that's a good thing, right taichi? *looks down*

taichi: *on the ground* I'm not sure. Why don't you come down here and I'll tell you what I think?

nightflame: erm, no. you still want to kill me don't you? Taichi, don't worry!! THIS IS NOT A SORATO!

taichi: *grumbling* it better not be…

nightflame: I'm quite proud of this story thus far, it seems to be quite unique thus far, no? or do I need to read more fanfiction?

taichi: *silent*

nightflame: uhm, okay. Anyway, on with the 7th chapter! There are a LOT of flashbacks in this one. And let's see…*checks phone messages* nope, no calls from toei offering to give me the rights to digimon. Dang. Oh yea, this chapter starts off after episode 50, meaning a long time after the wedding and aftermath…and another thing…I don't own "Don't Wanna Cry" by Mariah Carey.

(~*~) denotes flashback

Chapter 7: looking back & going forward

"Rika!! Do your homework!! Turn off that music!" a baritone voice rang out. The only response was the radio being turned on even louder. Sora rolled her eyes as she mechanically slid her hands into the soapy water. Another one had come and gone. Had it really been 25 years since the final showdown? It was good to see everyone.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Aww why not?"

Sora glanced over to see her son complaining to his father. Rika tugged at her sleeve. "I'll take care of him" Sora smiled as Biyomon repeated the same promise. Sora looked around at the others gathered around the small grove. She froze as she watched one individual with his child.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora shook her head. 'Get over it. That chapter of your life is over. Stop thinking about it' Sora sighed. She had settled into married life with Yamato. After the wedding, she had told Yamato about her situation. Yamato had proposed to her a couple weeks later. She had accepted. They had a small quiet ceremony, with just close family, friends, and digimon. That was now almost 10 years ago. Sora sighed. A couple months after their wedding, Rika had been born. Four years, after that, she had another child, a baby boy that she named Li. Now, he was 6. Sora shook her head, marveling at how fast time had gone by. Everyone had changed so much. Strangely enough, all of them now had children of their own. Sora's eyes softened as she thought of one child.

~*~*~*~*~*~

A young boy, around 4 or 5 years of age, looked up with pleading eyes. Sora grinned. He had inherited his father's eyes and grin, but had his mother's nose. Other than that, he was an exact duplicate of his father at that age. The small boy looked at her silently, then gave her an adorable grin before snatching a couple apple slices and running off to his father. Sora laughed slightly, and watched his retreating form as he ran up and offered Taichi a slice of his treasure.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora let her thoughts wander idly as she set the coffee machine. A year after she and Yamato had married, Taichi had proposed to Catherine. Sora remembered the day she heard about it; it was hard working that day. In the end, she ignored the hollow feeling within her chest and had even called to congratulate them. After all, she was over Taichi, and she was glad that he was continuing with his life as well. Continuing on with life…that reminded her of Hikari and Takeru. It had come as a shock to all the digidestined when the two had broken up. Hikari had gone abroad to the U.S.A. for her senior year of college. She and Takeru had planned to wed after they graduated. When she came back, they were all at the airport, expecting souvenirs from her trip. Instead, she brought a month-old baby. Takeru had been heartbroken and angry, breaking off their relationship. After a while, he ended up marrying another girl that he had met in college. Sora had tried to talk to her little brother, but to no avail. She still remembered that conversation.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Sora, why are you being so difficult?"

"Because Takeru!! You don't love her!!" Sora cried out, exasperated. "I can tell that you still love Hikari. I know you're hurt and there seems to be too many obstacles in the way, but you have to listen to your heart!"

"You're one to talk" he spat back at her. "Who are you to tell me to listen to my heart when you can't even do the same?" the normally calm Takeru glared at her, livid. "If you had, we wouldn't be related!"

Sora froze, shocked. An image of a young man flew into her head. Quickly, she shook her head as if to shake the image out. "Ta…Takeru, I…I…"

"Look Sora" he interrupted her. "I'm sorry. That was a low blow. Hika…she doesn't…she showed me what she thought of our relationship when she came back" Sora opened her mouth to protest but Takeru cut her off. "I'm getting married next weekend, Sora. And I'd really like it if you could just support me"

Sora stared at Takeru for a second before she gave him a gentle hug. "I'm sorry too little brother. I'll try to be supportive"

~*~*~*~*~*~

In the end, Sora had been right. Takeru and his wife had one child before they divorced. The divorce had been quick, and Takeru and Hikari had started to slowly rebuild what they had lost. They were once again, the lovebirds of the group; only this time, no "goggle-boy" to interrupt them. Sora smiled as she thought of Daisuke. He had opened that noodle cart of his, but even now, 25 years later, he was as childish as ever and still able to make her smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey Sora, when do we eat?" Daisuke walked up to her. Sora smiled and teasingly replied, "I don't know, where are the noodles you were supposed to bring?"

"What? Uhhh, uhmm, errr" Daisuke stuttered, confused. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Sora, who was trying to hold back her laughter. "I wasn't supposed to bring any noodles, was I?" Sora simply giggled. Daisuke's face broke out into a smile. "Don't scare me like that! So how are you and Yamato doing? How's the fashion business?"

"The fashion business is difficult, but I think my new line will turn out really well" she answered, avoiding the other question. "The newest Takenouchi line will be to die for" She smiled, then confessed. "I had Mimi help me a bit too. She still hasn't lost her fashion sense" Daisuke laughed.

"I can't wait. Being your friend, I do get some free clothes, right" he nudged her playfully.

"In your dreams" she retorted. Daisuke gave her a mock hurt look. "Well, maybe I'll get you a pair of socks" she winked.

"I can't wait" was his reply. "Hey I have a question. How come your line is the Takenouchi line, and not Ishida? My son brought that up and I had to say that I didn't know"

"Uhh well, you know. I started designing before we got married" she busied herself by arranging the plates of food. "And I didn't want to change the name after my first line came out"

"I see" he appeared to be thinking. "How are you and Yamato anyway? Do you and Taichi still talk?"

"We're…fine. We're doing alright" she avoided his eyes as she finished arranging the food. Ignoring the last question, she turned and gave him a fake smile. "Alright, all done, why don't you get to others and tell them it's time to eat? Mimi cooked most of the food, so it's really good"

"Yes!! Food!" he cried, punching the air like he was 10 years old again. Sora smiled. "HEY GUYS!" he yelled. "FOOD'S ON!" As the adults made their way to the table, all the children continued playing tag. " KIDS!" Daisuke yelled. "FOOD!" the kids continued to play. "AUNT MIMI COOKED IT!" he finally screamed. The adults laughingly stood out of the way, some teasing Mimi as the pack of kids went flying toward the table.

~*~*~*~

Sora smiled fondly as she reminisced about old times. Daisuke had been through a lot; it had been hard on him to accept Hikari and Takeru for a second time. He had been angry with Takeru for hurting Hikari after the incident, but the two had exchanged both words and blows before they came to an understanding. The two were now so close. Their relationship reminded her of Yamato and Taichi's. She shook her head. Everything. Even after 10 years, everything came back to Taichi.

~*~*~*~

Sora laughed along with the other adults as they exchanged memories, but secretly, she watched Taichi. He had changed so much. He had finished college and became the first ambassador to the digital world, along with Agumon. Sora's heart swelled with pride whenever she saw him on TV giving interviews. He had matured greatly, thanks to the many hardships he dealt with in his life. After he and Catherine had the first child, he had his first hardship as ambassador to the digital world. A bunch of renegade digimon had started a small war with the inhabitants of a town in New York. It seemed like peace between both worlds would not be possible, but Taichi stepped in and had smoothed it over. The digidestined had planned to throw a party in honor of his first victory, however, it was marred with tragedy. Just weeks before the party, Catherine died unexpectedly. She had been hit by a drunk driver, who didn't see her as she crossed the street. Taichi had been heartbroken, yet had shown his courage once again, but staying strong for his son, who was only 9 months old at the time.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Unbeknown to her, Sora's heartbeat rose slightly every time she thought of Taichi. She sat at the table, sipping her coffee. Abruptly, she was jerked out of her thoughts as she heard Yamato's voice call out, once more. "RIKA! TURN OFF THAT RADIO! YOU CAN'T STUDY AND LISTEN TO THE RADIO AT THE SAME TIME!" Sora sighed as she heard her daughter scream out her reply. "YES I CAN!!" Yamato came down the stairs, shaking his blonde hair in disgust. "Talk to your daughter" Sora raised an eyebrow. "She won't listen to me" As if to back him up, Sora heard the radio turned on even louder, just loud enough for her to hear the lyrics of the song. "See?" he said exasperated.

"I doubt she'd listen to me anymore than you" was her quiet response. Yamato didn't answer. Instead, he simply went and poured himself a cup of coffee and collapsed into the chair across from her. The two simply sat there. Filling the silence was the lyrics of the song. Sora listened quietly.

Once again we sit in silence

After all is said and done

Only emptiness inside us

Baby, look what we've become

We can make a million promises

But we still won't change

It isn't right to stay together

When you only bring each other pain

I don't wanna cry

Don't wanna cry

Nothing in the world

Could take us back

To where we used to be

Though I've given you my heart and soul

I must find a way of letting go

'Cause baby, I don't wanna cry

Sora listened quietly to the lyrics of the song. It was so ironic; it seemed to match the two of them exactly. She looked over at Yamato, who also seemed to be listening and thinking to the lyrics as well.

Too far apart to bridge the distance

But something keeps us hanging on and on

Pretending not to know the difference

Denying what we had is gone

Every moment we're together

It's just breaking me down

I know we swore it was forever

But it hurts too much to stay around

Yamato looked up at Sora. In the background, he could hear the chorus being sung. He had to say something. "Sora…"

All the magic's gone

There's just a shadow of a memory

Something just went wrong

We can't go on make-believing

on make-believing…

Sora looked up at him as he called her name. In her mind, two lines kept repeating over and over. 'Though I've given you my heart and soul, I must find a way of letting go' She watched Yamato's mouth as the words came tumbling out. "Sora…I think we should…" he paused. Silently, she lifted her eyes to his. "We have to stop fooling ourselves"

Sora looked at him expressionless. Should she agree? Deny it? Instead she sat there, waiting for Yamato to continue.

"You don't love me Sora. And I…I fell out of love when I realized that you could never love me" Sora blinked. "Yamato…what are you saying?" The words came out instinctively. "Of course I love you…I always have"

Yamato shook his head. "I'm sorry Sora. I haven't been much of a friend. If I had, maybe I would have realized what we were doing wouldn't work…that it wasn't right. You don't love me Sora. And I've just been taking you away from who you really do love" Sora stared at him. A million thoughts ran through her head, all with one single common thread - Taichi. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. Instead, Yamato just continued on. "We have to stop denying it Sora. What we had when we were teenagers…it's gone. Sora, we got married for the wrong reasons"

I don't wanna cry

Don't wanna cry

Nothing in the world

Could take us back

To where we used to be

Though I've given you my heart and soul

Said I've given you my heart and soul

I must find a way of letting go

'Cause baby, I don't wanna cry

Sora blinked. She could feel tears at the corners of her eyes. She had failed. What kind of Guardian of Love was she? She noticed Yamato just sitting there, tightly holding onto his cup of coffee, staring at the table. She had to say something. "Yamato" He looked up. "I will always love you, but…not in the way a wife should love a husband. Yamato…I'm…I'm so sorry" She closed her eyes and felt as two teardrops fell onto her hand.

"Don't be sorry Sora. It's…it's okay. It's the same for both of us. I will always love you too, but not in the way that a husband should love his wife" Yamato stood up and walked over to Sora. He hugged her lightly. "Go to him Sora. He's still waiting, although he may not realized it himself. Tell him I'm sorry for being such a lousy best friend for the last 10 years" He gave her a light peck on the cheek. "Goodbye Sora" With that, he straightened up and walked out of the room. Sora stared silently at the wall as the last strains of the song could be heard over the sound of the front door shutting.

I don't wanna cry…

I don't wanna…cry…

nightflame: hmm…the successful breakup of their marriage. Happy Taichi?

taichi: now what?

nightflame: *now back on the ground* now, I have to decide whether to let our favorite couple just join together or throw more roadblocks.

taichi: what???

nightflame: hey I'm trying to make this story realistic. Or…semi-realistic…well, close enough to reality as I can get. And people don't always just get right together. But then again, I have put you and Sora through a lot. Ya know, if people review, I write better…^_^ *hint*hint* anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It might be a while before I update again; I have to move all my stuff to my college dorm in New York. So let's make a deal. You review, and I write. Okay? Great!