Title: Raindrops Between Friends
Author: CHAx2
Rated: PG
Written: October 2001
E-Mail: animeniacx2713@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/animeniacx2713
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*This is gonna be a short story, but not THAT short. So I hope ya'll like it, it's about Sora, Tai, and Matt. You can take it from here.

*Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon... but when's the new movie comin' out?



Raindrops Between Friends

"Come on Tai, hurry up," said the little 8 years old girl running towards the ice cream truck.

"Sora, wait up," Tai shouted after her.

Sora stopped and turned around an smiled at Tai and exclaimed, "You know what Tai, for a boy, you're not that fast."

Tai huffed as he finally caught up to her. "Why'd you stop chasing the ice cream truck? I thought you really wanted that sundae?" Tai wondered.

"Well, you didn't have to come with me, you know. You could've stayed at the soccer field and played soccer with the rest of them," Sora proclaimed.

"Well, I wanted to go with you... I mean, isn't that what friends are for?" Tai said.

"Well I stopped because you were having so much trouble keeping up with me... is THAT what friends are for?"

"Yeah, but..."

"I mean, we could play soccer anytime... and you know I'd beat you."

Tai stopped trying to stay in their conversation with a comeback, instead he just smiled at her and stated, "We'll stay friends forever!"

Sora smiled back at him and repeated, "Forever."


Six years later, Tai sat in his room, remembering this, and wished, "Why can't we go back to those days when we didn't care about anything?" He looked out his window and watched the planes fly around in the sky. He was sorry for what he did, but he doubted that Sora would ever forgive her for this one.

"Tai," a voice came from the door, "Are you alright?"

"Oh, Kari, it's you," Tai let out with a sigh.

"Yeah, who'd you think would be the door of OUR room?" said Kari, the 12-year-old girl.

"I guess you're right," Tai said, letting out a gloomy laugh and looked back out the window.

"Tai..." Kari started.

"I'm okay, Kari, don't worry about me," Tai said before she could say anything more.

"But, Tai, you came home and slammed the door. If mom was here, she would've got mad at you and ask you what was wrong."

"So you're trying to act like mom now?" Tai said angrily.

"But, Tai..."

"I said leave me alone!"

Kari's eyes became teary as she ran out of the room.

Tai stayed seated near the window. He wondered to himself, 'Why do I push the people that I love the most away from me? It's not my fault I act a little violent at time... I mean I've never even got along with Matt. I'm not sorry I punched him. But why does Sora have to be so mad at me for doing that, it's not like she liked him...' He let out a sigh. He got up from his spot and went into the living room, where Kari sat, watching the T.V. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that," Tai apologized.

"It's okay Tai... but what's bothering you so much?" she asked.

"Nothing..." he responded.

"Come on, I know when you're upset and when you're not. I've know you for 12 years now," she said.

Tai sat down next to her and began, "Well, it all started this morning...


It was 8:24 A.M., 6 minutes before class begins. I put my unnecessary books into my locker, but as I did, a girl with a cowboy type hat passes me by with a group of her friends saying, "You know that guy... that Matt guy who's REALLY cute?"

"Yeah, yeah," they replied with wonder.

"I heard that he liked this one girl named Sora... I mean what kind of a name is Sora? But then I heard that he's gonna play her before the school's spring dance and get with this other girl..."

And by then I had ceased to listen. Sora is my friend and I have always believed in protecting her from any kind of harm. But then I thought to myself, 'All of what they said could just be petty gossip.'

But as the day drew on, my hunger for the truth grew inside of me. By lunch, I didn't know how much I could take. I saw Matt make a move, which I wouldn't have believed if I didn't see it with my own eyes.

I had heard of Matt many times and many ways throughout out school, but mostly what I knew about him was that he was the lead singer in a band and that he one of those "heart-throb" type guys. I didn't let it get to me because I didn't know him well, so I didn't bother to make friends with him.

During lunch, I sat at the table with all the soccer kids and Sora sat at her table with her friends, her friends that were girls, when all of a sudden Matt comes up from behind her with his gang of friends. All the girls at that table fell silent. Matt said only two words, but it caught their attention, "Hi, Sora."

That was it, but it was enough to piss me off. The bell rang seconds after that event, but it still burned in my mind.

At fifth period, I couldn't concentrate. Sixth period is the only class I took with Sora, and we always sat next to each other and usually shared a few words with each other. But today, I had said nothing to her, and she probably thought it quite strange.

When the 2:45 P.M. bell rang, signaling the end of school, people rushed here and there to get to their lockers and get what they need and get out, Sora came looking for me.

I headed towards my locker, which was on the complete other side of our school than where Sora's was. I hurried, but somehow, Sora caught up to me. "Tai, what is wrong with you?" she asked me.

"Nothing," I replied. Unfortunately for me, Matt's locker was only a few rows from mine, and if you believe in Divine Intervention, this was it.

As he passed by, he said to her, "Hey, Sora, what's up?"

Sora replied, "Hey," but the thing that got to me worst was the look on her face. She looked at him with those eyes and she was blushing.

I didn't know what I was doing, but I went for Matt and punched him in the face. I knew it was wrong, and before I knew it, Sora was yelling at me to get off of him. I did as she said, but she knelt down to him and began asking if he was all right. He answered, "Yes," but he looked very beat up.

Sora threw a look at me that shattered my very being, and I couldn't take it. I quickly turned around and headed out as fast as I could, that's why when I got home I slammed the door and headed for our room."


Kari nodded as a reply. She let out a sigh of disappointment, "Tai, when are you going to learn," she said as she walked towards their room.

Tai let out a sigh, as well, and threw his head back. He put his hands over his face and said, "Grrr!"


"Are you sure you're all right?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Matt, who was lying down on her couch, said. "Thank you for bringing me to your house and giving me this ice pack for my eye."

"Oh, don't worry about it," she said, blushing. "I just can't believe Tai would do something like that."

"Tai? Is that the name of that guy who punched me?" asked Matt.

"Yeah... but he doesn't normally do these kinds of things. He's usually really sweet... but I don't know... I guess that just skipped today."

"Okay, I believe you." Matt took the ice pack of his eye and said, "I think I have to go now, I have to get home and explain this to my mom."

"You're not going to tell her that Tai did this to you, are you?"

"Not if you don't want me to."

"That would be great if you didn't... I think I'll take care of that myself."

"Okay. Then I'll just say that a kid on the soccer team accidentally kicked a ball at me... that's believable enough." He headed for the door, "Thank you, Sora. See ya tomorrow."

"Bye," she said with that glimmer in her eyes. Then, she went up to her room, got her phone, and dialed Tai's number.

>>Ring, ring, ring>Ring, ring, ring

"Hello?"

"Kari? This is Sora, is Tai there?" she asked.

"Yeah, hold on..." she said, and then distantly shouted, "Tai, it's for you!"

"Hello?" Tai greeted.

"Hey... this is Sora... I really need to talk to you. Can you meet me at the park... by the swings?"


Tai's heart raced, "Okay sure."

Sora hung up the phone, and Tai hung it up, too. He went to Kari and said, "I'm going our for a little while, take care of yourself, bye."

He hurried out and walked to the park as fast as he could, almost jogging. When he got there, Sora was sitting on one of the swings, swinging herself back and forward gently. Then, he sat in the swing next to her. "I'm here," he said with a bit of action, but the look on Sora's face enforced that there was to be no jokes involved in this meeting.

"Look, Sora, I'm really sorry that I hurt that guy, but..." Tai started.

"But what? You had no reason to be jumping the guy like that, you've never even talked to him once, so what reason should you have?" Sora shouted with anger.

Tai didn't know what to do with himself; one moment he was happy and the next his heart was torn out again. "Sora... please... you just have to listen to me," Tai pleaded, staring at the ground the whole time.

"I don't know if I can trust you or not, Tai. I... you know... I just don't know... I don't even know if we should be friends any more."

Twisted, burnt, and ripped to shreds. Tai could not reply with that last statement. But, still, words came out of his mouth that he didn't think over in his head first, "Fine, well I never liked being your friend. You were always so bossy and... and obnoxious," he said in the same tone as she had seconds before. He pushed the chains from the swing away from him and began to walk away again. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Sora crying.


Sora couldn't help it, but it really hurt for the best friend she had ever had to tell her that they would never be friends again. She walked back to her house, which was only a block away, with tears falling from her eyes. She hurried to her room and lay down on her bed, crying. And with those tears, she fell asleep.


"Why do you think Sora and Tai always fight?" Kari was asking her best friend, T.K., while they were at the park eating ice cream.

"I don't know... but it sounds to me like they like each other... or just one likes the other, I'm not sure," T.K. answered. "Too bad me and Matt don't live together any more, or I would've laughed at his eye. Maybe I should go visit him and Dad sometime, that would be cool."

Kari let out a little laugh, "You're such a horrible brother," she said, jokingly. "So, how long haven't you seen Matt?"

"I haven't seen him in a few months. But, even if we don't see each other often, we're still brothers and we still fight," T.K. confessed.

"That's how Tai and Sora are... do you think how Sora and Tai are is like how me and Tai are?" Kari questioned.

"I suppose," T.K. answered with a smile.


Tai typed away at his computer, saying the words aloud to himself:


Dear Sora,
I'm really sorry that I acted the way I did. I didn't mean to punch him; it was a sudden reaction, something that built up from the day. It wasn't that I had something against Matt; it was just that I was having a really bad day. And, to make it up to you, I will go apologize to him on Monday.
And I hope you didn't mean what you said about us not being friends. I'm sorry that I strengthened your clause, but I didn't mean it. You're not bossy; you're the most giving person I've ever known. You're not obnoxious; you're the kindest person ever.
I hope there wasn't any stormy weather, just a few raindrops. I'm sorry and I hope that we can still be friends.
Love,
Tai


Then, he pressed send. "Who you writing to?" came a voice from behind him.

Tai let out a little shriek.

"'Love, Tai?' That must be a letter to Sora," Kari said, laughingly.

"It's none of your business. Why would I be writing a letter to Sora, anyway?" he said, sheepishly.

"Hmm, I don't know," Kari replied, sarcastically. "I still don't understand how you guys could ever get into a fight this big."

Tai sighed. "You have to be older to understand. Me and Sora are best friends and best friends fight."

"Me and T.K. don't fight. We're best friends."

"You guys are close..." Tai said to Kari with a grin flying across his face.

"Tai... what are you thinking?"

"Nothing," he replied, and the both left it at that.


~Monday~


Tai got to school, hoping that Sora got his e-mail. When he went to his locker, he saw Matt. Tai went up to him and began the conversation without looking at him, "Hey, man, sorry 'bout Friday. I got no beef with you, I just kinda reacted."

Matt looked at him, "Yeah, okay. Apology accepted."

Tai saw the big, black circle around his eye and regretted that he had ever punched Matt, but still subconsciously thinking, 'He deserved it.' He started to walk away.

"Hey," Matt shouted.

Tai turned around, "What?"

"You like her, don't you?" Matt said with a raised interest.

"Wha... what? No I don't! What makes you say that?" Tai lied poorly.

"I knew it. I hope you know this doesn't change anything," Matt said.

"Uh... sure," Tai replied, confused. "Please, don't tell her that... you know... that I..."

"Yeah, I got it. I won't say anything," Matt smiled.


Tai went through the whole day without seeing Sora. 'She must be home sick,' he thought, 'or maybe she's so mad at me that she won't come to school so she doesn't have to see me!' Without realizing it, he had walked all the way to Sora's house. He looked at the door that he had knocked on many times before, but now it seemed so hard to even lift his hand up to. He gathered all his courage and strength and knocked on the door. Sora mom came and opened it; "Hi Mrs. Takenouchi... good afternoon... is Sora home?"

"Oh, Tai. Hi, Sora's not home right now. She went out," she answered.

"Oh. Why didn't she go to school today?" asked Tai.

"She didn't feel well this morning, but by this afternoon, she was better. A boy from your school came and brought her flowers and I let her go wit him to the park."

"Oh, okay. Thank you Mrs. Takenouchi. Bye," waved Tai, but obviously very disappointed.

"Okay, bye," Sora's mom said after him.

Tai went straight home, not caring for the world that was spinning around him. When he got home, straight to his room he went. He just lay on the floor, time passing and not knowing what it was. Then, a knock came on his door. 'Sora,' his heart suddenly jumped. He went to his door and opened it to find Kari and another kid beside her.

"Hi, Tai. You remember T.K., don't you?" asked Kari.

"Yeah. I thought you were going to go to his house today," said Tai wonderingly.

"Well, mom had to rush to the office, so she couldn't take me, but she said T.K. could come over," Kari replied.

"What time did mom leave?" asked Tai.

"Over an hour ago. She came to your door and said that she would!"

"So where have you been this whole time?"

"I was in the living room watching T.V. Sheesh! You should get out of this room more often! Any way, T.K. is going to stay here until 9:00 P.M. because his mom can't come back here and pick him up because she has work, so his dad or his brother is going to come and bring him to their house. Okay."

Tai nodded and went to his bed and laid down there. They played computer games for the time, but after a while they got tired and hungry.

"Tai... mom said that you were going to make dinner, but that was hours ago!" Kari said to him.

"Alright, alright! I'm getting up," Tai replied.

It was almost 9:00 P.M. already. Tai cooked whatever he could and put it on the table. When they all finally got to the table and were about to sink their forks into the food, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Tai said, getting up out of his seat. He walked to the door and opened it, "Matt? What are you doing here?!" Tai asked confused.

"I'm here to pick up my brother. Don't you know that T.K. is my brother?" Matt inquired, the black around his eye lighter than it was earlier.

"No... but I do now," Tai answered.

"Oh, okay. Well, I knew my brother's best friend was you sister," Matt stated.

"How come I know nothing about this??" asked Tai as he returned to the table.

T.K. came to him and tugged at his hand, "Tai, can my brother stay for dinner, too?"

"Well, I don't..." Tai began.

"Pleeeaase..." T.K. begged.

"T.K., stop that," Matt ordered. He looked up to Tai, "I'll just wait outside until you guys are done."

"No," Tai said, "Sit down, eat dinner with us. It's fine with me."

Matt took his invitation. He sat down on the last empty seat at the table. T.K. took a bite out of his food, then asked Matt, "So, where's dad?"

"He had to work late at the station today. There's some big story that he has to help cover or something," Matt answered dismally.

"Oh... cuz I haven't seen him in a looonng time," T.K. said. "I hope he still remembers me."

"Don't worry, T.K., your dad won't ever forget you just because he doesn't see you that often," said Kari. Changing the subject, "Hey, I got that new movie about the robots... you want to watch it?"

"Yeah!" T.K. said excitedly.

"T.K., come on, it's late, we have to get back home," Matt said.

Tai buzzed in, "It's okay, my parents won't be back until after midnight. So just let them watch for an hour or... whenever."

Matt gave a little nod, but he was unsure. He sat back down. Tai took the plates and washed them. He went back to the dinner table and sat across from Matt. Tai tried to start a conversation, "So how long has it been since you last saw T.K.?"

"A few months," Matt answered.

"Is it easy?" Tai asked.

"Is what easy?" Matt questioned back.

"Being away from your brother months at a time?" specifying the question.

"I don't think it's any of your business what goes on between me and my brother," Matt said, seeming suddenly angry.

"Geez, sorry I asked, but you don't have to be so mean about it," Tai exclaimed.

"Sorry... it's just I don't like talking about that stuff..." Matt shared.

"Oh... well then let's change the subject. Um... is it true that you were gonna play Sora before the spring dance?" Tai asked out of the blue.

"What?! Is that why I have this circle around my eye? Because you heard a rumor that I was going to do THAT?!" Matt said.

"Uh..." Tai started, suddenly feeling like a fool, "Yeah, I guess."

Matt calmed down, and even let out a little laugh. "No, I really like Sora."

Before any more words could be shared in that conversation, T.K. went up to Matt and said, "Okay, we can go now."

Matt gave a little nod, face flushed from any emotion. They said, "Bye," to Kari and Tai, and Tai and Kari replied, "Bye," and waved as they exited the house.


~Tuesday~


Tai got through the tiresome day of school, but most of the time he was thinking about what Matt had said to him the night before. 'Matt likes Sora... Sora likes Matt... that leaves me out of the pictures completely. I'm not even a friend of Sora, so how could I be more than that?'

He walked to his locker, not looking up until he got there. Right in front of him was Sora, looking kind of nervous. "Tai, I'm... I'm sorry..." Sora began.

"Your not the one that should be sorry. I should be. I was stupid for listening to rumors and doing those things... but I just couldn't see my best friend hurt," Tai said.

"Rumors? What rumors?" asked Sora.

"I heard that Matt was going to play you at the spring dance... but I cleared it yup with him yesterday. He said that he really liked you," and once again, Tai's eyes were at the ground.

Sora had to take a second before she could let any of this sink down. "You... were worried about me..." she mumbled to herself.

Tai's eyes met up with hers. Their faces neared and their lips touched one another's. Those few seconds, their hearts were one and each of them felt like it should be like this.

Then, they parted and opened their eyes. Sora blushed, and Tai was still a little dazed. Their hearts pounded, but a person was coming from around the corner. "Um... well... I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Tai said.

"Yeah," Sora replied.

They went their separate ways, and let the day feed into the night as they lived in their thoughts. Tai was trying to finish his homework, but he couldn't get Sora out of his mind. He picked up his phone and dialed her number.

>>Ring>Ri...

"Hello, is Sora there?" asked Tai.

"No, she went to that restaurant two blocks from here with that Matt boy," she answered.

"Ok, thank you, Mrs. Takenouchi," Tai said, hanging up the phone without a goodbye.

Tai went out of the house without telling Kari, and headed for the restaurant. He sneaked in and found Sora with Matt.


"Why don't you seem so quiet?" Matt asked Sora.

Sora snapped out of her daydream and answered, "Oh... um... no reason."

"Alright," Matt answered, taking a drink from his glass of water.

Sora sank again into her thoughts, where she relived the moment of that afternoon over and over again. It seemed so strange to her that she was sitting in this restaurant with Matt and yet wanted Tai to be the one sitting across from her.


Tai hid behind a plant near their table and tried to call out to Sora without calling a lot of attention. Sora finally heard him and turned to Matt and said, "Excuse me, okay. I... uh... need to go to the restroom."

She walked towards the restroom, and Tai followed. She stopped and checked if Matt was still looking at her, and when she saw he wasn't, she went to Tai. "Tai, what are you doing here?" asked Sora looking a bit annoyed, but feeling so happy.

"What am I doing here?! What are you doing here with Matt? I mean... I thought you and I were..." Tai stopped.

Sora looked at him. "Tai..." she started, but their lips sank into each other's and their hearts talked to each other. But Sora's heart stuttered, and their lips parted once again.

"What's wrong?" asked Tai.

"I... just can't..." Sora said. "I'm here with Matt... and I have feeling for him..."

"But... Sora... you know how I feel for you. But now... I just want to know... do you feel the same way about me?" asked Tai.

Sora hesitated, "I don't know," she said, turning from Tai.

Tai took her hand and held in near his heart, "Sora, I love you."

Those words kept repeating in Sora head. "Tai... I... I..."

"Tai? What are you doing here?" asked Matt, who had come to check on Sora.

"Matt!" Sora said surprised.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"Um... Matt..." Sora started.

Matt looked at Tai, who had let go of Sora's hand. He didn't give him a dirty look or anything, and he knew what Sora was going through. He looked back at Sora. His face neared hers, but he just gave her a little kiss on the check and whispered in her ear, "Goodbye, Sora, I'll always keep you in my heart, but I know who is really in yours." He started for the door, handing the front person a five-dollar bill.

Tai just stared after him, quite confused. Sora looked at Tai, "I feel the same way you do."

They smiled at each other and walked out, hand in hand.


*Does anybody else think that was corny? Well, I don't know how many of you like that kind of stuff, but I'm a sucker for it. I find it very strange cuz I really am more of an action/adventure or fantasy girl, but I still need that key ingredient called romance pitched into the story. Well, I hoped you enjoyed this, til next time... peace!