~*~Project Moment~*~
A Digimon Fanfic by Bandit
~*Chapter 5- Reunions*~
Leaving the house a good hour and a half of companionable eating and talking later, Sora realized that she's forgotten TK's handicap for most of the conversation. He'd just seemed like himself.
*It's not really a handicap at all,* she thought to herself, surprised by the thought, but also sure of its truth. *He's handling it just fine, and so is Kari. They're going to be all right. Still, I would have liked to see Kari dressing Tai down about that accident. Now there's something I never thought I'd hear tell of...*
Her amusement faded, the thought of Tai sobering her up again very quickly. *I wonder when I'm going to get a chance to talk to him,* she thought, not sure whether to be eager for the chance, or afraid of its coming. Their last talk had not been a pleasant one, and she had no wish to repeat the performance...was he still mad at her?
"Have you thought about where you're going to sleep?" Joe said, providing a welcome distraction from her suddenly less-than-pleasant thoughts. Sora frowned.
"Not really...are there guest rooms here?"
"Well, there are," Joe said reluctantly, "but they're not very well situated with respect to my ward, and I want you to be nearby, just in case. Let's see, you could sleep at the ward-"
"No!" Sora interrupted emphatically. "I am not sleeping among the smells of antiseptic and sick people, thank you very much. I'm sick of hazelnuts already."
Joe grinned. "I thought you'd say that. Hm...I'd offer you my guest room, but unfortunately, I don't have one." He shrugged eloquently. "I live in the complex, and there's not much space. I'm guessing you don't want to stay with a stranger?"
Sora shook her head, hard. Joe nodded. "I thought you'd say that, too. Well, the only folks you know here with living quarters near the ward are Davis and..." He paused, and Sora looked at him confusedly. They had almost reached the ward, from the maps posted on the walls around them.
"Who?"
"Ypblyntintstd," Joe mumbled, not meeting her eyes. Sora blinked.
"What? Speak up."
"You're probably not interested," Joe said sheepishly.
"Why? Who is it?" Sora said, aware that her questions were taking on a who-what-when-where-why format, but curious all the same.
"It's-"
"Sora?"
The surprised, apprehensive voice came from the doorway of the ward. Sora looked up, her stomach knotting itself into a nervous lump.
"Tai..." she said softly, determined to be aloof, to be cool, to not break down...
And then she looked into those oh-so-familiar, warm brown eyes, and her tight stomach melted.
*To hell with that,* she thought, and ran forward. He met her halfway, picking her up and swinging her around, both of them laughing and crying. She pulled him into a tight hug almost before he'd set her down, and they stood clinging to each other in the middle of the hallway, the people around them forgotten.
"Oh, God, Sora, I am so sorry," Tai said, resting his forehead against hers. "Are you okay? How did...I mean...you look...oh, I missed you so much!"
"I'm sorry too," she said, smiling through her tears. "And I bet I missed you more. I've been hitting myself repeatedly ever since you left, about how I was such a selfish brat..."
"You, a brat? I'm the one who-"
"Shh," she said, putting a finger over his lips to silence him as she looked solemnly into his eyes. "Don't go through the list, please. I've gone over it too many times on my own. Apology accepted."
"Right," he murmured, sheepish. That didn't last long, though. "God, you're a sight for sore eyes!" he exclaimed suddenly, a grin lighting his face again as he pulled her into another hug. "Do you know, I don't think a day out of three years went by that I didn't think about you?"
Sora drew back to look at him, surprised. "Me, too..." she whispered, tears beginning to well up in her eyes again...but they were tears of relief. *It's going to be okay...*
The moment caught and held, and the two of them stood just drinking the sight of each other in, with the almost-ache of happiness and relief tugging at their hearts. They could have stayed that way indefinitely, but unfortunately-or perhaps fortunately-someone there had some sense.
"Well, I'm glad to see you two are made up," Joe said agreeably, breaking the spell and making both of them whirl and glare fiercely at him. "It makes it a lot easier for me to finish my conversation with Sora," he continued, ignoring both death-glares with practiced ease. "As I was saying, there are two options you have that fit all of your requests. You can either stay with Davis or with Tai."
Sora and Tai looked at each other, and looked back at Joe.
"Tai," Sora said positively.
"Me," Tai said at the same time. Sora gave him a shove, and he grinned.
"My decision, remember?" she said, teasingly.
"And was there any doubt?" he teased back. Sora shrugged.
"Not really," she said. "You may be annoying, but Davis would drive me insane."
"Oh, so I'm the lesser of two evils?" Tai said, with a mock-insulted look.
"No, you're the greater of two goggle-heads," Sora shot back with a grin.
Tai opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, a head poked out of the infirmary door.
"I see the terrible twosome are on good terms again," Izzy dryly remarked. "It's about time you showed..."
That was as far as he got before Sora managed to disengage herself from Tai and go on the offensive.
"Izzy!" she cried happily, running over and catching him in a hug that made his eyes bug out.
"...Up!" he gasped, trying to escape and failing miserably. "Sora, I can't breathe!"
Sora blinked and stepped back, letting go of the suffocating techie. "Oh, sorry...is that better?"
"Much better," he said, raking a hand through his nest of hair to 'fix' it. "Sheesh, I come by to see if my friend's awake yet, and the genuine article nearly strangles me. Honestly, though, I *am* glad you're here. Now I won't have to put up with Tai coming over to moan at me about you while I'm trying to program." He rolled his eyes. "It never fails; he always has an attack of pathos right when I'm supposed to be working on something important."
Sora snorted. "Wow, Izzy, you really do care."
"He's just being difficult," Tai said helpfully from behind her. "If you don't pay any attention to him, he'll usually go away."
"A pity that that strategy doesn't work with you, Tai," Izzy said wryly, "or I'd have gotten promoted by now."
"Oh, quit being a little horror and say hello properly," Joe said.
"Hardly little anymore," Tai said, gesturing toward Izzy; he was indeed considerably taller than he had once been, and had lost a lot of the 'baby fat' he'd kept into his teens in the process.
"Still shorter than me, though," Sora said smugly.
"You guys," Joe complained. "You know what I meant." Izzy shrugged, and allowed his face to break into a smile.
"Sorry. It really is good to see you, Sora," he said. She grinned and hugged him again, more gently this time, and this time he hugged back.
After she stepped back again, Joe spoke up.
"You might want to go get settled in," he suggested. "I'm guessing that at least three of us are going to want to take you on a tour of the place, and you'll be dearly wishing for a place to flop by the time that's through with."
Sora shrugged. "Sounds good," she admitted, and offered her arm to Tai. "Shall we?"
"We shall," Tai said agreeably. "Bye, Izzy."
"See you later," Izzy replied as the two of them headed off around the corner. After they were well out of earshot, he turned to Joe. "You know and I know that there is a perfectly good set of guest rooms not five minutes from the ward," he said dryly. "Somebody here's been meddling in things better left un-meddled-in, and it hasn't been me."
Joe blinked at him, looking insulted. "I prefer to call it 'constructive manipulation'," he said firmly. "Meddling sounds so...amoral. And who says they're better left alone? He's not arguing, and what she doesn't know won't hurt her. In the meantime, this will give them a chance to catch up on things, and him more time to convince her to stay. See? Everybody's happy."
"Maybe it's because you're a medical type that you've gotten so...maternal," Izzy said after a moment of contemplating this bit of Kido-logic. Without giving Joe a chance to puzzle this out and throw the nearest mobile object at his head, he ducked back into the ward and shut the door, heading back through it in the direction of his office.
__________________________________
Coming soon- Chapter 6: Blood, Sweat and Tears
(AN) Well, folks, you asked for Taiora...and I always deliver! There's a bunch more coming up, too, so don't tune out anytime soon. M_~*
Thanks to everyone who's reviewing me! Also, I'd like to say that I reserve the right to write whatever aijou (couples) I like, but that I will never outright bash any aijou without provocation from one of its acolytes. (AKA if a Sorato starts snotting off to me about Ep. 50, I will freely start listing reasons why Sora and Matt would kill each other within six months of marriage. M_m* )
Like the teaser says, Chapter 6 is coming up, so keep an eye out for it! Love you all! -Bandit O_o
A Digimon Fanfic by Bandit
~*Chapter 5- Reunions*~
Leaving the house a good hour and a half of companionable eating and talking later, Sora realized that she's forgotten TK's handicap for most of the conversation. He'd just seemed like himself.
*It's not really a handicap at all,* she thought to herself, surprised by the thought, but also sure of its truth. *He's handling it just fine, and so is Kari. They're going to be all right. Still, I would have liked to see Kari dressing Tai down about that accident. Now there's something I never thought I'd hear tell of...*
Her amusement faded, the thought of Tai sobering her up again very quickly. *I wonder when I'm going to get a chance to talk to him,* she thought, not sure whether to be eager for the chance, or afraid of its coming. Their last talk had not been a pleasant one, and she had no wish to repeat the performance...was he still mad at her?
"Have you thought about where you're going to sleep?" Joe said, providing a welcome distraction from her suddenly less-than-pleasant thoughts. Sora frowned.
"Not really...are there guest rooms here?"
"Well, there are," Joe said reluctantly, "but they're not very well situated with respect to my ward, and I want you to be nearby, just in case. Let's see, you could sleep at the ward-"
"No!" Sora interrupted emphatically. "I am not sleeping among the smells of antiseptic and sick people, thank you very much. I'm sick of hazelnuts already."
Joe grinned. "I thought you'd say that. Hm...I'd offer you my guest room, but unfortunately, I don't have one." He shrugged eloquently. "I live in the complex, and there's not much space. I'm guessing you don't want to stay with a stranger?"
Sora shook her head, hard. Joe nodded. "I thought you'd say that, too. Well, the only folks you know here with living quarters near the ward are Davis and..." He paused, and Sora looked at him confusedly. They had almost reached the ward, from the maps posted on the walls around them.
"Who?"
"Ypblyntintstd," Joe mumbled, not meeting her eyes. Sora blinked.
"What? Speak up."
"You're probably not interested," Joe said sheepishly.
"Why? Who is it?" Sora said, aware that her questions were taking on a who-what-when-where-why format, but curious all the same.
"It's-"
"Sora?"
The surprised, apprehensive voice came from the doorway of the ward. Sora looked up, her stomach knotting itself into a nervous lump.
"Tai..." she said softly, determined to be aloof, to be cool, to not break down...
And then she looked into those oh-so-familiar, warm brown eyes, and her tight stomach melted.
*To hell with that,* she thought, and ran forward. He met her halfway, picking her up and swinging her around, both of them laughing and crying. She pulled him into a tight hug almost before he'd set her down, and they stood clinging to each other in the middle of the hallway, the people around them forgotten.
"Oh, God, Sora, I am so sorry," Tai said, resting his forehead against hers. "Are you okay? How did...I mean...you look...oh, I missed you so much!"
"I'm sorry too," she said, smiling through her tears. "And I bet I missed you more. I've been hitting myself repeatedly ever since you left, about how I was such a selfish brat..."
"You, a brat? I'm the one who-"
"Shh," she said, putting a finger over his lips to silence him as she looked solemnly into his eyes. "Don't go through the list, please. I've gone over it too many times on my own. Apology accepted."
"Right," he murmured, sheepish. That didn't last long, though. "God, you're a sight for sore eyes!" he exclaimed suddenly, a grin lighting his face again as he pulled her into another hug. "Do you know, I don't think a day out of three years went by that I didn't think about you?"
Sora drew back to look at him, surprised. "Me, too..." she whispered, tears beginning to well up in her eyes again...but they were tears of relief. *It's going to be okay...*
The moment caught and held, and the two of them stood just drinking the sight of each other in, with the almost-ache of happiness and relief tugging at their hearts. They could have stayed that way indefinitely, but unfortunately-or perhaps fortunately-someone there had some sense.
"Well, I'm glad to see you two are made up," Joe said agreeably, breaking the spell and making both of them whirl and glare fiercely at him. "It makes it a lot easier for me to finish my conversation with Sora," he continued, ignoring both death-glares with practiced ease. "As I was saying, there are two options you have that fit all of your requests. You can either stay with Davis or with Tai."
Sora and Tai looked at each other, and looked back at Joe.
"Tai," Sora said positively.
"Me," Tai said at the same time. Sora gave him a shove, and he grinned.
"My decision, remember?" she said, teasingly.
"And was there any doubt?" he teased back. Sora shrugged.
"Not really," she said. "You may be annoying, but Davis would drive me insane."
"Oh, so I'm the lesser of two evils?" Tai said, with a mock-insulted look.
"No, you're the greater of two goggle-heads," Sora shot back with a grin.
Tai opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, a head poked out of the infirmary door.
"I see the terrible twosome are on good terms again," Izzy dryly remarked. "It's about time you showed..."
That was as far as he got before Sora managed to disengage herself from Tai and go on the offensive.
"Izzy!" she cried happily, running over and catching him in a hug that made his eyes bug out.
"...Up!" he gasped, trying to escape and failing miserably. "Sora, I can't breathe!"
Sora blinked and stepped back, letting go of the suffocating techie. "Oh, sorry...is that better?"
"Much better," he said, raking a hand through his nest of hair to 'fix' it. "Sheesh, I come by to see if my friend's awake yet, and the genuine article nearly strangles me. Honestly, though, I *am* glad you're here. Now I won't have to put up with Tai coming over to moan at me about you while I'm trying to program." He rolled his eyes. "It never fails; he always has an attack of pathos right when I'm supposed to be working on something important."
Sora snorted. "Wow, Izzy, you really do care."
"He's just being difficult," Tai said helpfully from behind her. "If you don't pay any attention to him, he'll usually go away."
"A pity that that strategy doesn't work with you, Tai," Izzy said wryly, "or I'd have gotten promoted by now."
"Oh, quit being a little horror and say hello properly," Joe said.
"Hardly little anymore," Tai said, gesturing toward Izzy; he was indeed considerably taller than he had once been, and had lost a lot of the 'baby fat' he'd kept into his teens in the process.
"Still shorter than me, though," Sora said smugly.
"You guys," Joe complained. "You know what I meant." Izzy shrugged, and allowed his face to break into a smile.
"Sorry. It really is good to see you, Sora," he said. She grinned and hugged him again, more gently this time, and this time he hugged back.
After she stepped back again, Joe spoke up.
"You might want to go get settled in," he suggested. "I'm guessing that at least three of us are going to want to take you on a tour of the place, and you'll be dearly wishing for a place to flop by the time that's through with."
Sora shrugged. "Sounds good," she admitted, and offered her arm to Tai. "Shall we?"
"We shall," Tai said agreeably. "Bye, Izzy."
"See you later," Izzy replied as the two of them headed off around the corner. After they were well out of earshot, he turned to Joe. "You know and I know that there is a perfectly good set of guest rooms not five minutes from the ward," he said dryly. "Somebody here's been meddling in things better left un-meddled-in, and it hasn't been me."
Joe blinked at him, looking insulted. "I prefer to call it 'constructive manipulation'," he said firmly. "Meddling sounds so...amoral. And who says they're better left alone? He's not arguing, and what she doesn't know won't hurt her. In the meantime, this will give them a chance to catch up on things, and him more time to convince her to stay. See? Everybody's happy."
"Maybe it's because you're a medical type that you've gotten so...maternal," Izzy said after a moment of contemplating this bit of Kido-logic. Without giving Joe a chance to puzzle this out and throw the nearest mobile object at his head, he ducked back into the ward and shut the door, heading back through it in the direction of his office.
__________________________________
Coming soon- Chapter 6: Blood, Sweat and Tears
(AN) Well, folks, you asked for Taiora...and I always deliver! There's a bunch more coming up, too, so don't tune out anytime soon. M_~*
Thanks to everyone who's reviewing me! Also, I'd like to say that I reserve the right to write whatever aijou (couples) I like, but that I will never outright bash any aijou without provocation from one of its acolytes. (AKA if a Sorato starts snotting off to me about Ep. 50, I will freely start listing reasons why Sora and Matt would kill each other within six months of marriage. M_m* )
Like the teaser says, Chapter 6 is coming up, so keep an eye out for it! Love you all! -Bandit O_o