Hey everyone! I'm so happy and excited to finally announce something I have been working on since August 2021. Since this year Sora and Yamato will be celebrating their 20th anniversary, I decided to tell their story. Every 2 weeks I'll be posting a chapter that goes through a year in their relationship (and also personal growth along the way). Please note that, aside canon events that happened in the anime/movies/OVAs, everything else in the story is purely headcanon. That includes original characters created for this too. This chapter was a lot of fun to write and it turned out a little too long lol, but I hope you enjoy it anyway and don't feel demotivated by its length. The other ones will follow the same length, as I wanted to keep it a pattern. Reviews about it are very appreciated!

Also, don't repost or use it without permission and claim it to be your own.

Chapter 1: 2002 - The Confession

Sora was in awe with the sakura trees' flowers she always sees on her way to school. It happened every spring, but there was something different about them in this one. She couldn't tell what it was, though she found herself stopping to get a flower that fell on the floor.
"Sora, you do this every year." Taichi stated; his hands were behind his neck and he walked casually alongside her and Koushiro. The three of them have been walking to school together everyday ever since they began studying in the same building. "What's so great about looking at flowers all the way to our school?"
"Well, I'm the daughter of the Ikebana school's director to begin with." She replied while she looked at the flower in her hands carefully. "Also, I love spring. Seeing the trees filled with different flowers is amazing."
"Sora has very reasonable points, Taichi." Koushiro joined their conversation. "I have to admit spring makes me a little happy too. Everything is so colorful."
"I suppose so. It seems normal to me." Taichi shrugged.
"That's because you barely pay attention to anything that's in front of you."
"That's not true at all. "
"Oh really? Then explain to me why you thought that girl who gave you honmei chocolate on Valentine's Day actually wanted you to share it with the soccer team?"
"In my defense, I thought that's what she meant!" Taichi nearly shouted. "You have to admit almost every girl at school only looks at Yamato because he seems cooler and he's the lead singer of a school band."
"That's true, but these girls don't know Yamato like we do. They only like him for his appearance or because of the band."
"Exactly."
"What I mean is that you should start paying more attention to girls around you. Maybe the one for you is already near just waiting for you to notice her."
The three friends had reached the locker area of Odaiba Junior High School. The lockers were gray with red doors. Taichi and Sora were putting their sports clothes inside their own ones; they would have soccer and tennis classes, respectively, that week.
"Whatever." Taichi shrugged, resuming their conversation. "I'm still too young to date. And I sure as hell don't need a girlfriend right now."
"Alright." Sora said, looking at her best friend. "Each person has their own time for things. No big deal."
"Have you ever had feelings for a boy?" Taichi asked.
"No, I haven't. But who knows, maybe it can happen this year."
"What about you, Koushiro? Have you ever had feelings for a girl?"
"Not that I'm aware of. I believe it's clear that I'm not exactly a sociable person. How is one supposed to know when they love someone else?"
"I got me there." Sora said. "I guess you start seeing that someone in another perspective. I wish I could know what it's like."
"So you want to fall in love with a boy?" Taichi raised his eyebrow.
"Well, yeah." She paused. "I do."
"I'm getting tired of this conversation already. I'm going to class."
"Yeah, me too." Koushiro nodded. "See you two at lunch?"
"Yes. Whoever arrives first gets a table, alright?"
Sora and Koushiro nodded positively. The girl watched her two friends disappear into the crowd before returning her attention back to her task. She carefully placed her tennis accessories into her locker, noticing that she had dropped the flower at the same point. When she was about to kneel down to pick it up, she was surprised to see someone's hand already holding it. She slowly turned around to see who it belonged to, but the pounding in her heart and the cold rush through her spine told her she didn't need to. She already knew who it was.
"Yamato." Sora avoided making eye contact with him, but she let out a sweet smile. "Good morning."
"Good morning to you too." Yamato smiled back.
"I thought you'd be in class already."
"I was supposed to, but I found out Takeru moved to Odaiba so I went to visit him and our mom before school."
"Wait, Takeru moved here?" She finally looked up and stared at his piercing blue eyes.
"Yes, he did. I was surprised myself. I only found out after it had happened."
"So you two came to school together?"
"Yeah." Yamato shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down. "I want to make this our new tradition."
"I think it's sweet." Sora stated and was met with his eyes again within seconds. "I know how much you love your brother and how it hurts to have grown up away from him."
"I do. That's why I'm going to use this as an excuse to grow closer to him again."
"I'm sure he'll love it. Plus, this can draw you close to your mother too. I mean, if that's what you want, of course." She felt her body grow tense with the expression on his face. She was afraid maybe she crossed a line. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push my luck here."
"That's okay, don't worry about it. You can never cross a line, by the way."
There was something in the tone of his voice that made her cheeks become a little pink. So she turned her back on him and pretended to focus on her locker once again.
"Your tennis classes return today?" Yamato motioned to her outfit in the bottom of her locker when she looked at him over her shoulder.
"This week, actually. But I figured I'd have everything settled already."
"That's smart. I like it." He blushed when Sora looked at him with a confused look. "I mean, it's always better to anticipate these things."
"You're right." She closed her locker and leaned her back against it. It was only when she noticed Yamato was still holding the same flower she had dropped earlier. "It's a beautiful flower, isn't it?"
"Huh?" He looked down at his hand. "Ah, yeah. It's a very beautiful season."
"I got this on my way to here." Sora confessed. "I guess I couldn't run away from my DNA that much, right?"
"I guess not." Yamato kept looking at the flower in his hand. When he looked up at his friend again, his hand reached up to her ear. He brushed a lock of her hair behind it and placed the flower over it.
Sora watched him the whole time. She felt like her whole body was frozen as she tried to figure out what was happening. Before she knew it, her hand was touching his while it slid down her face before he brought it back down. Yamato didn't quite understand why he had done it. There wasn't an explanation. He just wanted to do it. He had to admit her skin was so soft, and the feeling lingered in his palm for a while. He stared at Sora's eyes intently and received the same intense stare in return.
"What was that about?" Sora was finally able to voice it out loud.
"I just thought this flower would look good on you. And I was right."
When Sora opened her mouth to reply, the bell rang. She wondered how long it had been since Taichi and Koushiro went to their classrooms, and just how long this whole thing with Yamato took place. He began to walk away and she stared at him from where she stood the whole time. She did want to fall in love that year, but she surely wasn't expecting it to happen so fast, and even less with a close friend of hers. But life has some unexpected twists sometimes.

.

"Mom, I'm home." Sora announced when she walked into her house later that day. She should have expected Toshiko not to be at home at that time. In fact, she'd always come home later due to her duties as the director of the Ikebana School. Sora put her bag in her computer chair and went to the bathroom. The flower was back in her ear, in the exact same place Yamato had placed it earlier that day. She had taken it off feeling very bad for doing so, but she didn't want to be interrogated by Taichi's questions if he ever saw it. And she was sure neither did Yamato. Sora lifted her hand and touched her cheek, where his hand had touched hours ago. She still couldn't understand what had happened between them. As far as she knew, they were friends. Okay, close friends. But she couldn't remember when or if things started to change. She hasn't noticed any change in Yamato's behavior, and even less in hers. She pressed her hand on the sink and dropped her head a little. She sighed deeply. "You're being delusional, Sora. There's no way Yamato could ever have feelings for you. You're just friends, and that's it." She headed back to her bedroom and sat on her bed. Her room wasn't the typical girl's room, decorated with cute things and pinkish walls. Hers was more practical, to put it like that. It didn't have many decorations; basically it was just her bed, a chest of drawers beside it and a wardrobe in the opposite side from her bed. Her walls were painted in a light yellow tone. It was far from being her ideal room, but she grew fond of it eventually. Toshiko was the one who planned every detail in their apartment, and for a while Sora was resentful at not having a say about her own bedroom. She knew her mother was very traditional in many aspects, and she didn't want to create any more drama with her than she already had. The red haired girl opened one of the drawers from her chest of drawers and grabbed a small box, carefully opening it. It was a box full of jewelry. Actually, everything inside it meant something to her. Sora reached up to her and took the flower off, holding it in her right hand. She looked at it for a while and let out a sweet smile before putting it in the box. Something told her this flower would be really special to her.

.

Later that day, Sora had received a text message from Taichi saying he was calling out for a group meeting at the small playground near his building. By the time she was supposed to meet them, Toshiko had been home for a couple of hours and was making dinner. Sora had offered to cook instead, but she just told her daughter she could cook on the weekend. The girl didn't understand why, but didn't bother to ask. She simply shook her head and said she'd be coming back soon.
When she arrived at the playground, only Jou and Takeru were already there. She was more than happy to see them both, considering she hadn't for a while.
"It's so great to see you!" Sora exclaimed. "I miss these moments."
"I know, me too."
"So Takeru, Yamato told me you and your mother moved to Odaiba recently."
"You did?" Jou asked with his eyebrow raised. "That's great to hear."
"We did. She had a very important job to do around here and it would take her a few months, so we thought it would be better to move here. Hopefully we can stay for many years. I miss living near my father and Yamato."
"I think I know what you mean. Shin is mostly away because of medical school and when he comes home is just for a few days."
"Sometimes I wish I wasn't an only child." Sora confessed. "It must be so much fun to have a brother or a sister."
"I can't imagine not having a brother, but I would love having a younger sister."
"I think being an only child has its advantages too." Jou addressed to her. "Right?"
"I guess so." She shrugged. "I mean, you don't have to share your toys when you are young and your clothes and make up when you're older, when you have a sister. But we can get very lonely sometimes too. I miss having someone to talk to 24/7."
"Hello, everyone." Taichi said as he arrived with Hikari and Koushiro. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh I was just telling them that I sometimes wish I had siblings."
"What are you talking about? You have us."
"I can relate to that."
"I figured you would." Sora smiled. "That's true, Taichi. I do have you, but I believe having a blood sibling is different."
"Hmm yeah. I know what you mean." Taichi looked at Hikari. "She can annoy the hell out of me sometimes, but I love her."
"I'm pretty sure it's the opposite, brother. I love you too, though." Hikari linked her arm with his.
"You two have such a sweet relationship. You and Yamato too. I admire them a lot."
"Thank you." Takeru smiled and then stood up. "Big brother!"
"Yamato!"
"I'm sorry for taking so long to arrive. I planned on making it on time, but I was held up in the rehearsal."
"It's okay."
Sora jumped from where she was sitting and looked at him with a rather large smile. "It's been a long time since we all got together like this."
"It's true. Our schedules make it harder for us to meet more often."
"I believe that's about to change." Taichi stated.
"What do you mean?" Jou asked.
"Today I got an SOS message from Agumon. So I rushed to the Digital World after class to see him and he took me to this cave where there was something that resembled an egg with a horn on it." He paused and looked at everyone to see their reactions before going on. "It also had the symbol of Courage. When I tried to lift it, three lights came out and went all the way up."
"These are the lights that came out from the computer." Hikari continued. "One of them stopped where Daisuke was standing and then turned into a new type of digivice."
"Yeah." Taichi nodded. "I couldn't lift the egg, which is called Digimental, but Daisuke lifted it pretty easily. And a Digimon came out after that and said he was his partner. Then we were attacked by a Monochromon and Daisuke's partner armor-evolved to Fladramon."
"Armor-evolved?" Yamato asked.
"Yeah, I've never seen that kind of evolution before. Agumon and the rest couldn't evolve, but Daisuke's Digimon did."
"Daisuke from the soccer club, in the Digital World?"
"Miyako and Iori, who live in the same building as me, have the new digivices too."
"So, those three are the new Chosen Children?" Jou questioned.
"So it seems."
"But..." Sora began to talk and drew everyone's attention to her. "…If the Digimon Kaiser is hunting Digimon... Will Piyomon and the rest be okay?"
"Mimi sent me an e-mail from America... She was worried about Palmon."
"Why don't we go too? To the Digital World." Yamato suggested.
"But... When I left the room, the gate had already closed."
"Right. Makes sense."
"Anyway, tomorrow I'll check all the computers in the computer lab." Koushiro stated.
"Yeah. I'm going too."
"Me too." Sora echoed Koushiro and Taichi.
Both Hikari and Takeru nodded positively.
"Sorry, I have a national test."
"I skipped band practice today, so..."
"Got it! Leave it to us." Taichi jumped from where he was sitting and stopped in front of Yamato.
"If something happens, let me know."
"Yeah."
"I think we're pretty much covered here." Koushiro stood up. "We'll keep in touch through e-mails."
"Great."
Sora was the last one to start walking out. She was behind Yamato and Takeru and could hear part of their happy conversation. It was a fact the older blonde was beyond glad that his brother was living near him now. Sora shook her head and smiled when she noticed Yamato was holding the gate for her. "Thank you."
"Anytime. Do you want a company home?"
"I appreciate it, but you are going in the other direction. I don't want to bother you. See you two tomorrow."
The brothers watched her walk away in a hurry. Yamato only recovered his senses when he realized Takeru had fake coughed to get his attention.
"What?"
"Nothing." The younger boy had a smirk on his face. "Sora looks different, doesn't she?"
"I have no idea what you mean." Yamato blushed. He had noticed it too, but he wouldn't admit it. "Now, come on. I'll walk you home."
"Sure, I'll just pretend I believe you." Takeru began to follow him. "You know you can tell about this too, right?"
"Tell you what?" He looked over his shoulder with an eyebrow raised.
"Feelings and girls."
"I know. But there's nothing to say, really."
They went the rest of their way to Takeru's building in silence.

"Are you sure you don't want to go up and see mom?" Takeru asked once they had reached his building. "She should be home by now."
"No, I have some homework to do and I was supposed to cook dinner tonight. Dad will kill me if he arrives and it's not done. But maybe we can spend the Golden Week together."
"That would be great." Takeru said happily. "I bet mom will love this."
"I hope so." Yamato shrugged. "Okay, so I'll stop by tomorrow morning and we can go to school together again."
"You don't have to, Yamato. Really."
"I want to." He cut Takeru off. "We'd barely seen each other because of the distance. I want to get closer to my brother again."
"Alright then."
"I'll stop by at eight."
"Okay." Takeru turned towards the gate. "Good night, big brother. Thank you for walking me home."
"No problem. Good night. And say hi to mom for me."
"I will."
Yamato waited for Takeru to go inside before heading to his own apartment.

.

Yamato was sitting on his bed strumming on his guitar. He was trying his best to concentrate on the new melody he was creating, but his mind wouldn't stop going through the events from the day. He still couldn't understand why he had put that cherry flower on Sora's ear and ran his hand down her face afterwards. And even less why she had touched it. He sighed in frustration and put his guitar away, lying on his bed right after. Overthinking about this was starting to give him a headache, but so was the pounding in his heart whenever he saw her and heard her name. Why did things have to be so complicated? They were great as friends.
"Yamato?" Hiroaki knocked on his door and the peeked in. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, dad." He sat down. "I was just trying to come up with a melody for a new song, but for some reason it's not working."
"Too much on your mind?" The man sat down beside his son.
"I suppose you can say that."
"What's bothering you, son? You seem quieter than usual today."
Yamato bit his lower lip. Receiving some advice from his father would be really helpful at that moment, but at the same time he was afraid of what he was going to listen from him. He didn't have to say anything though.
"Oh I see." Hiroaki looked at the opposite side of Yamato's room. "You're in that phase of your life." He waited for Yamato to say something, and only went on after he was sure nothing would be said by the blonde. "So you are having feelings for a girl."
"I don't know." Yamato buried his head into his hands, frustrated. "Something strange happened today and I spent pretty much all day trying to figure out what it meant."
"Well, not everything can be explained. But why don't you try telling me what happened? That is, if you trust your father enough to talk about these things. Maybe I can help you."
"There is this girl… you know her actually. We've met in the summer camp three years ago."
"So is she a… what do you call? Selected Child?"
"Chosen Child, dad." Yamato corrected him with a laugh. "No, she isn't."
He felt bad for lying to Hiroaki, but he really didn't want to say Sora's name out loud because that would mean admitting something he wasn't quite sure he was ready to yet.
"Alright, go on."
"So today she dropped a flower she had gotten on her way to school and I picked up for her. But I ended up brushing her hair behind her ear and putting the flower over it."
"Okay, so you did something that could mean romantic feelings. It's hard to judge from just one gesture though. Have you been flirting with her or vice-versa?"
"No, we are just friends. Or were, I don't know anymore. She probably never wants to see me again."
"Don't be so dramatic, Yamato. This is not enough of a reason to end a friendship."
"Well, there is more. I told her the flower looked good on her."
"I see." Hiroaki said and then went silent for a while. "It's really hard to tell if she understood these as romantic things, only she can tell you about this. The question here is: do you want it to be romantic? Do you see yourself dating this girl? How do you feel about it?"
"I don't know, dad. I mean, she's pretty and attractive, but what if it doesn't work?"
"What if it does? It's a 50% win situation." Hiroaki stated. "You shouldn't worry about it so much, son. Instead, why don't you enjoy this situation? If it's meant to be, it will happen sooner or later."
"I guess you're right."
"Love can be confusing. But it can also be the greatest thing ever." The man squeezed Yamato's right knee lightly and stood up. "Dinner is on the oven, whenever you feel like eating."
"Thanks."
Yamato lay down on his bed again after his father had left and looked at the ceiling. Love. Friendship. Some people believe they are complementary to each other, but it never seemed true to him. Well, of course they have their similarities, he was fully aware of that, but that was all it was for him. He thought it was stupid and naïve to associate their crests to fate or stuff like that. But now that he was thinking about it, he was starting to see they are deeper related than it meets the eye.

.

The week went by in the blink of an eye, and the weekend arrived very fast. While most people would enjoy a hot spring day like that Saturday in the beach or a swimming pool, Sora found herself window-shopping in Tokyo streets. Yamato's birthday would be in the following day and she wanted to buy a special gift for him. She and Taichi have this tradition for a couple of years, and she wanted to extend it to her fellow Chosen Children too. She had no idea what to buy for Yamato, all she knew was that she wanted it to be something special. Sora stopped by a jewelry store and saw a cute silver chain bracelet, in which you could add a lucky charm or something. She suddenly had this amazing idea, so she walked in.
"Hello." A woman from the store approached her. "May I help you?"
"Yes. I want to that silver bracelet you have in your shop window and would like to know how much more I have to pay for an extra lucky charm."
"That would be 101 yen more."
"Okay, great." Sora said excitedly. "So I want a light blue and white guitar charm and this symbol for the extra one, with this same color. Do you think you can do it?"
She took off her cellphone and showed a picture she had drawn of the Crest of Friendship. The woman from the store looked at it and nodded positively.
"Yes, I believe so. It will take us about two hours to have it done."
"It's okay. In the meantime I'll be looking at other stories nearby.

Sora returned home extremely happy. She had also stopped by a candy store to buy some items to make a cookie batch. She went to her bedroom to leave Yamato's present and met her mother on her way back.
"Sora, I was worried about you! You took longer than you said you would."
"I know. I'm sorry, mom. I decided to go to a candy store on the way and it took me a little longer than I expected."
"I understand." Toshiko looked at the bag on Sora's hand. "So what did you buy at the candy store?"
"Oh, I bought some ingredients to bake some cookies."
"Cookies?"
"Yeah, Yamato's birthday is tomorrow and I thought I'd surprise him."
"Yamato's birthday?"
Sora blushed when she realized what she had said. "And Taichi's too."
"Okay." Toshiko wasn't very convinced with her daughter's answer.
"I was wondering if you want to help me with it."
"Sure."
"Cool! Do I have to wait a little longer to bake them, or I can start now?"
"I think you can start now. We have enough time to bake another batch if something goes wrong."
"Great, I'll just tie my hair and then we can begin."

Sora returned a couple of minutes later and gathered all the ingredients she needed for the cookies. When she was almost finishing mixing everything, she bit her lower lip unsure about voicing what was on her mind. Not to her surprise though, Toshiko caught something in the air.
"What do you want to know?"
"Huh?" Sora had her eyebrows raised at her mother and then let out a smile. She should have known better.
"There's something bothering you. It's about that boy, isn't it?"
"Yamato? There's nothing bothering me about him, I already told you. It's just a birthday present."
"Sora, you only baked cookies for Taichi and that was years ago."
"Don't remind me." Sora frowned and shiver at the mere thought. "This is a completely different situation, though."
"Different because you might have feelings for him?"
Sora remained in silence. She knew that sometimes this could mean a confession, and Toshiko also believed that. But the girl thought voicing it out loud would seem realer than keep silent.
"Right." The woman said when she noticed her daughter was fighting with herself. "From what I've seen he seems a cool boy. There's no shame in liking him. Or any other boy for that matter."
"In our…" Sora shut her eyes with more force than she meant to use. "In our first day at school this year, he picked up a flower that I had dropped beside me and put it on my ear. Then he said it would look good on me, and he just walked out. And since then I've been trying to figure out what that meant."
"Some things don't have an explanation, Sora. They just happen. It's very difficult to say if he has feelings for you because such gestures are open to interpretation. It might seem like this for you, but there's a chance he doesn't feel the same way."
"I know, mom." She sighed. "The funny thing about this is that I had told Taichi and Koushiro moments before I wanted to fall in love this year."
"Time will tell, for sure. I just hope you don't keep your hopes high expecting for something that may not happen. But that doesn't mean you should act indifferently to this situation, by the way."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Just keep talking to him like you normally do and wait to see what happens. And if you want to find out whether he likes you or not, start throwing subtly hints and observe how he responds to them. It usually tells you a lot."
"Is that how you did with dad?"
"Actually he did it with me, sort of." Toshiko said as she remembered the days she and Haruhiko were younger and had just met.
"I just realized you never told me how you and dad met."
"We met in high school." She smiled. "Back then it was more common for the man to show interest rather than woman. Not that they didn't, but it wasn't as normal as it is nowadays."
"Was it both ways since the beginning?"
"Not really, but it didn't take long until I started liking him back. We got married in a traditional Japanese wedding style; I've showed you some pictures of it. I hope you have one as well."
"Mom, I'm only thirteen." Sora rubbed the back of her head. "There is plenty of time to even think about marrying. I don't even have a boyfriend."
"That might change soon."
"And I'm a different person… maybe my future boyfriend might want a wedding like the ones we see on movies and TV shows. You know, the white dress and such."
"Maybe."
Sora decided to end the conversation before they would jump into an argument. So she bent down and watched the cookies finish being baked. She grabbed a pair of thick pink gloves to take out the baking tray after the alarm went off. She tried one to see if they turned out good and she was sure it was the best batch she's ever baked. She decorated each cookie with a letter from the sentence 'Happy Birthday Yamato' in many different colors and let them dry before packing them up.

.

Sora woke up earlier than usual that Sunday. The first thing she did was check her phone. She had sent a text message to Yamato last night asking if she could stop by the following morning because she had something for him. They quickly got engaged into a conversation as he tried to get her to tell him what it was, but she was determined in not sharing it with him before the actual moment. She went to sleep very happily that night. There was a new message from him, asking her when she was going over to his apartment. Sora giggled at how curious he was to see what she had bought him. She quickly grabbed the two packages and went to his house.

.

Yamato tried to hide his nervousness when the doorbell from his apartment rang. His heart started beating faster to the point he had to take a few deep breaths before he was able to open the door. The remained air escaped his lungs the moment he saw her standing in the hall. Sora was wearing a short pink skirt and a white top. She had a red hair clip in the left side of her hair, which was tying her bangs. Only after she called his name a few times he returned to his senses.
"Do you want to come in?"
"Thank you." She smiled. "It will be quick, I don't want to take much of your time. I'm sure you want to celebrate with your family." Sora bent over to her right and peeked inside the house. "Good morning, Mr. Ishida!"
"Good morning, Sora." Hiroaki replied loudly from the kitchen table.
"I'll be right back." Yamato told his father over his shoulder and then closed the door behind him. He leaned his back against the balcony, staring at the white wall across him, and placed both his elbows on the balcony behind him. "So… you got me so curious I couldn't even sleep."
"I'm sorry. I hope it's worth the waiting." Sora took out a small package that was wrapped in a music themed paper and handed it to him.
Yamato quickly tore the paper away and came across a small black box. She grabbed the paper from his hands and put it inside her bag while he opened the box. "Wow…" He grabbed the bracelet and looked at it carefully. He couldn't help but smile. "I loved it. Thank you so much, Sora."
"You're welcome. It's just a small something to show you that I really like you." She smiled back at him. "I wanted to buy a thing that would mean something to you. I hope I did."
"You did indeed." He studied the two lucky charms. "You even got the symbol of the Crest of Friendship in one of them! How?"
"I drew a picture of it before I went to the jewelry store last week."
"I'm impressed." Yamato put the bracelet back into the box and closed it. "I didn't know you could draw."
"Well, it's not something I share with people that much, but I have a few freestyle drawings I made in my free time."
"I'd love to see them someday."
"Who knows?" Sora looked down to hide her blushing cheeks. "Anyway, what are you plans for your special day?"
"Oh, you know…" He shrugged and turned around to look at the view from his balcony. "The usual. Having lunch with my father and then dinner with Takeru and my mother. In the meantime, I'll just probably play my guitar and see if I can come up with new songs. I'm not sure if Taichi, Koushiro and Jou are coming over in the afternoon."
"That's nice." She looked down to the street below them for a moment and then changed her focus to him. "Well, I should probably go. I don't want to take more of your time."
"Don't be silly. You can never take my time." Yamato looked down, blushing. "I mean, I enjoy your company."
"I enjoy your company, too." Sora smiled softly. "Oh I almost forgot! I also baked you some cookies."
"Cookies? Oh wow, thank you so much!"
"You're welcome! Well, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Happy Birthday!"
She walked to him and kissed him on the cheek, then headed towards the elevator. When he was sure Sora was out of sight and couldn't see him anymore, he touched the place where she had just kissed him with his hand and a smile was formed in his lips.

.

The Golden Week had finally arrived. Yamato was going to spend a few days with his mother and Takeru, now that both brothers lived nearer.
"Brother." Takeru exclaimed happily when he opened the door of his apartment. Patamon was on the top of his usual white hat, smiling.
"So, first sleep over in your apartment since you and mom moved to Odaiba, huh?" Yamato hid his hand when his brother tried to pick up the bag. "No, I'm not really a guest here."
"Still, you don't come here that often. Allow me." Takeru motioned towards Yamato's bag again, in vain.
"I can perfectly take it to my bedroom myself. Are we sharing it like the old times?"
"Yeah. Either that or you're going to have to sleep on the couch, which is very uncomfortable, trust me."
"Alright. You can still have the bed. I don't mind sleeping on the floor at all."
"Absolutely not! You are going to sleep in the bed and this isn't open for discussion."
"Fine."
"Tomorrow I and the new generation are going to have a picnic at the Digital World, so I'll be gone all day and mom will be working until late at night, so you'll have the whole house to yourself. It can be a little lonely though."
"Don't worry about this. I'll be practicing with the band in the whole afternoon."
"Oh okay. You are taking The Teenage Wolves pretty seriously."
"Yeah, I guess."
"And you still feel uncomfortable with certain facts about you."
"I'm going to take a shower." Yamato shrugged and went to Takeru's bedroom to drop his bag and get his towel and some other stuff for the shower.
"Some things never change." Takeru smiled.

"Takeru, I'm home." Natsuko announced after she closed the door and dropped her keys in the small bowl next to it. She was surprised when she looked to her son and found the other one with him. "Yamato?!"
"He's staying over for a few days, don't you remember?"
"Oh right. Things have been so chaotic at work that I barely remember some things. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, mom." Yamato said reassuringly.
"Our apartment is still a mess, but we're getting there. Did Takeru show you everything?"
"Don't worry about it, mom. I know what it's like. And yes, he did. It's a very beautiful apartment."
"Thank you." Natsuko smiled softly. "Well, I'm going to take shower. Make yourself comfortable, okay?"
"Okay, mom. Thanks."
"We can order some takeouts after, if you want to."
"I can cook, it's not a problem for me."
"Absolutely not! You're a guest here."
"See? I told you." Takeru teased after Natsuko left and stuck his tongue at Yamato.
"It doesn't surprise me you talking like mom." Yamato teased back and burst into laughter.
"Shut up!" The younger one threw a pillow towards him.
"Game on!" Yamato threw one back and they started a pillow fight in the living room.

Yamato and Takeru finished playing another round of a video-game and decided to go to bed, even though they weren't tired or sleepy. Yamato unzipped his guitar case and grabbed his instrument, heading to Takeru's bed – he had given up arguing about it with his brother – and sitting down. Takeru observed him intently as the first accords from the guitar echoed in the room.
"Wow, that's a very cool melody." He said cheerfully. "It's a very different song from the ones you've showed us."
"Yeah, I've been trying to do something we haven't done before these past few weeks."
"I like the slow rhythm of it. Put on a love lyric and it will be perfect." Takeru noticed Yamato moving uncomfortably on the bed. "It's supposed to be a love song, isn't it?"
"Where did you get that from?" The older blonde tried to sound cool, but his blushing and he looking down said otherwise. "We don't sing about love."
"Well, you don't have to turn it into a band song. It can be your solo material, in case someday you decide to sing alone."
"I'm not sure." Yamato said unsurely. "You're right though, and I hate to admit it. And don't even think about making fun of it with me."
"I would never make fun of my brother being in love."
"I'm not in love, Takeru." He rolled his eyes.
"Yes, you are. You just haven't realized it yet. Just look at this bracelet you never take off."

.

The scent and the colors of the flowers in the Kyoto Botanical Garden brought a smile into Sora's lips. She had decided to spend her Golden Week in Kyoto with her father, who she hadn't seen in a while.
"I see you have more in common with your mother than you realize."
"Huh?" Sora looked at Haruhiko with surprise.
"You're getting passionate with flowers."
"Oh." The girl turned her attention back to the colorful flowers. "I guess I've been paying more attention to them lately."
"I think it's nice." Her father said with a smile. "You look different."
"Well, I'm growing up, dad." Sora said softly. "So it's a good thing I believe."
"Yes, yes. But what I mean is that there's a special glow in you that I can't quite figure out what it is. You don't need to feel embarrassed by it, though." Haruhiko added when he noticed she looked down to hide her blushing cheeks. "As you said, it's a good thing. So besides your newly discovered passion for flowers, what else is new with you?"
"I'm still practicing tennis, but I'm not sure if I want to be a professional player. It takes a lot of training and discipline."
"Which I'm sure you'll pull off without a struggle if you decide to go for it. You've always been a focused girl in everything you did."
"I've had the best examples I could ever ask for. Thanks to you and mom who raised me this way."
"Listen, Sora, I want to apologize to you for not making myself that present in your life lately."
"I understand, dad. It's okay. University can be a lot of work sometimes."
"Yeah, it can. I'm glad you came to visit me and spend this week here in Kyoto. "
"I'm glad too." Sora smiled. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." He hugged her. "So I was thinking we could go to the Kyoto Aquarium now, what do you say?"
"I would love that!"

.

Yamato was lying on his bed at his grandma's house. He and Takeru had decided to spend half of the Golden Week, which was coming to an ending, at her house in the countryside of Japan. Takeru was helping their grandma cook some traditional Japanese desserts for them to take back to Odaiba, but Yamato was sure he was probably eating more than helping. He looked at his right and came across a flower he had collected a few days ago. He was dying to show it to Sora, but unfortunately he would have to wait until he got back to Tokyo. Before he knew it, he was sending her a message.

"Hey there! I got something for you from here. Remind me to give it to you when school starts on Monday."
"Ohhh what is it?"
"Not gonna say, it's a surprise."
"You know you're gonna leave me curious until then, don't you?"
"I'm sorry. If it helps, I promise it will be worth it."
"I hope so, I can't wait to see what it is. By the way, did you like your bracelet?"
"I did. I'm wearing it right now, but then again, I barely take it off. I wish there was a way to show you right now."
"It's okay. Knowing that you liked and is wearing it is enough for me."
"In fact, I think it's one of the coolest birthday presents I've ever gotten. You're always so thoughtful and sweet."

Yamato could easily tell she was smiling after reading his last message, even if he wasn't looking at her personally. He just knew her well enough to tell how she would react in some situations. Just like he knew exactly what answer she would give him.

"Now you're exaggerating. I just care about my friends and want them to know they are special to me."
"Well, you better be sure you're special to all of us too."
"Thank you :)"
"I miss you."

Yamato was surprised to see another message sign blinking in his cellphone screen followed by a bleeping sound when he was even typing her a reply. A smile immediately appeared on his lips and his cheeks became a little red.

"I miss you too :)"

.

The warm breeze from May gently touched Sora's skin as she was walking to school that Monday after the Golden Week ended. This time she was alone. Taichi had surprisingly had gone earlier, but no one knew why. Koushiro probably had arrived school by then. As much as Sora enjoyed walking to school on her own, she missed their company that morning. Luck was on her side that morning. An arm waving near the right side of her face got her smiling widely. The bracelet on the wrist made it clear who it was.
"So you meant what you said about not taking it off."
"That's how much I loved it." Yamato was also smiling. "Good morning."
"Good morning to you too." Sora looked over her shoulder. "I thought Takeru would be with you. Don't you two walk to school together everyday?"
"We do, but he said he would have to come earlier today. I don't know why."
"Do you think maybe something happened in the Digital World?"
"If it was something like that, he would have told me already."
"Yeah, you're right." Sora sighed. "But Taichi said the same thing to me, and I found it odd."
"And it is." Yamato raised his eyebrow. "I'm starting to think something came up and they are trying to solve it. I'll definitely find out about this."
"Please, let me know if you find anything."
"Of course. So how was your Golden Week?"
"It was good, actually. I went to visit my father. I haven't seen him for a couple of months."
"I just realized you never really talked about him." Yamato opened his locker to pick up his History book. He then looked at his friend, whose locker was next to his. "Or not that I can remember."
"Well, he lives in Kyoto. He's a folklore professor at Kyoto University and it's a very demanding job, so he doesn't come home very often."
"I'm sorry about that." There was a look of sadness in his face, in contrast to the sweet smile on the girl's lips. "You must miss him a lot."
"Well, yeah." Sora confessed. "But I got used to it, I suppose."
"I know what it's like."
"But hey, you can make up with your mother now." She spoke and he looked up at her. "It's never too late."
"Yeah, I… I spent half of the Golden Week there."
"Really? I'm happy for you." The smile was back on her face. "What did you do in the other half?"
Yamato couldn't help but think how beautiful her smile was. He never paid attention to it before, but it made her glow. He vaguely remembered she had asked him a question. "We went to visit our grandmother in the countryside."
"The one you went to see two years ago?"
"That's the one. My other one lives in France."
"France?" Sora asked surprised.
"My mother is half-Japanese and half-French."
"Really? I don't think you ever told me that."
"I can tell you all you want to know one day. I mean…" Yamato shook his head. "If you want to know."
"I'd love to." Sora looked up when the school bell rang. "Well, we should get to class. We don't wanna be late."
"Right. Oh, I almost forgot." Yamato pulled a very small package out of his backpack. "Here you go."
"What is it?" Sora looked at the package intently but paid attention to the stairs at the same time, so she wouldn't trip over and fall down.
"Open it and you'll see."
She tore the wrapping open and could barely hold the smile on her face, not she wanted to anyway. She gently picked the flower and held it in her eye level. "It's so beautiful."
"I told you."
"You shouldn't have, really."
"I wanted to. I thought of you the moment I saw it and I knew I just had to bring it to you."
"Thank you, Yamato!" Sora exclaimed happily and kissed him on the cheek before entering the classroom.
"Seeing you grinning like this is worth everything." Yamato whispered to himself and let out a smile before following her.

.

The tennis practice was over that afternoon. Sora glanced to the benches and saw Yamato looking spaced out. His arms were placed over his thighs and his hands intertwined. Her heart raced; she had seen him like this only a few times. She got tense with every step she took in his direction.
"Hey, is everything okay?"
Yamato looked at up at her with a serious expression and she bit her lower lip. She immediately knew something very serious happened. She went up and sat beside him.
"Let me guess, you found out about what happened to Taichi."
"I did, and it's not a good thing."
Sora looked away. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to hear it or not. The words escaped her lips before she could control them though. "What happened?"
"Agumon was captured by the Digimon Kaiser."
"What?!" She looked at Yamato right away. "How did he do that? Why?"
"We don't know why. But he turned the dark ring into a dark spiral and used it to control Agumon."
"Oh my God, that's so cruel!" She stood up and almost felt dizzy with how fast she did it. "We should go to the Digital World and help him! He's already there, isn't he?"
"He is. He skipped soccer practice today." Yamato stood up. "He needs us."
"We should get going then. Oh but wait, we need one of the new generation Chosen Children to open the gate for us and they're all in the Digital World."
"Miyako is here." He stated. "She was having a hard time dealing with the situation and they agreed she should stay for a while."
"Oh good, so we have a way to go there." Sora threw her bag over her shoulder. "We shouldn't waste anymore time. Every second is precious right now."
"Yeah."

On their way over to the Computer Room, Sora's phone bleeped. It was a text message from her tennis coach, calling her to a meeting at the moment. "No way!"
"What happened?" Yamato looked at her.
"My tennis coach wants to talk to me right now."
"You should go."
"But…"
"I know you really want to be there for Taichi, but this is more important for you right now." He stopped in front of her, so she couldn't look away.
"I have to help Taichi. I'm his best friend." Sora cried.
"We got this." Yamato placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Okay." She sighed, defeated. "But you have to promise me you'll let me know if you need anything."
"Alright. I'll see you later." He ran to the Computer Room.

"Taichi!" Sora came running all the way from the opposite side of the school hall and jumped on her best friend's arms. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you. Are you okay?"
"It's okay, Sora. I know you had a last minute meeting, Yamato told us. Everything is alright now."
"So Agumon was saved?"
"Yes, thanks to Lighdramon."
"Huh?"
"We found the Digimental of Friendship today." Yamato said coolly. "Daisuke's partner has a second armor evolution."
"Oh." Sora was surprised. "I had no idea one Chosen Child could have more than one of them."
"Apparently yes, since it's very unlikely for more Chosen Children to join the group now."
"I wonder why we didn't get them instead." She questioned absentmindedly.
"I guess we're not much needed anymore." Koushiro replied.
"I'm much more worried about Piyomon now. What if the Digimon Kaiser tries to do something with her too?"
"We all are worried about it. But I don't think we can bring them to Earth." Yamato turned to Koushiro. "Can we?"
"I'm not sure. Probably only for a few days. And one of the new Chosen Children would have to open the gate for us."
"It sucks so much that we can't open the gate on our own anymore." Taichi complained. "I hate having to depend on the others for it."
"You're lucky Hikari is part of the new generation. It could be worse."
"Guys, we should get going. It's about to get dark."
"You're right. Let's go."

.

Sora loved studying near the Tokyo Bay. There was something different about it that day, though. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but it was drawing her attention since the morning. Maybe because of Hikari being taken there. She had been in a dark place three years ago, and she absolutely hated it. She couldn't tell how long she had been staring at the water, and even missed the sun already starting to set. She only returned to her senses when she noticed someone standing beside her. A smile escaped her lips when she looked down at her feet.
"It makes you remember, doesn't it?"
"It does." Sora looked at the water again. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if you, Takeru and Jou hadn't found me."
"Huh?" Yamato looked at her with his eyebrow raised. He didn't remember a time where she blatantly talked about the dark cave. But then again, it was a subject he had blocked out himself. Yet there she was, vulnerable. He mentally questioned how long this had been on her mind before that moment. Or if it had always been. He would be lying if he said he didn't think about his dark moments every once in a while, but the recent events especially hit him close to home. "We would have saved you one way or another."
"Even if you couldn't see where I was?"
"We would find a way." Yamato sat down beside her; their legs slightly brushing against each other. "There's no way we would leave you behind. I wouldn't leave you there at all, even if you hated me for bringing you back."
"I couldn't hate you even if I tried." Sora embraced her knees.
"It's been three years. Why are you even thinking about this?"
"For the same reason you are."
There it was. Plain and simple. She had him completely exposed with only six words. He wasn't surprised though, it was something that only the two of them could understand. It was a subject that brought them together three years ago, and it was bringing them together once again. He was surprised, however, when his hand reached out for hers and their fingers laced together. Surprise also hit him when she laid her head on his shoulder.
"Just so you know, I would have saved you as many times as I had to."
"I wouldn't expect it to be any other way."

.

July finally arrived, bringing along hotter temperatures. July also meant it was Tanabata Matsuri time, and Sora absolutely loved that festival. She really liked seeing all the trees filled with colored papers with wishes and watch them getting burned afterwards. That year, she went for lavender Yukata with small white flowers. The 2002 Tanabata Matsuri would always be special to her for a few reasons. It was the first time she drew and designed not only one, but two Yukatas. The other one was a light pink one with roses, made for a very special friend.
"Sora!" Mimi said loudly as she approached her. She was holding quite a few colored papers in her hands. "If you don't hurry, all the papers will be taken!"
"That would be because you'd have them all." Sora stuck her tongue at her playfully. "Actually, I'm going for only one color this year."
"Pink?!" Mimi blinked as she looked at the paper her friend was holding. "Are you having feelings for someone?"
Sora was about to answer, but was interrupted by the male Chosen Children. She quickly shoved the paper into her pocket and looked at them. Each one of them was wearing a different color of Yukata. Hikari was also with them, wearing a plain lilac one.
"It's so great that we're all here!" Mimi squealed happily. "It's been over a year since last time."
"I know, it's so hard to get all of us together in the same place. Especially now that you are living in the USA."
"Yeah, but I'll try to come as much as I can. I miss you guys so much!"
"We miss you too, Mimi."
"Isn't this Yukata so pretty?" She spun around herself. "Sora made it."
"Mimi, don't spread it!"
"Why not? People should know you design beautiful Yukatas."
"No, they shouldn't."
"Wow, they're indeed very pretty." Hikari said. "I'd love if you made me one someday."
"See, Sora? It isn't that terrible. You're very talented at it."
"I suppose so."

A little before the paper burning celebration, Sora sneaked away from the group to hang her paper onto the tree. She took one look towards the group to see if one of them was watching her before taking out her pink paper and hanging it on. Little did she know Yamato was doing the same in the opposite direction.

.

July went by in the blink of an eye. It was already the 3rd anniversary of the day the original Chosen Children went to the Digital World for the first time. As always, they all got together to celebrate.
"Mimi, let's go." Sora yelled from her living room. "The boys have been waiting for us for at least ten minutes."
"Nothing that reminds me of ten-year old me looks good on me when I try them on." Mimi complained when she appeared in the hall. She was wearing a white cowgirl-ish dress. And of course she had a pink hat on. "How do I look?"
"You look cute. I'm not surprised that you wanted to wear something that resembled your old dark pink dress." Sora looked up at her after she finished putting on her shoes.
"It's our anniversary after all." It was Mimi's turn to sit on the floor to put on her white boots, while Sora was up on her feet again.
"It's just sad we won't be able to go to the Digital World this year, as the school is closed and we can't open the gate in other computers."
"Yeah, I was really looking forward to see Palmon this year too." The brunette girl looked up at her friend. "I like your outfit though. I'm so happy you began to wear more skirts now. This one really suits one you, and it matches your top."
"I thought I could try wearing shorter clothes now. As for the combination, I think I became more aware of color combinations, textures and fabrics when I drew my first sketches."
"Have you been drawing more of these?"
"A few. I only do that when I have free time, which is very rare."
"You're gonna be an amazing stylist in the future. I just can feel it."
"There is plenty of time for me to decide what I want to do for living, but who knows?" Sora watched Mimi stand up after putting on and zipping her boots. "Let's go before they kill us for taking so long to go down."

Mimi was finishing getting ready for the night. The rest of the original Chosen Children were coming over to watch a movie and hang out before she had to go back to the US. Sora was already ready and was standing in front of a table, staring at the food she had made with a frown.
"I still don't think it's enough food for everyone."
"Are you kidding me?" Mimi's voice sounded distant due to her being in Sora's bedroom. "You can feed a whole army with this quantity."
"Taichi himself eats half of this easily. I really should have made more."
"Would you relax?" Mimi appeared into the hall while she finished putting on her hoop earrings. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and she was wearing light jeans shorts and a red top that showed a little part of her belly. "Worst case scenario, we can order pizza. But you're not nervous about this in fact, are you?"
"What?" Sora looked at her with a confused expression.
"You're afraid of the possibility Yamato doesn't like your food. And he's the reason why you are wearing this light blue flowery dress, isn't he?"
"What are you talking about, Mimi?" She broke eye contact with her. "Why would I worry about Yamato not liking my food or dress like this because of him?"
"Then explain to me why your cheeks are flushing and you looked away. I've noticed something was up since the Tanabata Matsuri about a month ago."
"Enlighten me."
Mimi sighed with frustration and rolled her eyes. "Well, to start, you had a pink paper hung on the tree at the festival. And I know so did he."
"Wait, how do you know that?" Sora asked. "Yamato isn't the type to say these things at all."
"Taichi is. He saw Yamato hanging a pink paper too and you know damn well sometimes he can't control his tongue."
"Well, as long as he controls his tongue in front of Yamato, I guess it's okay."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"Because there's nothing to answer, Mimi."
Mimi was going to say something, but the bell from the Takenouchi's apartment rang. "You were literally saved by the bell."

Sora was leaning against her balcony, watching her Chosen Children friends happily chatting on the sidewalk. Mimi was returning to the US the next day, so she wanted to spend as much time as she could with them until then. Sora then realized there were only six people down there and wondered where the other person was. It was when she heard a noise of what seemed to be of someone cleaning. She turned around and saw Yamato was putting the plates into a pile.
"What are you doing?" Sora asked him after she walked back in.
"Eh… I'm making your life easier?" He looked at her as if it was the most obvious thing ever, but he could barely hold his laughter.
"And how are you doing that exactly?" She was curious about his explanation.
"You see, pilling the plates makes it easier for you to take them to the kitchen."
"Interesting." Sora approached him. "What happens when you accidentally trip over something on the way though?"
Yamato thought about it for some minutes, but couldn't think of a decent answer to give.
"I just destroyed your reasoning with only a question." She burst into laughter.
He couldn't help but notice how unique her laugh was. It wasn't a quiet one, but it wasn't loud either. He thought it was perfect. And the way her body tilted back when she almost crying from laughter. "Fine. I'll give you that." He said at last.
"Shouldn't you be downstairs with the others? Mimi is leaving tomorrow."
"I should, but I think it's impolite to leave all the dirty dishes on the table for the host to clean."
"That's part of being a host, I guess." Sora shrugged. "Really, you don't have to help me. I and Mimi can do it later. You're a guest tonight."
"It's no trouble at all." Yamato grabbed the pile of plates and went to the kitchen, placing it on the sink. "But since I'm a guest tonight, I won't wash the dishes. Does that make you happy?"
"I'm happy that you're here." The words simply escaped her lips and she blushed heavily when she realized what she had said. "I mean, I'm happy that all of you are here. It's been a while since the whole group got together."
Yamato chose to ignore what she had said first, though he registered it in his mind. He was happy he was there too. He stared at her up and down and couldn't help thinking she looked more beautiful and cuter than he's ever remembered seeing her.
"So, there were a lot of unexpected events today, huh?" Sora decided to break the awkward tension she felt growing between them.
"Yeah, I think no one was expecting Wizarmon to contact us."
"Most definitely not. I still feel sad that he couldn't be reborn at the City of Beginnings like all the other Digimon."
"Me too. What do you think about the message he gave us?"
"I couldn't quite figure out what it means." She placed her hands on the chair in front of her. "But if I had to guess, I'd say that the new generation will have a lot of work ahead of them."
"True. It's a good thing that Takeru and Hikari are part of the new team and can help them out with a lot of things. But I still kind of miss being a part of this too. It sucks that our partners can't evolve because of this stupid Digimon Kaiser."
"Oh well, we can't win all the time, right? So we'll have to trust them for it. Let's hope they can defeat this boy so Piyomon and Gabumon can evolve again."
"That's what I hope." Yamato took a look around the table. "Well, I guess everything is tidied up now, so I might go home."
"Oh okay."
"Thanks for the night. It was really cool." He approached her and reached out for her ear. "I like your dress, it really suits you."
"Oh." Sora blushed and looked down. "T-Thanks."
"Wow, this place is beautiful." Taichi exclaimed as he looked around.

.

Yamato and Takeru had convinced his father to go camping for a few days so the younger one and the rest of the new generation could defeat the Digimon Kaiser for good. Since it would probably take them days to do it, Taichi came up with the idea of a camping and Yamato quickly jumped on. Koushiro was also with them. They chose Lake Yamanaka, near the Mount Fuji.
"Too bad Jou and Sora couldn't come." Taichi added after some minutes of silence.
"I'm pretty sure that's not what happened." Yamato stated. "We actually didn't invite them."
"I agree with Yamato. Why didn't we anyway? They would love to come here too."
"Jou wouldn't come anyway. He's always studying. And Sora would be the only girl. I think she would feel a little left out, even if she's close to all of us."
"I suppose so." The blonde shrugged. "I'll see if my father needs help with anything."

Things in the Digital World seemed to be quieter at the moment, so Yamato was resting a little in his bedroom. He hoped that Taichi and Koushiro would spend some time together downstairs, so he could have a peaceful moment on his own. He was about to put his hands behind his head when he noticed the bracelet had given him a few months ago. As much as he enjoyed camping with only Taichi and Koushiro, he had to confess he missed her. They were getting a lot closer lately, and somehow that whole thing seemed wrong without her. He rolled over to his right and picked up his D-terminal, flinging it open right away. His eyebrows were raised in surprise, but a smile quickly appeared on his lips. It seemed Sora had beaten him up to it.

"Hey, Yamato! How's everything over there? Are you three drinking enough water and eating well?"

The smile on his face grew wider. It was so typical of her to be concerned over things like this. Not that he considered it a bad thing. In fact, he loved that side of hers.

"Hello, Sora. Everything's fine here. This place is beautiful. The new Chosen Children team is still in the Digital World trying to defeat the Digimon Kaiser. We hope they can do it in the next days. Koushiro is so focused on helping them that he forgets about drinking water and eating reasonably, so I have to either keep reminding him or place a glass of water near him. As for Taichi… well, needless to say, right?"
"Why am I not surprised they would so such things? Well, I'm glad they have you around to keep them on track."
"That's true. But it's a fact you would do a much better job at this than me."
"I beg to differ. I'm sure you're doing a great job too! What about you, though?"
"What about me?"
"Are you drinking enough water and eating well?"

Yamato let out a small laugh. Even if she was far from them, she was still worried. He didn't expect it to be any different.

"I suppose so. I mean, I'm eating the same way I usually do when I'm at home."
"Somehow I'm not really convinced by that."
"I might as well take a picture and show you when we get back, so maybe you'll believe me then."
"Haha, I'm joking. I believe you."
"I kind of miss having you around here."
"Aren't you the sweetest? I wish I was there with you all as well, but I figured you'd want it to be a boys' thing only."
"I guess so."
"Are you alone now?"
"Yeah. Things seem to be calm in the Digital World, so I wanted to have some time with myself only."
"And Taichi hasn't come up looking for you yet?"
"Surprisingly, no. He's probably fallen asleep on the couch while watching TV."
"That's very likely. Having time for yourself is good too."
"What about you? What are you up to now?"
"I'm just reading a book. Was, actually. Texting someone special seems much more interesting right now."

Yamato was glad no one else was in the bedroom to see the slightly blush on his face. Did she actually refer to him as someone special or she was texting some other boy at the same time?! He shook his head and decided to play along, just in case.

"I bet that someone special is very lucky."
"Maybe. I should ask him though."

"Yamato?" Taichi opened the door rather tempestuously and almost scared him. "Where have you been, man? We're about to have dinner."
"I've been here the whole time." Yamato closed his D-terminal and placed it back where it was. He stood up and headed towards his best friend. "Any news on the Chosen Children at the Digital World?"
"They are probably sleeping now. But they found his fortress, so that's a huge advance on their mission."
"That's great! We'll contact them again in the morning." Yamato closed the door behind him, missing the bleeping sound his D-terminal made.

.

The boys were already gathered together in front of Koushiro's laptop to assist the new generation of the Chosen Children to defeat the Digimon Kaiser. Yamato opened his D-terminal to see if there was any e-mail from Takeru and his eyes widened when he realized he had completely forgotten to answer Sora.

"Hey, sorry I forgot to answer to you sooner. But yeah, you should ask him."

"Who are you talking to?" Taichi asked as he looked over Koushiro towards him.
"No one." Yamato said rather seriously as he closed his D-terminal, but still had it in his hands. "I was just checking to see if Takeru had sent me any e-mails."
"Smiling like this because of Takeru?" The brunette asked with his eyebrow raised. "It's bound to be some girl."
"Shut up, Taichi. It's not 'some girl'. Even if it was, that's none of your business."
"Guys, let's not fight please." Koushiro pleaded without taking his eyes away from his laptop. "We can discuss about girls or whatever you want after we're done with this."
"I don't know why it's so hard for you to admit you're dating a girl."
"Because I'm not dating?" Yamato rolled his eyes. "If I was, the whole school would probably know because gossip spreads fast."
"But there's someone, right?" Taichi insisted. "I'm still not convinced that was Takeru that you were talking to."
"There might be someone." The bass player said defeated. "Now will you please leave me alone?"
"I want to know if she's hot."
"What the hell, Taichi?! I am not gonna answer that."
"Why not? It's just a question."
"It's unnecessary and invasive. Not to mention inappropriate."
"I agree with Yamato. It's disrespectful too."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"Now can we focus on our task, please?"

.

September arrived and it brought the beginning of another school trimester. The golden rays of the sun made Sora's red hair much brighter as she was about to make her way home. She looked at the horizon with a gentle smile. She was gonna miss the summer.
"Hey Sora!" Taichi cupped his mouth with his hands, so his voice could echo further around.
"Taichi." She looked over her shoulder and then turned around to wait for her best friend. "I hadn't seen you around that much during summer break."
"Yeah, I was busy with soccer after we were captured by another enemy. I was also helping the new generation of Chosen Children. They were able to the Digimon Kaiser for once and all."
"That's really great. Now the Digital World will be back at peace again, hopefully."
"Let's hope so. Hey, do you want to eat some ice cream now?"
"Ice cream? I would love that!"
"I feel like we haven't spent much time together anymore."
"I know what you mean. We're both so caught up on our own personal activities and lives currently."
"Hey, Taichi! Sora!"
The two friends turned around and saw Koushiro and Yamato coming in their direction. Sora suddenly began to feel tense and nervous, but tried her best to hide it from the boys. It was the first time she was seeing Yamato after a month.
"Hey! We were just going to buy ice cream. Do you want to come along?"
"That actually sounds like a good idea."
"I'm in too."
Sora didn't know how to feel about this. Sure, she loved the idea of eating ice-cream with Taichi and Koushiro, but she was feeling a little nervous with Yamato's presence. She shook her head and focused on her friends after Taichi's voice echoed in her ear. "Huh?"
"Did you even hear me?"
"Sorry, I was a little distracted."
"This I know. So are you still going with us?"
"Yeah, why not?" Sora smiled at them. "We should enjoy the last days of summer and warm weather."

Taichi and Koushiro left earlier because they were going to help the new generation of Chosen Children with something. Sora began to feel nervous again and decided to focus on her ice cream.
"So…" Yamato rubbed the back of his neck to control his embarrassment. "How was your summer? I mean, after we saw each other a month ago when we were turned back to kids again."
"Oh don't remind me. It was good." Somehow hearing his voice made Sora relax more. "My father was able to come home for a few days after months away, so it was good to have him around again."
Sora looked at him and immediately felt bad for talking about her family being together again. She knew how much Yamato missed his mother and Takeru and how he wished they could live together again. Mostly for Takeru, he had learned how to be realistic about this a few years ago.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset."
"It's okay." Yamato looked at her and gave her a smile. "It stopped bothering me that much a while ago, even less now that Takeru and our mother are living nearer."
"I'm glad to hear that." She smiled back. "What about you though?"
"I just went to the countryside of Japan with Takeru. We always go visit our Japanese grandma for about two weeks every summer."
"Your Japanese grandma? You two have a grandma from another country?"
"Yeah, our mother is half French. Actually, her mother is Japanese, but she lived in France for some time while she was young and in college. She met my grandpa there and they fell in love after a few months. Needless to say, she never came back to Japan for good. Didn't I tell you about them before?"
"Oh right, you did. I remember now. It must have been love at first sight then." Sora stated more to herself than anything.
"I guess so." Yamato glanced at her while she was eating a piece of her ice cream. "Is this flavor good?"
"My favorite." She looked down at her dessert. "It's chocolate chip cookie. Want some?"
"No, I'm good." Yamato made a mental note to remember this in the future. Something told him he would need it.
"Take it." Sora almost shoved the ice cream into his mouth. She giggled when he rolled his eyes, but accepted it anyway. She wondered why boys were so stubborn sometimes and then realized she looked like one of those girlfriends who put food into their boyfriends' mouth and blushed.
"It's actually really good."
"I should have gotten another spoon. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. So what about your grandparents?" Yamato looked at her. "Do you see them a lot?"
"Not as much as I wanted to. They live in the countryside, and it's not a place my mother likes that much. My father loves it though."
"What about you? How do you feel about it?"
"To be honest, I love living in a large city. I don't see myself living in a calm countryside city anytime soon. I like the energy here."
"I know what you mean."
"I… eh… I should probably go."
"Sorry, I didn't realize I was keeping you from doing something you had to. It tends to happen when I'm with someone I really enjoy talking to."
"Don't be silly, you weren't keeping me from doing anything I had to do. Actually, I was thinking the same way about you." Sora managed to smile, but she was internally trying to absorb his last sentence. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"
The whole world seemed to have disappeared around Yamato. It happened every time she smiled like that, and it was even worse when the smile was aimed at him. It has been a constant thing lately and it often took people a lot of speaking and confused faces before he could return to his senses. That moment was no exception. "Tomorrow?! Oh, yes, yes! For a moment I forgot it's school day tomorrow."

.

Sora was sitting on her bed; the box opened beside her and its content spread on her bed. She was holding the now dried flower Yamato put on her hair in the beginning of the year. Toshiko was leaned against the doorframe for some moments until Sora turned her head around and saw her.
"Oh, hi mom." She blushed when she saw she was holding the flower in her hands.
"What's this?" Toshiko sat down beside her.
"It's a dried flower."
"This I know, but why are you keeping it?"
"I found it on the way to school in my first day this year. I found it beautiful, so I had to keep it." Sora stared at the flower for some more seconds. "Mom, how can you know you are in love with someone?"
"Well, you feel happier when the person is around. You can't stop thinking about them, and it always makes you feel happy. You are constantly blushing whenever the person is near, and you miss them when they are away. But it changes from a person to another."
Sora listened to her mother's answer carefully and found out she even related to some of them. She couldn't name what she was feeling until now. So that actually meant she was in love with Yamato?
"I assume a boy gave you this flower." Toshiko went on after she noticed her daughter wasn't going to say anything.
"Hmm, yes."
"Is it the boy who you gave the cookies to a few months ago?"
Sora didn't say anything, but she was fully aware this meant confirming it was. Still, remaining in silence was like not admitting to herself that flower meant a lot back then and even more now.
"Do you think he likes you?"
"I don't know. Maybe not."
"I know a way you can know for sure."
The girl looked at her mother with a confused expression.

.

The low temperatures soon came as the end of the year was getting closer. The students from Odaiba Junior High were already using their winter uniforms. Sora was making her way to the tennis court and always had to pass by the Music Room. A smile appeared on her lips when she heard the unmistakable guitar strumming. She had heard Yamato playing quite a few times before, but there was something different in the melody he was playing at the moment. Without realizing, she leaned against the wall with her eyes closed and let the sound get through her.

.

Yamato didn't know why he suddenly sat on the bench near the tennis court. School was already over, and so was his rehearsal with the Teenage Wolves. He never thought tennis could be so interesting, though he knew absolutely nothing about it. He was so focused on the practice match happening that didn't even see Takeru sitting down beside him.
"Sora is a great player, isn't she?"
"What?" Yamato looked at his brother with his eyebrow raised. "When did you get here?"
"Geez, you really can't stop paying attention to her." Takeru grinned. "I'm not surprised."
"What are you talking about?"
"You seriously don't have a clue or are you just pretending to play dumb?"
"Don't make me hit you, Takeru."
"I should be the one hitting you. When are you gonna confess to Sora?"
"Confess what?"
Takeru rolled his eyes. "That you like her?"
"Oh." Yamato looked down at his feet. "I don't think I can."
"Why not?"
"She might say she's not interested."
"Really, Yamato? It's quite obvious she is."
"Eh… no, it isn't."
Takeru grabbed his brother's wrist and brought it to his field of view. "She's the one who gave you this, right?"
Yamato remained in silence, even though he knew this would reply to his brother.
"Don't let her go, brother. Think about it."

.

Sora said bye to her mother and left to school. When she was about to close the gate of the building, she was surprised to see Yamato leaning against the wall right next to it in his usual cool way, with his hands shoved into his uniform pants.
"Good morning."
"Good morning, Yamato." She let out a smile. "What are you doing here? I believe the boys had already gone to school."
"Yes, I know." He approached her, a little nervous. "I wanted to talk to you before class."
"Alright." There was a puzzled look on Sora's face. "Did something happen?"
"No, not really." Yamato went through his bag and took out a small dark blue box. "This is for you."
"What?"
"Today is your birthday, isn't it?" He looked at her with a confused look, hoping it wasn't the wrong date or that he had missed it.
"It actually is." Her face lit up with a smile. "Thank you."
Sora grabbed the box Yamato was handing her and carefully opened it. It was a gold necklace with a miniature contour of a bird. Her smile got even wider when she held it in her hands.
"That must have been so expensive! You shouldn't have."
"Don't be silly. I wanted to." He smiled back at her. "I wanted to buy a thing that meant something for you. I hope I did."
Sora was ecstatic for a moment. She had said the exact same words when she gave him his birthday presents seven months ago. He remembered.
"You did." She said at last. "That was very sweet of you. Piyomon is going to freak out when she sees this. Thank you so much!" She jumped on him and kissed him on the cheek. "I loved it!"
"Great! Shall we go to school now?"
"Sure." Sora tried to put the necklace on but couldn't close it around her neck.
"Allow me." Yamato stepped behind her and closed the necklace.
"You could have waited to give it to me at school. You didn't have to come all the way to my house."
"I didn't want to make a scene about this." He looked at her and realized he might have worded it wrong. "I hope you don't feel offended by this, but you know how some fans can be sometimes. They wouldn't leave you alone and it was the last thing I wanted."
"I get it, Yamato. Really." Sora held the bird within her hand. "We've seen some… eh… incidents regarding them."
"Yeah. The necklace looked great on you, by the way."
"Aww really? I wish I had a mirror to see how I look with it. I will later, though. I don't plan on taking it off anytime today anyway."

.

Yamato, Taichi and Koushiro were walking home in that freezing afternoon of December. Winter was only a few days away, but the temperatures were already low. Taichi and Koushiro were chatting with concerned about the situation in the Digital World and what they could do to help the new generation, while Yamato seemed lost in his thoughts.
"Hey, Yamato. What's wrong?"
"What?" He blinked and looked at his friends. "Oh nothing. I'm just stressing over something."
"Over what?"
"The Teenage Wolves will participate in a band contest on Christmas. It will be broadcasted on TV Fuji."
"That's great, Yamato! It's a big opportunity for you and the band."
"It is. But I'm not sure if I feel comfortable being on TV."
"Just pretend it's a normal concert."
"You guys are gonna go, right?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Taichi said. "Are you going to invite the others too?"
"Yeah, everyone's invited."

.

Sora's heart was pounding so hard on her chest that she thought she was going to throw up. Her palms were sweating and she was feeling very nervous standing outside the candy store. She really wished Piyomon or Mimi was with her, encouraging her to go inside and buy the chocolate she wanted to. Sighing, she finally gathered the courage to enter and do what she had to.

.

Christmas was tomorrow. Sora was feeling tenser than usual in the past few days. Some girls give honmei chocolate to the boys they like that day, and though she was scared, she was determined to be one of them that year. She stood in front of the kitchen table and started shaking with nervousness.
"Sora, it's okay." Toshiko said in a reassuring tone and touched her shoulder. "You don't need to do this if you feel pressured."
"I want to, mom." She said firmly. "I'm just terrified about his answer."
"You think he might say no?"
"Would you call me crazy if I said I'm more terrified if he says yes?"
"If he says yes would be such a bad thing?"
"In theory, no. Yamato is caring, friendly, nice, among other things. But he's also popular in school and girls are crazy over him. That would put me in the spotlight in a way."
"But Sora, darling, you are already in the spotlight. You are one of the best tennis players in Odaiba Junior High. Besides, the most important thing is how you two feel about each other. You know the real Yamato, not his fans."
Sora then remembered she had told Taichi and Koushiro the same thing in the beginning of the school year. Her face immediately beamed with happiness and determination to finish her confession to him.

In the Christmas day's morning, the new generation of the Chosen Children had secretly brought Gabumon, Piyomon and the other Digimon to spend the holiday with their partners.

Sora had taken Piyomon home before they went to the Teenage Wolves concert. She needed to wrap the cake – she had decided to go for it instead of the honmei chocolate – she baked for Yamato. It was the first thing Piyomon smelled when they walked in. As expected, she said she had no doubt it was delicious.
"Piyomon, I need to tell you something." Sora said quite nervous from her seat on her bed. She knew Piyomon would squeal about it and obviously be all happy.
"Are you okay, Sora?" Piyomon grabbed her hands and looked at her intently. "Are you sick or something?"
"No, silly." She let out a smile. "I'm fine. In fact, I've never been greater."
"Oh, good. I like seeing you happy. So, what do you want to tell me?"
"It's about the cake I baked yesterday."
"Okay, what about it?" Piyomon sat on the floor and looked at her partner with curiosity.
"Well, we have this tradition in Japan where some girls give honmei chocolate to the boys they like. Honmei chocolate is homemade chocolate. It has a very deeper meaning when you do it at home than simply buying it."
"I see, and…" The pink bird's eyes sparkled when she understood what Sora was trying to say. "Sora, you have feelings for a boy! Does he like you? Does he treat you well? Is he cute?"
"You can say that." Sora felt her shoulders relax. There was much less burden on them after she told Piyomon about this. "And I decided to take my chances and give him a chocolate cake."
"Awww Sora, I'm so happy for you! What happens next?"
"Well, if he accepts it, it means the feelings go both ways and you start dating. If not, well… you move on."
"I'm sure he will accept it!" Piyomon said in her usual cheerful tone. "What boy wouldn't want to be with you? Ohhh when can I meet him?"
"You're happier than I thought you'd be." Sora said with a smile. "Actually, you already know each other. You two met three years ago."
"Is he a Chosen Child like you?" The Digimon saw her partner nodding at her affirmatively. "Is it Taichi?"
"What? No. Taichi and I are just best friends."
"Okay, so my next guess would be Yamato." Piyomon's eyes went wide when Sora blushed quite heavily. "You have feelings for Yamato!"
"Will you go with me when I go give it to him?"
"Of course!" She jumped on Sora's lap. "You two would make such a beautiful couple! I can already see it!"
"Calm down, Piyomon." Sora gave an awkward laugh. "He still needs to say yes or no to me."
"If he ever dares to say no to you, I'll never look in his face again."
"You don't need to be so melodramatic." The girl said playfully.

.

There Sora was, standing outside the dressing room the band was. She had been alright until that moment. Now she was shaking uncontrollably.
"Come on, Sora! Why are you stopping here?"
"Because…"
A very familiar voice called her name and she and Piyomon looked over. Taichi and Agumon soon approached them.
"Sora! What are you doing?"
She looked down at the square green package with a red lace in her hands and blushed a little. She was hoping no one would see her at that moment.
"Wow, I smell something delicious!" Gabumon suddenly opened the door from the dressing room.
"What is it?"
"Is that for Yamato?" Taichi inquired.
"Well, yeah..."
"What is it? Something homemade?" He kept pressuring to know what it was.
"Does that really matter?"
"Aren't you coming inside?"
"Sora's been hesitating for a while out here."
"Hey! Piyomon!"
"Hurry up and give it to him! They're about to start."
"Y...yeah..."
Seeing how Sora was still unsure about going in and giving Yamato the cake, Taichi approached her and touched her shoulder. She quickly glanced at it.
"Hurry up!" He pushed her towards the door.
"But..." She looked back at her best friend.
"If you don't want it, we'll eat it!"
"Okay. It'll be just a second." That was the push she needed to finally do what she wanted all along.
"Good luck, Sora."

The nervousness began to get the best of Sora again as she walked into the dressing room. She didn't realize that all of the band would be sharing it, but it seemed obvious now that she thought about it.
"Yamato, someone came to see you."
"Huh?" Yamato looked away from his guitar towards his partner. It was when he noticed Sora standing right behind him and the large square package on her hands.
Luckily for her, all three of them seemed to have noticed what was going to happen and made up some lame excuse to leave. The last thing she wanted was an audience to see her love confession.
"Sora! I thought I'd only be seeing you after the concert." He said with a smile and a rather unusual cheerfulness as he approached her. "The boys aren't here yet?"
"They are. Or at least Taichi is." Somehow his smile made her feel less nervous. "Anyway, I wanted to wish you good luck on the competition. And also to give you this."
"What is it?" Yamato asked, though the pounding in his heart told him he already had a clue.
"Whatever it is, it smells amazing." Gabumon stated.
"It's a homemade cake."
"A… homemade… cake?" He repeated, still trying to understand what was happening. He didn't know how he was supposed to answer to this. But he wasn't exactly surprised with it. Sora was the type to go for what she wanted, he knew it quite well. "T-Thank you."
"Can we eat it?" Gabumon was almost drooling with only the smell of it.
"Not now, Gabumon." Yamato let out a smile. "I shouldn't eat anything that can prejudice my voice before the concert and you most definitely would eat it all alone."
"I would not!"
"That was very sweet of you, Sora." He said a little embarrassed. "I promise to eat later and let you know what I thought of it."
"Alright." Sora smiled warmly. "I should get back to the others. They are probably waiting for me already."
As she was making her way out, she was almost knocked down by the rushed entrance of Jun Motomiya, who seemed to have the same idea as Sora.
"What are you doing here?!"

The concert started off greatly. People were enjoying – some of them were enjoying way too much.
"Yamato's good at singing! I'm surprised!" Gabumon said proudly.
Everything was going smooth until the sound began to change from the original song.
"It sounds weird…" Sora looked at Taichi.
"Some weird sound is getting mixed in."
"Is something wrong with the instruments?"
The sound was getting much worse to the point everyone covered their ears. When it was gone, Sora, Taichi, Koushiro and Jou opened their eyes and spotted a DarkTyrannomon right behind Yamato.
"They're Digimon!"
"What's going on here?!"
The crowd began to run outside as DarkTyrannomon walked further inside the place.
"Agumon, evolve!"
"I can't."
"Damn it, why?"
"Anyway, let's go outside!" Koushiro suggested.
"I agree!"
The group split up and went to different ways.
"We should separate too." Sora suggested to Koushiro and received a silent nod in return. She headed towards the stage. "Yamato!"
"Sora, why are you still here?!" Yamato shouted. "It's dangerous!"
"I could say the same thing to you." She looked up and rather big parts of the roof were beginning to fall around her. She was so shocked with the situation that couldn't react.
"We need to get out of here now." Yamato started running towards the exit. He then decided to look over his shoulder and saw Sora still standing where she was. He came back running towards her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down towards the ground. "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah." She didn't know how she could manage to reply to him.
"Don't ever scare me like that again." He grabbed her hand to make sure she wouldn't stay behind again. "Let's go."

After the Digimon invading Odaiba again and destroying the band contest were taken back to the Digital World, the Chosen Children went to drop Ken at the subway station. Yamato went back to grab his belongings and soon joined the old generation of Chosen Children in their walk home. Jou and Koushiro were the first ones to be dropped home. Not too long after, Yamato, Sora and Taichi arrived at the large apartment complex the three of them lived.
"Alright, I'm going up." Taichi said as soon as they stood in the middle of the two buildings. "I'll see you two tomorrow morning at Koushiro's house."
"Sure. Have a good night, Taichi." Sora said softly. "And thank you for earlier."
"No problem. It seems everything worked out in the end, right?" He winked and then ran to his building.
Sora was glad she had her back towards Yamato, so he couldn't see her blushing.
"What does that mean?"
"Oh, Taichi was a big help today." She turned around to look at him. "I was very nervous before I walked in, so he tried to calm me down. Read that as he almost pushed me inside."
Yamato couldn't help but laugh and think this was so like Taichi.
"I'm sorry the contest was ruined tonight."
"Oh well." He shrugged. "Feeling bad about it will be in vain now. Many people saw DarkTyrannomon through the TV and it worries me."
"Yeah, me too. But hopefully Koushiro comes up with a plan until tomorrow. Also, thank you for rescuing me earlier." Sora blushed a little.
"Don't mention it. You'd have done the same thing for me."
"So…"
"So…"
"Yamato, I want to eat the cake!"
"Geez, Gabumon!" Yamato chuckled at his partner. "Can't you wait just a little longer? You already waited all night."
"Gabumon, you're ruining their moment." Piyomon complained.
"Piyomon!"
"I'm sorry, Sora. But it's true."
"I should get going." Yamato stated and gave a step towards Sora. He wasn't sure if he should kiss her now or wait until he ate the cake she had made. But also, he didn't want to take his chances and have to wait longer because he didn't know what would happen at Koushiro's. Eventually, this was the winning decision for him.
Sora started to blush and shiver when she noticed he was getting closer to her, but she was unable to move. She briefly looked down to her left elbow when Yamato grabbed it and soon returned her focus to his face, immediately closing her eyes. Her heart racing on her chest.
And within minutes, their lips were touching. It was a gentle and sweet kiss, but also a little awkward at first. Still, she knew it felt right. Sora had no idea of what to do with her hands, so she just let them rest on his hips. Eventually they broke away and Yamato touched her forehead with his.
"Thanks again for the cake."
"I hope you like it."
"I have no doubt I will." He kept looking into her cinnamon eyes, but was fully aware of his surroundings. "Don't even think about it, Gabumon."
"Damn it."
"I should really go now. Otherwise there won't be any cake left." He pulled away from her.
"I think so too."
"So, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. Have a good night."
"Oh you can bet I will. You too."

.

Yamato undid the green wrapping and immediately came across a beautifully decorated chocolate cake inside a plastic cover. He was absolutely amazed by it and he could tell from the corner of his eye that so was Gabumon. The boy went to a drawer to pick up a knife and was returning to the table at the same time Hiroaki walked in.
"Was the bakery still open at this time?" He asked surprised when he looked at the dessert over the wooden table.
"What?!" Yamato was confused for a moment. "Oh, no. This is a gift."
"I want a slice then." Hiroaki went to the cupboard to pick up a plate for himself.
"Actually, dad, this is a confession cake."
"No slice then." He put the plate back on.
"Sorry, dad." The teenager felt a little bad for his father, but it would be too awkward for him to have a slice. "I promise I'll buy a very delicious cake for us tomorrow."
"Alright. So, a gift from a girl, huh?"
"Yeah, it was from…" Gabumon was cut off by Yamato's hand covering his mouth.
"No one!" Yamato gave an embarrassing laugh.
"You two are acting weird today." Hiroaki had his eyebrows raised. "Oh well, I'm going to take a shower and then go to sleep. I'm dead tired today."
"I'm sorry about this." Yamato said after he made sure his father couldn't hear them anymore. "I'm waiting for the right moment to tell him who baked this cake. I want to introduce he and Sora properly too."
"I see. I'm sorry I almost spilled for you."
"It's okay. Don't worry about it."
"Now can you please cut this cake?"
"Yes. I want to try it myself."

Yamato and Gabumon were fully satisfied after eating almost all the cake. It was absolutely delicious. Yamato was sure it was the best cake he'd ever had. He was feeling very happy despite the incident with the Digimon earlier, so he went to his bedroom to get his harmonica.
"Yamato." Gabumon spoke. "Now that you accepted Sora's cake and loved it, what is going to happen?"
"Now she's gonna be my girlfriend, Gabumon." Yamato let out a smile. It still didn't hit him that he and Sora would be a couple from now on, but the idea made him happy. He grabbed his D-terminal and quickly typed a message to her.

Hey! Just wanted to tell you that I ate the cake and it was really delicious! Gabumon himself ate half of it. :P
Thank you so much again!

Yamato closed his D-terminal right after he sent the message and grabbed his harmonica. He started playing the same song he used to play when he was eleven, every time he was feeling a very strong emotion.

.

The morning after was very busy and the Chosen Children had to travel to a few countries, so Yamato and Sora barely had time to talk before they left to Mexico and Russia, respectively. Sora and Miyako were fighting with a bunch of Mammons in northern Russia when their attack hit Garudamon and Sora fell off her. Luckily, Aquilamon got her before she could reach the snow. The Mammons were getting close and the girls had no way to defend themselves from them when Imperialdramon suddenly appeared and knocked them down. Sora and Piyomon were upset they couldn't try the Russian cuisine because they had to go back to Japan.
"I'm sorry you couldn't try the Russian food the Russian Chosen Children invited you to." Yamato said after most of their fellow Chosen Children had already gone separate ways to their houses. "I'm curious to know if you have tried any of them before."
"Well, yes. And since I was there, I wanted to try the real thing."
"I know it's not the same, but what if we go to a Russian restaurant?"
"I would love that! But can we go tomorrow? I'm really tired from all of this time zones change. Besides, my father is leaving in a few days and I want to spend some time with him."
"Yeah, yeah. We can definitely go tomorrow. I'm tired from this too. Mexico is so behind Japan, it's crazy."
"I know, right? It's difficult to talk to Mimi sometimes."
"I bet." Yamato looked up at the building. "Well, here we are."
"Thanks for offering to go to a Russian restaurant to make me happy." Sora approached Yamato and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll text you later."
"I'll be waiting." He had a huge smile on his face, which she missed.

.

The phone in the Ishida apartment rang early that morning. Hiroaki had already gone to work by the time Yamato walked out of his bedroom to answer it.
"Yamato, it's me. I'm sorry to call you so early."
"Sora, is everything okay? Your voice is alarmed."
"There's been a new Digimon invasion in Odaiba. It's on all over the TV."
"What?! They must have done something while we were away."
"Seems like it. Haven't you seen the news?"
"Not really, I woke up not too long ago." He searched for Gabumon in his apartment. "Give me ten minutes to get ready and I'll be there."
"Okay, I'll see you soon."

.

"I wish I could do more to help Takeru and the new generation." Yamato stated with annoyance. "I feel powerless."
"I know what you mean." Sora nodded sadly and leaned against the swing iron structure. "We should be fighting together. Our partners get weaker if they stay too long on Earth, so there's nothing much we can do."
"Also, this whole dark seed thing. Oikawa, Archnemon and Mummymon planned the whole thing very well. They took advantage of the fact we had to travel all over the world to put their plan into action here."
"I'm worried about the children. What will happen to them now?"
"I don't know." Yamato sighed and stood up, walking towards her. "We should keep an eye on them. This we can do. What do you say?"
"I would love it!" Sora's face beamed in happiness.
"By the way, I'm sorry we have to postpone our first date for a while." He unsurely wrapped his arm around her. He was afraid of how she would react about it and luckily for him, she didn't seem to mind. That gave him confidence enough to wrap his other one around her too.
"It's okay. It's not like we want to postpone it, but there are more important things now. It will happen eventually."
"Yeah." Yamato stroked Sora's cheek with the back of his hand. "I'll tell you what, when it does happen, it's gonna be the best first date you'll ever have."
"Oh yeah?" Sora looked at him with a grin. "What do you have in mind?"
"It's a secret. You'll find out when the time is right."
"You're no fun!" She playfully hit him in the chest.
"I'm pretty sure I am."
"You don't have this big ego, as far as I remember." Sora grinned at him.
"That's because I only show it to very close people."
"Oh I feel flattered now. I wonder what other things you are hiding from the world."
"You'll just have to wait and see." Yamato smiled and then leaned over, capturing her lips in a sweet and tender kiss.

.

Tokyo was much shinier than usual that year. Sora didn't know if it was because she never really paid attention to it before or she was just relieved the battle to protect the Digital World and the Earth again was finally over. Or maybe it was the view from the Tokyo Tower.
Yamato had spent the last five minutes or more observing Sora from afar. He couldn't help but notice how stunning she was that night. She was wearing a red coat and a light pink hat, which suited her perfectly. But the way she was amazed by the colorful and shiny city below and the smile on her face got him amazed too. A grin appeared on his face before he realized it.
"There you go." He handed Sora a thermal cup with hot chocolate.
"Thank you. You should look at this view!" She said excitedly while she grabbed the cup from his hands. "It's amazing!"
"I know. I was already looking at it."
"Huh?" She looked at him with a puzzled expression and then blushed after it hit her.
"You look so cute when you're embarrassed."
"Stop it!" Sora took a sip from her beverage to hide her embarrassment. "Tokyo looks even more beautiful from here."
"It does. There's something special about it tonight."
"I thought I was the only one who noticed it. I'm glad there's not a bad Digimon trying to take it down this time. I wouldn't want to have my New Year's Eve ruined too."
"Everything is back at peace now." Yamato placed his left arm around her shoulders. "The way everything happened is still sad, though."
"I know." Sora sighed. "He spent most of his life trying to go to the Digital World and, when he finally got to, he was too weak to enjoy it."
"Which is why we can't let his sacrifice be in vain. We should make the most of our lives, so we won't regret it in the future."
"You're right." She placed her hand on the glass window and took another look at the city before turning to her boyfriend. "It's been a crazy year."
"Yeah, but I can't complain about it at all. In fact, I think it's one of the best years of my life. If not the best one."
"I know what you mean." Sora looked at him with adoration and ran her right hand over his coat. "I would say this month was the most special one to me."
"Sure, if being attacked by Digimon and other evil forces is your thing." Yamato said playfully.
"Silly!" She jokingly hit him in the chest.
"Ouch!" He pretended to be hurt. "It's not my fault that's your definition of special."
"It is not! Wanna hear something ironic?"
"Always." Yamato looked down at her cinnamon eyes. "What is it?"
"On the first day of school, I was having a conversation with Taichi and Koushiro about love and how I wanted to fall in love this year. And then after they left to their classes, you showed up and put that flower I had dropped in my ear."
"Oh right. I remember that." He brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. "Wait, is that when everything changed for you?"
"Maybe. I can safely say something ignited in my heart that day, hence why I kept that flower."
"You kept it?!" Yamato was surprised with her revelation.
"Yeah, it's in a box in my bedroom. Somehow I just couldn't get rid of it, now I know why."
"Too bad you can't put it on anymore."
"But I have the necklace to make up for it." Sora took it off and stared at it with pride. "This one is just as meaningful."
Yamato raised his hand and touched his girlfriend's cheek with his left hand. She glanced at his wrist and noticed part of the bracelet she had given him on his birthday. "You're not the only one who has meaningful jewelry."
Sora's face beamed with happiness and the blonde couldn't hold his smile.
"What about you though? When did you realize your feelings towards me were changing?"
"I'm not exactly sure when I realized it, but I know I started feeling something not much longer than you, actually. Remember that time on Golden Week where we were texting each other for hours?"
"Oh yes, I remember it." She said with a smile. "You told me you had found an uncommon flower and thought about me. And…" Sora paused and looked up, as if she was reliving that moment in her mind. "Now I'm pretty sure you were flirting with me after that."
"How's that?"
"You said seeing me smile like that was worth everything."
"Hmmm." Yamato put a lock of her hair behind her ear. "So maybe I was flirting with you back then."
"Just maybe?"
"Alright, so I was flirting." His tone was playful and so was eye rolling. There was also a smile on his lips.
"You weren't the only one though. When you, Taichi and Koushiro had gone camping, I did send you some flirtatious sentences."
"So I wasn't just imagining things then."
"You got the hint?"
"Well, I had a clue. I couldn't exactly tell whether you were flirting or not through a text message. I didn't know you flirt."
"I don't usually. It was my first time, I admit." Sora took a sip of her hot beverage. "I'm happy we're here now. There's no one else I'd rather spend New Year's with."
"I'm glad I found you. Well, you found me, but you know that I mean."
"I prefer thinking we found each other."
"That's actually much better." Yamato nodded. "I like the way you think."
"You know, there's this tradition in some countries that you're supposed to kiss someone at the moment the countdown ends in order to have love in your life next year."
"Is that so? Or are you just coming up with an excuse so we can kiss?"
"Maybe a little bit of both." Sora smiled.
"Maybe we should try it. Who knows? It might bring us good luck in 2003."
"I think I'm lucky enough already." She rested her head on his chest and looked at the city below. She couldn't help but think what a crazy year it had been. If someone told her she'd be spending New Year's Eve in her boyfriend's arms and that he would be one of her best friends, she'd call this person crazy. Yet here she was. Here they were.
Yamato glanced down to the city too as he rubbed her back gently. He went through the whole year in his mind as if it was a movie. Not even in his wildest dreams would he imagine Sora was the one he would be holding in his arms today. Still, he was beyond glad he was. He was happy they both felt the same for each other. Thinking about it now, everything fell perfectly into place for them.
Around them, people were starting to get loud. The countdown to 2003 was about to start.
Sora placed her hand on Yamato's cheek. She was glad they were already past the awkward part and felt much more comfortable with each other.
They looked into each other's eyes and wrapped their arms around each other as the countdown was coming to an end. At the exact moment it came down to zero, their lips met in a very passionate kiss.
"Happy New Year, Yamato."
"Happy 2003, Sora. I have a feeling this year is going to be a great one."
"That's funny. I was going to say the same thing."
Sora reached up and pressed her lips against his briefly before wrapping her arms around him. They both watched the fireworks decorate Tokyo's sky for some minutes.