My Notes: Ok this is my FIRST OFFICIAL SORATO FAN FIC! YEA!! :o) Hehe. Anyways, this came to me in a dream so I hope you like it.
This is addressed to the Sorato fans: Please PLEASE review! I luv to hear from my fellow Yamato/Sora friends. I'm a sucker for reviews and, if I get enough encouragement, I may even do another Sorato. ^_^
To everyone else: Please PLEASE if your not a Sorato fan, still read this. I'm just hoping some people out there are mature enough not to base a review upon my couple pairing and hopefully instead my skill at writing or the plot. Also, I may write a Sorato today and a Taiora tomorrow, it all depends upon how the mood grabs me (though I'm neither a lemon fan nor a Yuri/Taiato. If I ever wrote one I'm afraid I wouldn't do it justice :)
K well that's enough from me. Good God, maybe I should call this 'My Insane Ramblings That Go On and On' instead. Ha ha. Now on with the fic!
Added Note: Sorry to Koori Chan! I wasn't really mad, I was just on the defensive I guess because its hard not to take reviews personal. I guess I shouldn't though and I'm sorry if I seemed really huffy! (I'm not!) ^o_~^ Thanks and sorry again!
::.::Pretty Baby::.::By Jasmine
Chapter Six: This Is ItLife went on as always for Sora. She dated Tai for the time being, pretending as if nothing happened, and hastily got caught up in the frantic Prom frenzy. She had volunteered to help decorate the day of the Prom. It was scheduled to be held in the beautiful garden at Hanako Park, just by the water, and she was sure everything would turn out great. Time went by in a blur and before anyone was prepared or ready, it was Saturday. Prom day.
^________^
The garden looked so magnificent and eerily beautiful. Flowers spilled open their pale petals from every side in colorful exotic array, scenting the warm night air with their sweet floral aroma. Pastel streamers hung in the lush canopy of the small white-barked trees along with pretty silver paper lanterns and tables and a few chairs were set about around a wooden platform used for dancing. A live band stood close by, playing pretty classical music as well as pop favorites. Fireflies fluttered in the air and looked like tiny beacons of hope in an oasis of metallic moonlight. Everything came together really well and was just so breathtaking.
Sora and Taichi were among the first to arrive, as it seemed the duty of the future Prom King and Queen to greet everyone as they arrived, or so Tai thought and Sora went along with it. As people filtered in, dressed in their best eveningwear, each one commented on how stunning Sora appeared. It was true. The young woman was adorned in a white strapless gown that was studded with pretty sparkly diamonds that trailed down her bodice and to her floor length hem and fit her slender form perfectly. She wore her gleaming auburn hair down, in small wavy strands, so that it lay like a shimmering waterfall down her back to her shoulder blades and a diamond rose necklace accentuated her swan-like neck.
Soon almost everyone had arrived and Prom was getting underway, Sora grew restless. "Do you think we could go dance now, Tai?" she asked in his ear as people passed by.
Tai firmly shook a boy's hand and smiled. He looked very handsome in his black tux and his brown hair was actually tame. "Not everyone has arrived yet, babe," he replied back.
A cool breeze passed by with a damp heaviness to it. The young woman glared at her boyfriend with her glimmering crimson eyes. "O yes, I've forgotten how much you like to keep up with your Prom King image," Sora remarked bitterly. 'Why am I so upset at him? This is who Tai is, why can't I just accept that? Why does it feel like I'm constantly looking for a reason to argue... to break up even?' The girl mentally asked herself.
The boy sighed, weary of Sora's growing resentment towards him. "Stuff like this is important to me, Sor. I'm sorry if it isn't that interesting to you but it is to me. Why don't you go dance with Mimi and I'll go over after everyone's arrived?" he replied.
'Because I need to dance with you! Please Tai, dance with me now or we may never get another chance... I'll know this isn't meant to be...' her mind cryptically wanted her to say but instead she said, "All right. See you later Tai."
Then Sora headed into the mass of people on the dance floor until she came upon Mimi. Her best friend was wearing a lovely velvet petal pink dress that was long and backless and fit her slender curvy body perfectly. Her long pink hair was held up in an intricate weaving of curls and she was moving to the music wildly, her strappy pink pumps long ago discarded in favor of comfort.
"Hey Mimi," Sora said not at all enthusiastically, forcing out a slight smile that disappeared behind bands of swollen moonlight.
The young woman didn't even stop dancing as she said over the music, "Hey Sora. You look so fabulous!"
"Ya you too! So where's Jyou, your Prince Charming?" she questioned, not really dancing along, just standing there and watching the sea of people envelope her.
She laughed a little and her lush eyelashes outlined in pink eyeliner brushed her high cheeks, "Off getting me some punch. Do you believe that! He is always such a gentleman! How about Tai? I figured you two would be off dancing the night away."
Sora sighed with exasperation, "I thought so too but you know Tai, always looking presentable and upstanding. I bet you he wouldn't even have come unless the Prom offered him a chance to show off his popularity."
The pink haired girl finally stopped dancing to offer up a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder. "I'm sorry Sora," she said softly and her hazel eyes, flecked with dancing gold specks, were full of compassion.
Suddenly the music, which had previously been some fast paced beat, was now changed to a soft melody. Jyou came through the crowd of people and approached the two young women. He looked gorgeous in his black tux and luminescent dark blue tie. Jyou's dark eyes were actually free of his glasses (contacts, people) and his raven hair was gelled back. He smiled at Sora and Mimi and said bashfully, "Hello ladies. Do you mind if I have this dance, Mimi Tachikawa?"
Mimi smiled brightly and squealed, "Of course, my Jyou!"
The couple ran off into the middle of the dance floor and left Sora standing by herself. The girl trudged over to a table and sat down on a chair all alone. As the music played enchantingly and pairs spun around the dance floor like children's colorful whirling tops, Sora sat with her chin in her hands and thought sadly, 'Who knew the most popular girl in high school and future Prom Queen would end up sitting alone? If I wasn't so depressed I would laugh at the irony.'
The minutes flew by like the delicate golden wings of a butterfly and soon it was the final hour of the dance. Sora was still miserably sitting on her chair; Tai hadn't even talked to her once since he'd started his post at the entrance of the Prom. She had eventually realized Matt wasn't making an appearance at the Prom and Sora wasn't completely surprised at this fact. These dances weren't his thing; he thought they were just some reason for people to get all glamed up and gossip some more... And he wasn't entirely wrong on that fact.
The principal, Mr. Junily, stood up on the platform and the band quieted. Everyone held in their laughter at his powder blue vintage tux and obvious ill-fitted wig. He cleared his throat and then spoke into the microphone. "Hello senior class of 2003! Your Prom looks wonderful, you really pulled it off! I have come to know each and every one of you, and there is no doubt in my mind that you all are capable of great things. All of you are winners! Yet there are two people, rather one young man and one young woman, who stand out as two fantastic and generous individuals. They have helped our school in many ways and aided their peers. I think you all know to whom I'm referring to: Prom King and Queen of 2003!"
The teens cheered and Mr. Junily's green eyes shown with pride. He pulled a small yellow envelope from his coat pocket and opened it. A smile spread upon his craggy face as he looked up at the sea of kids and said, "Prom King this year is... Taichi!" The young people cheered loudly and boys hooted for their friend. Tai feigned a look of surprise as he grinned brightly and ran up to the stage, slapping high fives along the way. A girl placed a golden crown upon his head that looked both cheesy and somehow impressive at the same time.
As the crowd quieted, Mr. Junily prepared to read the other name on his paper. "And the Prom Queen of 2003, the young woman who will accompany Taichi in their solo dance and is very close to everyone's heart, is... Sora Takenouchi!" The teens erupted in applause, whistles, and whoops. If it was possible, the roar was even more ear shattering then Tai's. The young woman blushed and grinned at all the attention she was receiving. Mimi hugged her best friend with tears welling up in her hazel eyes as she giggled happily, "I knew you would become Queen, Sor... Besides, Princess is already taken!" Sora walked over to the stage and a tiara of sparkling diamonds, matching the gems on her gown, was nestled upon her head of silky auburn hair.
"Two more responsible and generous students I have never known. And now, for their royal solo dance!" Mr. Junily bellowed over the din and the band began to play softly. The music spiraled out beautifully like the sweet tapered fingers and Tai leaned foreword and wordlessly took Sora's small hand in his, leading her out to the center of the scuffed dance floor. The crowd parted and gazed at the couple as if they really were royalty. The young man put two strong arms around Sora's waist and the girl let her hands fall around Tai's neck, feeling his warmth spread through her body.
As their feet moved in slow circles and their bodies swayed in unison, Tai let his lips touch her ear, kissing it and whispering at the same time, "You are breathtaking tonight, Queen Sora."
Everything was so enchanting and intoxicating. The scent of the sugary flowers and Tai's strong cologne filled her nostrils and the moonlight brushed over their bodies like the kind caress, outlining them in glistening blue. Tiny little lightening bugs danced in circles around their heads, reflecting in the crimson orbs of Sora's eyes. The young woman let the feeling overtake her and yet she felt somehow... trapped, unable to breath. "As are you, my King," she said softly, struggling against the dizziness that filled her mind like a thick haze.
He smiled and said in a hushed tone, "You're the only one I'd want by me tonight, Sor."
Sora was fighting to utter a reply when suddenly a cool wet drop hit the rise of her bare shoulder. She gasped and peered up at a stormy dark heaven as rain abruptly began to pour forth. Drop after drop plummeted earthbound and hit the two teens whom were still holding each other in stunned embrace. Shrieks from girls worried about ruining their fine evening wear and hollers from men who were more worried about their expensive suits filled the turbulent air and there was a frantic mad dash for the only cover in a close distance: their parked cars in a asphalt lot some feet away. Even Mr. Junily half waddled, half jogged to his awaiting mini-van, all the while shaking his head and shouting, "But the weatherman predicted a clear starry night! Damn that weatherman!"
Tai was just as worried about his new tux and he grabbed Sora's arm, tugging her foreword. "Come on. Let's get out of this rain."
But Tai's girlfriend was busy looking up and holding her palm out to catch the crystal drops upon her warm flesh. "It's beautiful," she whispered in apparent bliss, staring at a dark sky dotted by plummeting streaks of silver rain.
"Excuse me?" Tai asked, his jaw agape and his face was stamped with confusion.
Sora replied without even looking at him. "I love the rain," she laughed a bit as a drop hit the tip of her nose.
Tai's brown eyebrows knit together and he said sternly, "Since when? Its cold and wet and intrusive..."
"... And natural and brilliant and totally unexpected," the young woman finished his sentence with a smile brightening her glistening face. The rain fell on, spiraling along her skin and making delicate patterns.
The boy shook his head of soaking wet hair and clutched the girl's wrist once again. "Come on. You're not thinking clearly," he stated and began to tug his Queen towards the parking lot.
Yet Sora slipped from his grasp and took hold of the same hand that held her. She lifted his open hand up to the sky, palm vulnerable to each pulse of rainwater that spilled forth, in one flowing movement. With a look of pleading in her voice, she said, "No! For the first time in my life I am seeing clearly. Can't you see it?"
The young man snatched his hand away from Sora and snapped, "No, I can't. All I know is my brand new suit is getting soaked." His brown eyes were burning with annoyance and confusion.
"Forget about your damn tux!" the girl shouted suddenly, her breaths heaving in her throat. Sora regained herself a bit, sadness claiming her cinnamon eyes, and took in a long gasp; the red hair plastered to her skin and framing her beautiful oval face in damp tendrils. Her crimson eyes were filled with regret and wisdom. After a long moment, she spoke again and her voice was neither soft nor loud, "I think... I think we both know this isn't right, we aren't right anymore. I know I loved you... once. I know too that somewhere along the lines we lost sight of each other and grew apart. As hard as it is to face, we don't want the same things anymore."
Tai looked shocked and hurt as he spat out with hatred, the rain bouncing off his lips as he spoke, "Matt did this didn't he?"
The young woman shook her head softly, splaying strands of twisted cinnamon hair across her delicate face. "No. Its not him, its me." She raised a hand softly to the boy's wet clenched cheek and said, "I'm different than I was three years ago when we first started dating..."
The boy shook his head frantically and his eyes welled up with tears. "No! No, you are not! You are the same sweet Sora who I gave a daisy to on our first date, still the same Sora who gets scared at slasher movies!" he said loudly, his voice more urgent and pleading then mad.
Sora smiled softly and whispered, "I admit I was my happiest when I was with you, Tai, but things change. I'm still her; I've just grown... And so have you, Tai. We aren't the same couple anymore and it's time we stopped denying it. We can't just stay together because we're afraid to break up and not be 'us' anymore. There still will be a life left after we part. There will be other young woman who can love you better then I ever could, ones to give daisies too and frighten at scary movies. But it's not fair for you or me to stay a couple just because we're too scared to be alone. There's a future out there somewhere and we'll find it."
The young man cupped Sora's hand that was at his face in his hand and pleaded quietly, "No..."
Yet the girl continued just as softly, "Sometimes it's best just to let go, Tai."
Tears and rain fell across Tai's cheeks and he suddenly grasped Sora gently, pulling her into an urgent kiss. His slick lips meet hers in an ardent embrace as his hand pressed against the hollow of her back. And yet as he kissed his high school sweetheart, he suddenly felt... nothing. Their embrace was just as cold as the rain, which now beat down on their heads. Suddenly all their memories together rushed back to the young man; all their dates, Sora screaming at the sight of blood in the movie theater, the way her smile looked, their hide-and-seek game in the woods, their innocent kiss in the garden at Hanako Park, the sound of Sora's racket hitting a serve, the way a daisy looked behind her ear...
And he let it all go.
Tai pulled away and looked at her with an expression of both disappointment and understanding. He squeezed her moist, warm hand one last time and then let his grip slip. With that, Tai turned around and walked away, looking back only once, the rain spilling down his face; his deep chocolate eyes swelling with unshed tears.
:* )
Sora stood alone in the park's garden for some time with the rain pouring down and the drenched paper lanterns and snuffed-out candlesticks all scattered haphazardly about her. She just relished the feel of the rain as it soaked her dress and made her pale skin gleam.
A soft song fluttered to her ears gradually and it was soft and sorrowfully deep. It was the melody of a harmonica; perfectly echoing the music the professional band had just been playing a minute ago before they stampeded away. The song traveled over the rolling hills and through the beating rain to caress her damp skin and Sora looked in the direction it flitted in from. Just several feet away, close to the tormented lake coast, lay a wispy tree that was dark black against the horizon. Underneath stood the shadow of a young man playing an instrument. Sora's heart warmed at the sight and hope leapt up into her throat as her feet suddenly took off in the direction and she bounced over the grass beautifully, urgency and rain pouring down her face. She yanked off her shoes and tossed them aside, her toes splaying in the damp grass blades. Sora lifted her dress high to her knees, her cheeks alive with a rosy blush.
Yamato stood under the outstretched branches of a blossoming cherry tree; the flowers pale white with a fringing of dusky pink. He was dressed in black trousers and a white button down shirt, his jacket crumpled at his feet and his tie hanging loose across his chest. The cold metal of the harmonica moved methodically over his lips as he wailed the notes and his eyes were shut, the golden eyelashes dusting his high crescent cheeks. Sora softly stepped beyond the leafy awning and his eyelids slid open, pools of cobalt staring at her solemnly. The young man dropped the harmonica from his mouth and the frigid coldness wafted from his body. "Sorry your dance got ruined, Prom Queen," he greeted icily.
The young woman bit her petal lip gently and lowered her head. "I don't care about Prom. I don't care about any of it," she responded softly and reached up to take the diamond tiara from its perch on her head. Looking down at it, she dropped the crown to the grass. Then Sora gazed up, a fringe of crimson hair spilling into her auburn eyes, as she inquired, "Why didn't you go?"
Yamato was staring at her, meeting her gaze, and she could see the helpless frustration in his face. The sloping lines of his cheeks were gilded with luminous blue moonlight. "I was going to. I was there and everything, I had a date and rented this stupid tux," he said and then went on, his voice growing weaker and distant, "Then I saw you there, sitting alone. Tai was off doing his royal 'meet-and-greets' and you were sitting there, looking so sad and... perfect. And I couldn't. I had to leave, I just couldn't."
Sora's grief was revived and still she could read the pain in his tone, the wracking of tears in his throat. "Then you missed it," she spoke finally and mysteriously.
The young man's eyebrows raised and he asked in confusion, "Missed what?"
The red head went on, "Tai and I aren't together anymore."
Yamato did his best to remain emotionless even if his eyes rippled with grief and rage and he retorted sarcastically, "Well if I haven't heard those words before."
Sora was undaunted and shook her head, strands of damp hair making spiraled arcs in the air. "No you haven't. Because this time they're true. We weren't alike anymore, too much has changed. But I was afraid to not be with him. Because without him, I'd have to finally ask myself - who am I really?" she said.
The young man crossed his arms over his chest and his lips curled into a smirk. He snorted, "Wow. This is really interesting to hear about your self-revelation and all, but if you don't mind me asking, why should I give a shit?" There was a hurt to his anger though; his words were blistering with pain.
The petite young woman lost her restraint then and cried out in exasperation and anger, throwing her hands up, "O God, Matt! I know things haven't been easy but would you drop the whole 'fuck the world' attitude for just one damn minute?"
Yamato responded, shouting, finally saying what he'd wanted to say for along time, releasing his pain, "Why don't you try loving someone over and over and getting your heart ripped out again and again? Try letting someone make such an idiot out of you so many times that you feel like a pathetic fool - a fool for caring, a fool for believing next time would be different. You do that and try to be Ms.-fucking-Sunshine, alright." There were tears brimming in his eyes, he had just given a voice to everything he had been feeling. The air turned into turrets of white billows with his hot breath.
Sora's eyes were wide, she had no idea he had felt that much over her. 'How could I hurt someone so much and not even realize?' Finally she spoke softly, "You're right."
Yamato had been expecting a fight, an argument, anything but that, so he remained silent. The young woman went on, her voice heavy with defeat, "So I'll just say this then and I'll leave for good. I was so scared. To be me, to figure out what I'm really about. Tai made it easy to slip into the role of the girlfriend, the accessory. But you... You've always challenged me, to be honest, to be real. I feel when I'm with you."
Sora couldn't help the tears from tumbling over her long eyelashes beaded with raindrops and over the slick map of her cream cheeks. She continued, "And I guess... Things haven't turned out the way we would have wanted... You hurt and I did too, I know you don't think I have but God have I." Her voice was breaking, the sobs swallowing her as she spoke, "I... I guess the way I see it is... I've fallen so many times and cried so much. For all the bruises, all the scrapes... If it leads me to you... Then it was all worth it."
The young woman stood in the parting, undulating metallic light, her hair falling damp over her shoulders and her white dress hugging her small petite body. She felt so vulnerable and fragile, like at any moment he could break her. 'But this is it. This is the risk. This is love.' Sora finally whispered breathlessly into the quiet between them, "So I guess the real question is... Can you love me again?"
The silence sunk around them and his eyes swam with emotions and thoughts. The moment drifted by slowly, catching them like rich thick amber, and the rain made a soft lull as it strummed against the leafy canopy above. Finally Yamato said with a slight smile, his yearning gaze meeting hers, "I never stopped." Then the young man reached across the distance to place a warm hand across her cheek and he leaned in against her. She felt his breath spilling against her face and his fingers interwove between the tendrils of scarlet locks as his lips met hers. The kiss was soft and passionate, her hand touching his upper arm. Shivering tingles traveled up her spine with the fluttering touch of his lips to hers, her heart turned light in her chest. Sora leaned in closer to him and the rain fell on.
'This is it.'
^_^
"Pretty Baby"Vanessa Carlton (Live)
you light me up and then I fall for you
you lay me down and then I call for you
stumbling on reasons that are far and few
I'd let it all come down and then some for you
pretty baby don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you
pretty baby why can't you see
you're the one that I belong to
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
for you're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be alright and I'll sleep sound
as long as you keep comin' around, oh pretty baby
and I know things can't last forever
but there are lessons that you'll never learn
oh just the scent of you it makes me hurt
so how's it you that makes me better
[chorus]
why can't you hold me and never let go
when you touch me it is me that you own
pretty baby oh the place that you hold in my heart
would you break it apart again... oh pretty baby
[chorus]
*
Closing Notes: Inner sap alert! Sorry I just couldn't think of any better way to end this then with a sugary-sweet kiss and all. Hope you don't mind... Welp, that's all, folks! I had a blast; it's been fun but now all bums out! ^_^ See ya around...
