OMG!! This chapter is where I finally get to do that scene I've been waiting for. Anyhow, this is where Sora really gets to come into play of this. Oh, and to all you TAIORA fans out there, don't forget I'm one too. Their time to shine will come soon enough. I also get to do some Yamato bashing... finally! Yeah!! Well, enjoy!

Terms In This Chapter:
Koibito: Japanese for sweetheart
Gomenesai: Japanese for I'm sorry

Chapter 3 - A Princess Gone Downhill

Walking home Taichi held the envelope in his arms. Miyuzami and Kyle had left him to head back to their hotel room. He still couldn't believe that the one girl he'd always cherished and remembered was the same one that had broken his heart only no more than six hours ago. "Why? How come back then she loved only me? She'd give me a peck on the cheek every morning I was around, and now she couldn't give a damn even if I were to commit suicide," he asked himself. "Well, I guess I better stop by the bank first," Taichi added checking his wallet.

Meanwhile, Yamato was walking towards the park with Gabumon. In Yamato's hand however was something that almost no one would've expected. Tucked inside a small brown paper bag was marijuana.

"That was a nice deal I got from Sora, huh?" Yamato stated proud of himself. "Five-hundred yen for five pounds of this stuff is one heck of a price. She might as well be givin' it away."

"I don't think that it was a good idea though," Gabumon replied sounding hesitant on the idea.

"Ah c'mon, don't be such a spoil sport. I'll let you give it a try when we get to the park," Yamato insisted not paying one bit of attention to the words of advice his digimon was trying to give him.

"Just one question though. Why get Sora to be the dealer instead of you just selling it yourself?" the digimon asked.

"Cuz, if I was doing it then I could go to prison, but since she is she'll be the one to do the time if she gets caught. Besides, since I'm dating her I can get it for pretty close to free, and with the right persuasion I can get her to buy me stuff with at least half of the cash she makes off it." (Slime ball, huh?)

As Taichi entered the bank he pulled his card and passbook from his back pocket. "What should I say to her and her mother anyhow? Should I even say anything at all? Would Kykaw work out just great if it never saw the Royal Family again?" he pondered to himself as he slipped his card into the electronic teller machine.

"Welcome. Please enter your pin number," the machine said.

Taichi entered in his number. "Well, I'll just update my book and make the withdrawal afterwards. Then update it again," he said punching in a few buttons.

Afterwards he walked out of the bank and opened his passbook to take a quick look at it when he noticed something strange. "I never made a withdrawal of 100,000 yen! What happened to it?!" he exclaimed freaking out over the situation. "That cash was part of my college savings. How could it just go missing like that?"

Meanwhile Sora sat up in bed swigging back a small bottle of red wine. Then she got up, quietly changed and snuck out of the apartment.

Finding her way past her apartment building she took off into an alleyway where a group of teenagers waited. "Okay, I got everyone's orders," she said keeping her voice down. Then she took the cash and handed them the merchandise.

Taichi walked by that alleyway when he heard what he swore was Sora's voice. He turned the corner and flipped the switch on his flashlight. In front of him was a sight he just couldn't believe the slightest bit.

The group of teenagers took off and Taichi and Sora were left alone.

"Sora, what're you doing out here? Please tell me it isn't what it looks like," he said shocked.

"Thanks for chasing away all my customers!" Sora replied in an angry sarcastic tone of voice.

"Sora, are you feeling alright?" he asked softly ignoring her previous comment. "You've been worrying me lately," he added walking closer to her.

"Taichi, I'm fine. I'm just completely peachy. There's no reason to worry about me. Besides, did you forget? I'm not your girlfriend. It's not your job to worry about me," she said rambling on in denial.

"Just because we're not dating doesn't mean that I can't worry about you," he said in a caring voice attempting to put his arms around her as some comfort.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled angrily.

Taichi knew that right now was hopeless, so the best he could do is keep an eye on her 'til he could get some more information. With that realization, he turned around and began heading home. He hated leaving her there like that, but what else was he supposed to do at the moment?

"Hey, where've you been?" Hikari asked as Taichi walked through the apartment door. "Mom and Dad have been worried sick about you. They even went out to look for you," she told him before noticing the mood he was in. "Is something wrong?"

Taichi simply waddled past his sister without giving her an answer of any kind and entered his room. Then he flopped out on his bed, kicked off his shoes and fell fast asleep.

The next morning the sunlight beamed through his window blinding him as he opened his eyes to the new day. As he opened his windows the snow on the ledge fell and a few flakes that managed through the screen hit him in the face.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully for some unknown reason to his family whom were sitting on the floor handing out each other's stockings, so they could all rummage through them to see what they'd received.

"Well, you seem much more happier than last night," Hikari said smiling as she handed him his stocking.

"Why? What was wrong with me last night?" he replied pulling a box of Turtles Chocolates from his stocking.

"You didn't tell me. You just walked right by me without saying a thing."

"Taichi, did you get drunk last night!?" Mrs. Yagami yelled. "You know you're too young for that!"

"No mom. It was nothing like that. I just wasn't feeling myself last night," he explained followed by a soft sigh. "Last night I found Sora out in one of the alleyways. She seemed like something was terribly wrong, but unfortunately she's in serious denial. I tried to do what I could, but nothing seemed to get through to her. All she wanted to do was yell and scream at me." Taichi bowed his head looking at the floor and added; his voice fully of self pity, "I just wanted to help her. I'm scared something bad's gonna happen to Sora if I don't do something."

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself, but you know, you should do whatever your heart tells you to do about it, and always trust that self instinct you get," his mother replied beginning to understand how he felt. "Now, let's forget about this for the moment and open some presents," she added changing her emotions instantly to cheerful.

Taichi began to try and forget it as he opened his wonderful Christmas gifts, but the truth was that the most wonderful thing in the world was Sora, and right now she was in trouble. He just had to save her. He kept looking down at the crest on his left wrist. It wasn't the crest of courage. It was a tattoo crest he'd received for becoming a knight-in-training. As he completed each section of the training one more symbol would be added, 'til there was a total of nine symbols surrounding the main section of the crest. Once that had happened he'd be declared a fully trained knight. Still, whether or not his training was completed he still felt an obligation to Sora. King Tanasaki had told him the most important tip to fighting. Unfortunately, he still didn't understand what his words had meant. "What does it mean? 'Watch your enemy before your opponent'. What is that supposed to mean?" he asked himself under his breath.

Meanwhile Miyuzami and Kyle were lying in bed cuddled up naked. The two of them intertwined their fingers together, and Kyle was running his fingers of his other hand through her hair.

Miyuzami leaned upwards and kissed her husband on the lips. Even though this was one of their special moments she had something on her mind. "Hun, how come the Elite Guardians haven't been able to catch King Tanasaki's killer when they've encountered him so many times?" she asked softly sounding a tad depressed.

"Probably, cause as much as he's feared by so many everyday individuals he's a coward when it comes to facing someone more skilled and powerful than he is. Basically, he's like your school yard bully. He picks on the weak, but takes off when the teacher's coming," Kyle replied. "How come you brought that up now? Are you feeling alright koibito?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied with a sigh. "I guess it's just 'cause I can't get it out of my head. I saw Kykaw's king killed right before my eyes."

"Well, I think a nice hot bath might help you get it off your mind for right now," he replied romantically flirting as he got up out of bed. Then Kyle leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"When I find him I'm not letting that bastard son-of-a-bitch go. He's gonna face the music, whether he likes it or not. I'm going to personally strip him of his knighthood and his head myself," Miyuzami said angrily as she entered the bathroom.

"Ah c'mon, relax, clear your head and let's take a bath. Then we'll go have breakfast."

That afternoon Taichi walked over to Sora's apartment to speak to them about the envelope he'd found. He was about to knock on the door when it opened and a man in what appeared to be his mid to late forties stomped out shouting at Mrs. Takenouchi. He appeared to be terribly drunk. Taichi couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he'd sworn that he'd seen that man before some point in his life.

"THE ANSWER IS NO!" she yelled, her lungs exhausted from the argument.

The man raised his hand, and was about to strike her face when a hand grabbed hold. He looked over to see Taichi's hand a hold of his wrist.

"Keep your filthy hands off her! Don't you ever even attempt to hit her or anyone else like that again!" Taichi said angrily firm before throwing down the man's wrist. The teenager gave him a warning stare and the man walked away and entered the elevator.

"Thank you Taichi. You really are a saint," Mrs. Takenouchi said relieved.

"You're welcome. By the way, who was that? His face looks SO familiar, like I've seen him before in the distant past somewhere," the teenager asked.

"That's Sir Yoshiaki Sakamoto. He's always been a blessing to this family, but unfortunately ever since eleven years ago he's been very depressed. As a result he tends to be hooked on the alcohol quite a bit and he's a violent drunk," Mrs. Takenouchi explained before adding, "Are you here to see Sora? She's at the park this afternoon."

Taichi couldn't quite figure it out, but he'd heard the name Sakamoto before. "Where do I know that name from?" he pondered to himself. "Uh no I'm not. I came to talk to you actually," he finally replied.

After a long conversation Mrs Takenouchi admitted that she and her daughter were the missing Royal Family, and that she did not know who had killed her husband. She had been there, but the screams of pain and fire before them had dulled her sight and hearing when it had happened. Many other men, women and children had lost their lives that day as well. It had been a day of great tragedy and slaughter on around 1000 lives.

Still, what Mrs Takenouchi had told him had been blurred even by her own memories. Then something caught his mind. Sora had been holding in her hands last night the one thing that might've been the answer to everyone's memory loss on the subject. Drugs. With this realization Taichi thanked Mrs Takenouchi and headed over to Koshiro's place.

"Who is it?" Koshiro asked from inside his apartment. He had been playing computer games with his girlfriend Amanda all day.

"It's Taichi. I have something really important I need to talk to you about," he replied raising his voice a little.

"Yeah okay," Koshiro said slipping back on his shirt. "I'll be right there." Then he turned to Amanda and said quietly, "Don't start getting too affectionate or anything while he's here, okay? Taichi'll have a field day if he finds out were heavily dating. It wouldn't surprise me if he brought CNN here about it."

"Okay. You don't have anything to worry about. I'll grab my books and make it look like you were trying to give me some tutoring," Amanda replied quietly. Then she wiped the smudged lipstick from her face with a tissue and brought out her study material. Then she set the books down on the coffee table and opened them.

Koshiro opened the apartment door. "C'mon in. So, what's the matter?" he said to his best friend.

Taichi walked through the doorway, took off his jacket and slipped off his shoes. Then he replied, "Close the door and I'll start." Taichi looked up to notice Amanda sitting on the floor working on her homework. "Is she still living here?" he asked pointing at the long black haired; emerald eyed girl a few feet in front of him.

"Yeah, of course. Where else is she gonna go? There anything wrong with that?" Koshiro replied looking at his girlfriend smiling.

"No, of course not. Did your foster parents adopt her too?"

"They took her in if that's what you mean. It's impossible to adopt someone that doesn't even have any records of being born in the first place," he began before turning to his girlfriend and adding, "...right Amanda?"

"Yup," she replied cheerfully with a bright smile on her face. Then she turned to Taichi and added, "Sussus. Nijai na tauté?"

"Huh? What did you just say?" Taichi asked confused.

"That's Atlantian for 'Hello. How are you?' So, how have you been?" Amanda explained as Taichi sat down on the couch.

"I'm alright I guess. You didn't tell me you were from Atlantis. Koshiro said that you were technically over 3000 years old and physically only 14, but never told me where you were from. What was Atlantis like?" Taichi replied fascinated and excited over the information he'd just received.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now," she replied depressed like there was something about the subject eating her up inside. Then changing the subject she said cheerfully, "Is it okay if I sit in on what you need to discuss with m.... Koshiro?" Amanda had almost slipped in calling him her boyfriend, but after her quick correction she let off a mental sigh of relief.

"Yeah, it's perfectly okay." Taichi looked around him. "Speaking of Koshiro, where did he go anyway?"

"Right here," came a reply as he walked into the living room with a tray of food. "Just thought I'd grab some snacks first." Koshiro put down the tray and then sat down beside his best friend on the couch.

"Thanks," Taichi said dipping a chip. Then he said seriously, "Okay. The two of you MUST swear to never tell anyone else this information I'm about to tell you. Got it? This is something you absolutely must carry with you to your graves."

"We swear," the couple said in unison crossing their hearts.

Shoving a piece of cheese into his mouth, Taichi begun to explain everything he could tell them that had happened so far that his memory would allow him to. He told them about Sora being the princess, what he'd seen her doing, the past, Miyuzami, Kyle and anything else he could think of within the subject. ".... and so I decided to see you. Is there any kind of drug that could cause such type of memory loss?"

"Tons, but to be aimed at one genre of information the person would have to be unconscious when the drug was inserted into the body," Koshiro replied shocked by the story Taichi had just told him. He just couldn't believe that he'd known the Royal Family for at least four years now. Not to mention that Sora had gotten into drugs and Taichi had been knighted when he was only four years old. This was practically a war for justice and royalty. "Uh, Taichi. In about half an hour everyone's meeting at the park. Maybe you should come too. There's a chance we can do something or get some information on the subject."

"I'm going too," Amanda added brushing her hair with her fingers.

"Yeah, okay. I'll go too," Taichi replied. "Thanks for everything."

An hour later all the digidestined sat in the park chatting and munching down a few snacks. Taichi kept eyeing Sora and her surroundings. He was positive that the answer must've been related around her somehow, but just couldn't figure it out.

"Sora, would you grab me a Pepsi from the cooler?" Yamato asked his girlfriend.

"Okay. Regular, diet or lemon flavored?" she answered getting up. Her voice didn't sound normal though. She sounded like an android or drone.

"Regular. Oh, and grab one for Daisuke here as well," he replied lightly slapping Daisuke over the back.

As the conversation continued she still sounded the same way. She moved like it to. So, finally Taichi decided to give things a test. "Hey Sora, while you're up, would you mind grabbing me a couple Twinkies?" he said trying his best to sound cheerful.

Sora's voice suddenly turned to a sour drone as she answered, "You've got two working legs. Get 'em yourself."

Taichi was taken back by the remark, but what bothered him even more was the drone sound in her voice that didn't seem to leave whenever she spoke to anyone. Sora also didn't open her mouth unless she was spoken to first, which was very unusual. He wasn't entirely sure, but either the Sora he was looking at was a fake or she was being controlled somehow. Either way, he had to save her no matter what it took.

Several hours passed, and yet Taichi couldn't figure it out. Neither could anyone else for that matter. It was a deep mystery. Maybe this was so tough that even the legendary character detective Sherlock Holmes couldn't solve it.

As everyone headed home it finally snapped. Taichi had figured it out. Yamato always asked her to do everything and she'd do it. As for everyone else she wouldn't do it unless Yamato gave it an okay first. However, no matter what she'd never do anything for himself. "Was it possible that Yamato had control of her? Would he actually stoop that low as to brainwashing his girlfriend? If so, what was Yamato truly after in the long run? Did he somehow know that she was King Tanasaki's daughter?" he pondered to himself. As he walked many more questions and suggestive solutions were added to his train of thought.

"Sora, you look a little pale. Are you feeling alright?" Taichi finally asked concerned about her.

"I'm just a little cold, but I'll be fine, so STOP TALKING TO ME!" she replied yelling the last bit. Her voice was also a very snippy and demanding drone as well.

Taichi's anger hit top floor at that moment and before he even realized what he was doing his fist hit Sora's face knocking her to the ground.

Everyone gasped. Well everyone except Yamato for some reason. They couldn't believe Taichi had just done that to her.

Sora got to her feet full of anger, and crying she ran off. Taichi chased after her trying to apologize, but couldn't manage to get close enough to say it to her.

As she approached a curve Sora just kept on running without looking first. Suddenly, a delivery truck came around a corner.

Taichi reached the curve only in time to notice the truck coming. Forgetting to catch his breath he ran out knocking her out of the way.

"OH SHIT!" the driver shouted as he hit the brakes. It jolted and skidded around the road.

"TAICHI!" Sora screeched running out to his side. For once her voice didn't sound like she was being controlled.

What will happen to Taichi? Has Sora been broken apart from being controlled? Who was King Tanasaki's killer? Is Yamato a traitor? Find out the answer to these questions and more in the chapters to come. I'm already working on chapter 4 "A Royal Past Comes To Light", so keep your shirts on and I'll have it up ASAP. Oh btw, gomenesai for leaving you all hanging. One more thing. I'm looking for TAIORA & TAKARI wallpapers and screensavers for my computer. If anyone has any or can make up one I'd be most grateful if they could email it to me.