AN: My, my! 100 reviews! Thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU! I doubt it ever grows old, hehe.
Oh yes, a reply to lovely Kat's questions. Thank you! No, I don't have a perfect boyfriend, in fact, I've never dated a day in my life (laughs like a crazy woman). But I guess it only makes me dream up these fantasies about the perfect guy if I ever find him. Haha, I have no life. Thank you for the review!
Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine. (Apparently the quick edit thing doesn't like equal signs.)
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Chapter VII – Day SixWaking up at one in the afternoon had its ups and downs, the auburn haired woman decided bitterly as she sat in front of her computer. Though she had previously told Taichi that she envied his ability to sleep through absolutely everything, she regretted it now. After waking up at one and feeling completely rejuvenated (which is needless to say, 'the up'), Sora now felt completely… duped of life. It was seven in the evening and she had done absolutely nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing…
Sora was filled with so much energy that it felt like the afternoon- the fact that it was the evening was extremely disappointing. She sighed; it was as if she threw an entire day away. Of course now she had to make up for all that lost time by staying up incredibly late.
A knock was heard on the guest bedroom door. Well, actually several knocks forming a nice little pattern.
"What is it, Tai?" Sora said loudly.
A mass of brown popped in from the doorway and he stood there with a boyish grin. "I got bored."
"TAICHI YAGAMI, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!"
He stared at her, unsure of how to respond to the sudden outburst. "Yes ma'am?" He only prayed that the neighbors couldn't hear- to an outsider, it must've sounded like a woman discovering the results from a pregnancy test.
"I woke up at one today…"
"I'm sorry?"
She pouted at him, "You should have told me how upsetting it is to wake up so late."
Taichi blinked, and then started laughing loudly at the woman's childish behavior. "Why, what's wrong?"
"I'm so bored! There's absolutely nothing to do at seven at night other than sit around and watch TV. An entire day, wasted. Gone!"
He grinned at her, "Well, there are things we could do with all this energy that you have, you know? I can think of one that involves you, me, and conveniently, a bed." Judging by the way Sora narrowed her eyes, she didn't approve. "No? Okay…" he paused briefly, contemplating what to do with their lives. "Hey Sor, have you seen the roof?"
"The roof?"
"Yeah, you know, the thing that covers the house—"
"Thank you, Mr. Architect for clearing that up." Glancing out the window at the darkened sky, she absentmindedly took a lock of hair and began twirling it with her fingers. "Well… what's up on the roof?"
"You'll see. Grab a jacket, Sor."
She did as he suggested and followed the brunette out of the house. Taichi circled around to the back where an aged ladder leaned upright against the house. Pointing to it he turned to grin at Sora.
She stared at him and then at the ladder. It was a rusty old thing with vines that had begun to climb about. Raising a brow she scoffed at Taichi, "That thing? You must be joking."
He frowned, "Don't worry, it's really more stable than it looks. Here, I'll even go up first."
The woman hesitated for a moment, glancing back and forth between the rusted ladder and Taichi. "I guess it's okay…"
"There, don't worry about a thing." Walking towards the metal structure, he planted a foot firmly on the first step and began to make his way up.
"…be careful."
"Aw, you care," came Taichi's voice from near the top of the house.
"I just don't want to drive you to the hospital." Honestly, she was a bit shocked that he could hear her from such distance. The chocolate haired man was full of surprises.
After Taichi made it up the roof with seemingly no problem, the redhead followed suit. Oddly, the ladder reminded Sora of Tai. To the eye, it seemed rickety, but to the touch, it was very stable. Taichi was a whole different person than he appeared to be. Climbing up the last step of the ladder, Sora lifted her head to gaze at… absolutely nothing. "Alright Tai, is this some joke? You got me up here to look at your shingles?"
He laughed. "No. I like to sit here sometimes. I find it calming."
Sora's lips slowly formed a warm smile. She had no idea he could be so… relaxed. "It's nice up here."
"Why don't you sit?" Taichi looked up at the woman and patted a spot beside him.
"I would but you see… I'm wearing my PJs." Sora reminded him, motioning towards the navy combination she donned. It was an interesting site to see her standing there with a hand on her hip and in nothing more than pajamas and a thin jacket.
"What's wrong with that?"
"I'm not getting my sleepwear dirty. I don't know about you Tai, but I don't like going to sleep in dirty clothes."
"The roof's not that dirty. It just rained a couple of days ago. Besides, I come up here pretty often, chances are, I already cleaned that spot."
"Okay… fine," she said, sitting down adjacent to Taichi.
A comfortable silence settled as the two stared out into the night sky. There weren't many stars that could be seen, but it was relaxing nonetheless to gaze out at the lights from houses below. Kari's house was on an elevated piece of land, offering a breathtaking view of the rest of the city. "You know, after five days, this one being the sixth… I never realized what a view you guys had."
The man beside her chuckled, "Because we were too busy arguing."
"All. Your. Fault." Sora teased, poking him lightly with every word.
Taichi laughed and caught her hand with his larger one. The auburn haired woman tried to pull back her hand the moment he started smoothing the skin with his thumb, but the stubborn man wouldn't let go. Blushing lightly—something she hadn't done in two years, Sora looked up at Tai, melting away as he gave her a reassuring smile. "Tai…" she began slowly, returning her gaze to the lights below as he held her hand.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Why did… why did you see me when you were looking at Mimi?"
He laughed sheepishly, "Honestly, I think it was all those drinks I had. Or maybe I just missed you too much." He winked at Sora.
She pouted prettily, "Simplified, it's basically you mistook another woman for me and had sex with her."
"Then don't simplify it," Taichi offered. Looping his arms around her slim waist, he was able to shift his position and pull her closer—all with surprisingly no resistance from the woman. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the nape of her neck. "Sor, I don't know how to make it up to you, and I don't think I can, but I still want you to be in my future. Do you still have that promise ring I gave you?"
"Promise ring?" Sora breathed as she tilted her head back, savoring his slow kisses along her neck.
"It was gold… with a little blue rock…"
She started laughing and sat upright, breaking the contact with his lips. "Tai! You gave me that when we were nine! You bought it for twenty-five cents from one of those little machines on the side of the street! Gold, with a little blue rock, honestly Tai, it was plastic."
He chuckled, "Well, it was still a promise ring."
"No it wasn't, you were trying to get that little Power Ranger action figure, but you got a ring instead so you just gave it to me."
"Promise. Ring." Tai insisted.
"Plastic. Ring. Besides, I think I lost that thing years ago."
He gasped, feigning hurt. "Honestly Sor, I give you something and that's how you treat it. What did you do with all those things I gave you when we were dating?"
"I don't remember, burned them most likely." The look on Taichi's face was priceless and Sora couldn't keep up the act much longer, she broke out in fits of giggles. "Kidding Tai, kidding. I'm sorry to say, but I really did lose that 'promise' ring. As for the things from our dating adventures, those are safe and unharmed, I assure you."
"Good."
"Promise ring, really Tai."
He smirked, "I'll have to buy you a new one to compensate."
"What if I don't take accept it?"
"I'll burn it."
"Oh no Tai, that'll be twenty-five cents down the drain."
"So you should take it if you don't want me wasting my money."
"…maybe."
Before they could joke, bicker, and flirt any further, a faint ringing was heard from inside the house.
"Tai, I think you should get the phone."
"But, but, it's all the way inside the house…"
She gave him a look before standing up and dusting herself off. "Fine then, I'll get the phone."
Taichi smirked.
As Sora made her way down the ladder, she turned to stick her tongue out at him childishly, "Lazy bum."
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With surprising speed, Sora was able to make it to the phone just as the answering machine picked up.
"Hi, this is the—"
"Hello?" she panted into the phone, cutting off the machine.
"Sora!"
The woman stilled at the voice on the other line. "Hi Mimi, I'll go get Tai—"
"Nonono!"
She quirked a brow at the phone, "No?"
"Please Sora, just listen to me."
Why was it that everyone was asking her to listen? "What is it?" She said, sounding more hostile than intended.
The other woman didn't seem to mind. "I hope you're sitting."
Sora sat on the couch hesitantly. Oh god, please don't tell her that Mimi got pregnant that night and had a baby that none of them knew about. "I am now."
Mimi took in a deep breath, "I… I don't know where to start…but I guess sorry is always a good place to begin…and believe me when I say I'm sorry."
"About what?"
"Please don't be like this Sora. Tai told me about what happened, he called me this morning to clear things up…"
"Good for you." Honestly, she didn't mean to sound so obnoxious, but it was hard not to be when the woman on the other line practically ruined her life two years ago.
"I wanted to tell you personally what happened that night."
"Mimi, I know what happened that night. In case you don't remember either, I saw you guys."
"Yes, but… it's really not Tai's fault."
"Of course it isn't…" It's the Wicked Witch of the West that made you guys sleep together, Sora thought bitterly. (AN: I was watching The Wizard of Oz on television the other day, hehe.)
"Okay, I'll start from the beginning. You remember I wasn't living in Japan that year? Well I flew back and booked a room in the same hotel as Ayame's party so I could be there. That night…it was so wonderful to see Tai again… and I guess I should tell you straight out that I've always liked Tai… a lot."
Sora clenched her jaw, unsure of where the conversation would go.
"So that night, I was talking to him as he waited for you by the bar. Really, all he could talk about was you. How much he loved you, wanted to have a family with you, the way your eyes shined, the texture of your hair when he touched it. I got jealous… I mean, I've dated so many men, but none of them were as sweet at Tai. But you, Tai was your first boyfriend and it seemed like you had found the one already. Love was always nice to you, wasn't it? Did you know I asked Tai out the month before he asked you out? I felt like such a fool."
Sora remained quiet, just listening as the girl poured her heart out. She didn't know what to say, and oddly, she wasn't angry.
"He was drinking. Not like an alcoholic of course, but I guess he just wanted something to do as he waited for you. I… I don't know what got into me but… I didn't stop him… actually, I bought him his third and fourth glasses. He was pretty groggy by the time he finished his fourth glass… and—and I kissed him.
"It just happened, I swear Sora, I wasn't plotting or anything, but I just wanted to know how it would feel like to be loved like he loves you. You know, he called me by your name that night. He smiled after we kissed and I could see so much love in his eyes. Then he called me Sora. I knew all that love was for you, and only you Sora, but—but I couldn't help but think about my room upstairs… so I invited him up. The next morning he was still a bit groggy and when he realized it was me in the bed and not you, he just wouldn't believe it. He kept saying it was just a dream—a really bad dream. I was hurt, but not as badly as Tai when he found out what happened. I think… I think he just wanted to forget it so he really started believing it was a bad dream… You left soon after that, and he was so caught up in the fact that you were gone, that he couldn't even think about anything else."
"Mimi…"
"I just wanted you to know that if you need to hate someone, blame someone, it's me, not Tai. The only thing he did that night was love you," a dry laugh came from the other line, "it's not his fault that he can't take alcohol well."
Sora remained quiet for a moment before speaking up. "After four glasses? That's either really strong stuff or he's really pathetic," she joked, hearing Mimi laugh on the other line.
"I'll have you know it was a very strong alcoholic beverage," came a voice at the door.
Sora turned to see Taichi standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a healthy smirk on his lips. He winked at her before walking over, kissing her on her forehead, and proceeding to the kitchen. She followed him with her crimson eyes and smiled when he disappeared from view.
Sora returned her attention to the phone, fingers playing with the cord as she spoke into the receiver. "Mimi… I'm not mad."
"Oh god Sora, please don't be just saying that."
"I'm not… anymore. Honestly I was furious when I saw you two, but I don't know, I guess after two years, it's about time to let go. I reacted too quickly and didn't think about my actions. I'm sure if I had taken the time to listen to you and Tai, things would be different."
"I see why he loves you so much. He missed you terribly when you went away, Sora. He had trouble sleeping, didn't talk, didn't smile, didn't leave his house, he even ate less. Can you believe it, Tai eating less?"
"Wow, I'd pay to see that."
"Well, you shouldn't, I lost a lot of weight you know." Taichi's voice came from behind Sora this time.
Tilting her head back to look at the brunette mischievously, she placed a hand over the receiver. "Looks like you gained it all back too."
He pouted, eyes twinkling merrily, "I'll wait for you on the roof."
Sora nodded and watched as Tai walked out of the house. "Mimi… thank you for telling me this."
"No Sora, please don't thank me, this is all my fault. I should be thanking you for not hanging up on me."
"Mimi, not many people have the courage, much less sincerity to try to fix something like this. Thanks Mimi, for telling me what happened, things really are clearer after knowing both sides."
Unseen to Sora, the pink haired woman smiled, "Thanks Sor."
"Night Meems, sleep well."
"Definitely."
Sora returned the phone to its cradle and sighed contently. After hearing from Mimi, she felt so… complete. The day before, she had been hesitant about just forgetting and forgiving, but now, all she wanted to do was stay by Tai's side. Sora was lost in her thoughts as she climbed the metal ladder, a dazzling smile on her features.
"You look happy." Taichi commented with a grin as she sat down next to him.
"I am happy."
He couldn't help but smile wider at the simple statement. "What did you two talk about?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Stuff."
"…nice. Apple?" Tai handed her the green fruit after Sora gave a small nod.
She smiled, biting into the sweet delight. Without a word she placed her head on Taichi's shoulder.
He glanced at her, sitting there munching away at an apple, her eyes reflecting the twinkling from the lights below. This was the girl he had fallen in love with years ago, and now she was the woman he still loved.
Slowly she turned to meet his gaze and pulled him closer. "Taichi," Sora said. Leaning towards his ear she let out a whisper, her hot breath tickling his skin. "I want to be with you."
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AN: About that whole waking up at one pm thing, it happened to me the other day and I just had to vent it somehow. Haha, yes, I am odd.
But everyone loves reviewing odd people right? RIGHT?
Wouldn't it be cool if I updated on New Year's Day? Okay… maybe not cool but it sounds exciting… to me. )