A/N: Yes I know, it was a long, long time before I finally updated. I am SO SORRY for that. But here it is now and I hope you all enjoy it!! I tried to end it on a happy note. Well...maybe not really...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Voguish Fib

chapter fifteen - Trip Down Nightmare Lane

"So...that's it huh?" Taichi asked solemnly after a few seconds of silence.

Sora glanced at the unruly haired boy next to her from the corner of her eye. He wasn't looking back at her but even without looking at his eyes she knew he was hurt by what she said.

Forget the whole thing? What was I thinking? she asked herself. But even though the question came up, her pride was still too strong to give in to the emotions she really felt for him. She sighed and didn't answer his question.

They didn't speak anymore after that.

Once they reached Takato's house, Taichi found Takato writing a note on the table. Yamato had just come out of the girls' room, buttoning up his shirt. He inadvertently looked up and found Taichi and Sora staring at him.

"Nothing happened. Don't worry," he reassured his friends with his dazzling smile.

Taichi rolled his eyes and turned over to Takato. "So are you finished with the note?"

"I don't know what to put...I'm not finished yet, don't look at it!!" Takato exclaimed, trying to keep Taichi's curious eyes away from it. Taichi snickered and grabbed the paper anyways.

"Dear family, I'm leaving you--no, what?? What is this? You don't say 'I'm leaving you'! It sounds like you're disowning them or something," Taichi argued. He grabbed another sheet of paper from the pile that Takato had on the table and began writing.

Takato stared at him with a lifted brow. "What are you--"

Taichi picked it up and handed it to Takato. Takato skimmed it with his eyes. "What do you think?" Taichi asked.

"Hm. Okay," Takato answered with a slight shrug. He signed his name and the four were off.

"Hey Taichi? When did we decide that the kid was coming?" Yamato whispered to Taichi. He glanced back at where Takato was talking to Sora.

"He can help us," Taichi said.

"How?"

"I don't know yet, but soon enough, we will know. He said he saw us in a dream...he was expecting us...isn't that weird?"

"Bullshit."

"No. It's not. Just trust me okay?"

"All right, all right. I trust you. You're my best friend, why won't I trust you?" Yamato said with a genuine smile. Taichi smiled back. He didn't know what he'd have done without Yamato.

Once they reached the section of town with which they entered from Taichi and Yamato looked around confidently.

"Our horses should be around here somewhere. A man named Gonnai watched it for us," Yamato told the other two.

Takato chuckled lightly. "Gonnai huh?"

"Yeah...what of it kid?" Yamato asked smugly. Yamato was one of those guys who hated it when people laughed and he didn't know why they were laughing.

"Gonnai is the town thief of Kuro-aki."

"You guys have a town thief? I thought this place was full of peace and love. How would a town, that supposedly keeps out all evil, have a town thief?" Yamato asked.

"He's not evil, he's manipulative. He may be small and weird and seemingly dumb, but this man is actually highly intellectual with intellectual skills that only the Wise One knows and a few other people in this world," Takato explained.

"So he's a manipulative scumbag. He's just not evil," Sora commented. "Like someone I know..." she added softly.

Taichi, of course, heard it all. "What's that supposed to mean, huh? I come here and save your ass and this is the thanks I get?"

Now that the feelings inside them had turned into resentment, it caused the two to blow up. There was nothing more to do than to fight. Like always. It seemed the only reasonable thing to do after allowing their feelings to sit inside a force field of pride.

"Save my ass?? I saved my own ass! You just fought with Jyou like a barbaric child! What? Do you always need to flaunt your male-ness to make sure you're not a girl?" Sora bursted, her eyes full of rage.

"Oh no..." Takato whimpered.

"Look what you did, kid," Yamato grumbled.

"I didn't do anything...let's just see if there's a way to stop them."

It took a while to calm the two down, but by the time Takato and Yamato managed to calm them down, embarrassment coated their even larger ball of pride. Taichi and Sora knew, absolutely knew that they should just talk it out, but as their pride grew, the idea of talking about their relationship grew to be obsolete.

Words couldn't describe the intense silence between Sora and Taichi during the trip home.

Besides not having horses, having to walk hundreds of miles to Taichi's castle, and not knowing which direction to go, the trip back was a nightmare. Takato and Yamato were stuck being middlemen for the two...after a while, the job got to be tiring.

"Can we stop here for the night? We've been walking for over 20 miles through this goshforsaken forest...is this still even Akaguchi?" Yamato groaned.

"It must be...there is no other forest this complicated in the world," Taichi commented as he lay down on the forest floor. It was the perfect place to rest. It was right next to a pond with a little waterfall.

"How would you know? You've never been anywhere else in the world," Yamato said.

"Exactly. Akaguchi is so complicated you can't even get out of it to see the rest of the world," Taichi replied as he shut his eyes. He could hear the shuffling of the fabric Sora was wearing. He could hear her walking over to the pond. "Can someone go with Princess? She hates me, so someone should go over and keep an eye on her in case there's other weird things going on with this forest."

"I can take care of myself, for your information. You...you know that," Sora told him. She couldn't believe he used that title again. "And I don't hate you, dumbass."

Taichi's eyes opened at this. He wanted to see if Sora was being sarcastic. Sure enough she wasn't.

Then again, he didn't let her finish. "I despise you with the deepest hellful passion there is in my cold, spiteful heart." Okay, so she wasn't being sarcastic. She was just being evil.

Taichi closed his eyes again. "I hope you slip on a rock Princess."

"I hope you choke on one!" Sora yelled before trudging off with Takato behind her.

"I hate that--that bastard!!" Sora shouted, her fists balled up and body seething with anger. She didn't understand how anyone can evoke such emotion in her.

"I'm sorry Princess Sora...I had no idea that you hated Taichi-san. If I knew I wouldn't have talked so much--" Takato apologized softly.

Sora smiled and patted Takato's back. "No, don't blame yourself...it's between me and Taichi...and...I don't hate him. The thing is--I love him...but I hate the way we are to each other. The only way to stop this constant bickering and fighting is to simply cease being near each other...and if we happen to--to lose each other during this so-called 'mission' we won't hurt so much..." Sora couldn't believe she just confided in Takato like that. It was so hard for her to talk to people. Maybe kids were just easier to talk to. Her thoughts went back to the little girl named Ruki from White Day.

So that's it... Takato contemplated. They're in love...

"I'm sorry...you didn't need to know all of that," Sora said, shaking her head shamefully.

Takato smiled half-heartedly at her. He wouldn't blame Taichi for being in love with her. She was so beautiful and kind. Maybe he didn't know the entire story of what happened between the two, and how Taichi could make her so mad...the only thing he knew was that there was some sort of tension between the two. He felt a sudden pang of jealousy for Taichi.

I wish I could meet a girl as pretty as her. If I did, I wouldn't treat her the same way Taichi-san is treating Princess Sora, Takato thought quite angrily. That's right...Taichi was treating her so poorly. "I hope you slip on a rock Princess?" Was that a way to talk to a woman?

"You don't have to be ashamed of telling me this story Princess Sora--"

"Plain Sora is just fine," Sora interrupted.

Takato blushed as he stared up into her ruby eyes. He averted her eyes, hoping she didn't see him blush. When she didn't say anything else he continued. "Um...Sora-san. There's no need to be ashamed to tell me. I'm usually the person my sisters go to when they're having problems."

Sora smiled. "If only Taichi was more sensitive. That bastard...can you believe he told me to slip on a rock? How immature!!"

"Well, you did tell him to choke on one."

"I said that out of impulse. He started it!"

"Well I think you should just tell him. Tell him your feelings. You're the woman. You know how men are. They have their egos to mend. Women are more open to their feelings. Well...that's just my theory...from experience...I guess..." Takato looked as if he was confusing himself. He stopped talking.

"Actually...I have pride too! There is no way I'm telling that buffoon that I love him...even if I do...besides, I already told him that we should forget about all of this. We have a mission to accomplish." Sora walked over to the edge of the pond and crouched down, washing her face with the cool liquid.

"Do you think we should head back?" Takato asked.

"You can go back if you would like. I like it here...near the water...I can see the stars more clearly than where Taichi and Yamato are. It's beautiful...and it may be the last time I'm ever going to be by myself again."

"I'll be close by if you need me. I know you can protect yourself Pri--um Sora-san, but I won't forgive myself if anything did happen to you..."

"Thank you."

Sora climbed the nearest tree she could find and relaxed on a large branch. It felt like old times again...

Sora awoke with a start. She looked around and found herself still on the branch. The forest pitch black. Even the stars or the moon were nowhere in sight. Sora closed her eyes, then opened them. There seemed to be no difference at all.

"Takato?" Sora whispered when she heard a twig crack near the tree she was on.

You're supposed to have magical powers right? Use them, you idiot! Sora thought, filled with panic. She put her palms up and cupped them together. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she attempted to conjure up some sort of light source.

When she opened her eyes she found fire floating between her cupped hands. She smiled. It worked!

Now...where were those boys...and why did she feel so afraid? Sora frowned. It was her fault...she told Taichi she could take care of herself. What was this energy she felt? Sora could feel gravity seemingly pulling her harder than it should be down to the earth. Her heart began beating uncontrollably. She was afraid to shine the light towards anything else except the tree.

Why am I so afraid? she wondered as she watched her hands shaking. She never used to be so afraid of Akaguchi before. Why now?

As she decided to test her courage and look down, she found out why.

A/N: Yeah, I know they're fighting again. I assure you they won't be later. Haha!! You don't know when though!! Lol...I'm a loser...anyways, thank you for all your support and again I am so sorry I haven't updated until now. Please read anyways!! Thank you, I hope you have a wonderful new year!!