Part 3:
Prodigal Son
The first thing Tai noticed when he woke up was that his room was that his room was back to normal. He threw off the sheets and jumped up,"Am I back to normal?" he asked, then frowned when he heard his voice. He slowly walked over to the mirror that was on his desk. He sighed. "I'm ten-years-old again. I don't believe it."
"Honey?" he heard a woman's voice call out,"Are you up?"
"That doesn't sound like mom..." he thought, watching the door. He had been through the Digital World, fought in battles, been through two parallel dimensions, but nothing could have prepared him for who walked through the door. "Sora?"
The red head smiled slightly. "Yes, but, I'd prefer, 'Mom', okay?"
"M-Mom? Since when have you been my mother?"
"Since the day the doctors took you out of my....nevermind," Sora sighed,"What's with the twenty questions today?"
"Oh...uh..nothing...Mom." He had trouble getting the last word out. He would have never thought that this could happen to him, although the thought of him actually touching that area of Sora's body did bring a smile to his face.
"What is it?" she asked.
Tai's smile quickly disappeared and he started blushing. "Nothing!" he said.
"Well, you'd better get dressed, or you're going to be late for school," she said, walking out of his room.
"This is getting just too weird," he said to himself as he pulled out of the blue pajamas and opened the drawers of his dresser. A smile formed over his face,"Hey, at least I still dress the same as I did when I was ten!" He pulled out a pair of brown shorts and a blue short sleeve shirt. He walked over to the mirror and smiled,"Just like when I was back in the Digital World! Cool!"
When he approached the breakfast table, he saw two plate settings at the table. "Just Sora and me, no father or siblings? Hmm...."
"What are you doing?" Sora asked, "Hurry up and eat breakfast, or you're going to be late for school!
"She's sure yells alot more then I remember," Tai mumbled as he sat down. He quietly ate his breakfast as Sora ran around the apartment, doing laundry and other chores.
When Tai was done eating, she ran in and grabbed his hand,"Come on," she said, yanking him out of the chair, let's go. We're going to be late."
"Okay, Mom," he said, following her out of the apartment and down the elevator. "I've been through many strange experiences so far, but I don't think I'll ever get use to calling my girlfriend that!"
School was pretty much the same as before, well, when Tai and Kari switched ages, almost exactly, so, he decided to try something. He took a deep breath and walked into the English class. The same teacher looked up and smiled at him. "Tai," he said,"I'm a little surprise to see you here this early. Usually you come in seconds before the bell rings."
Tai laughed as he sat down. "At last, something went right." He opened his Moby Dick book and started to scan the pages.
"Hi Tai."
He looked up. "Sara?" he asked.
"Yes," the blond haired girl laughed,"Did you forget who I was?"
"No..of course not," he said, watching as she sat down next to him. "In each one of my....changes...she's appeared. Why? Who is she?"
Tai was even more surprised when he found that Sara was in every one of his classes. He couldn't help but find himself thinking about her all day. He was wondering if she was the one putting him through all this, if that was true, then maybe she knew how he could get back to his normal world.
During lunch, he spied her seated with a group of other girls at the far end of the room. He took a deep breath and walked over to her. "Hi, Sara."
She looked up from where she was eating her lunch. The girls instantly stopped talking and stared at him. "Yes?" Sara asked, a little more aggressively then before.
"I want to talk to you, alone," Tai said.
One of the other girls, a black haired one, started laughing,"Owe, Tai's got a crush on Sara. Ha ha ha!"
"That's enough, Sam!" Sara barked, like she was giving orders. The black haired girl instantly stopped. She turned to Tai,"Whatever you want to ask, you can say it in front of my friends."
Tai took a deep breath,"I want you to take me home."
"What?" Sara asked, confused,"What are you talking about."
"Take me back to my own world. I want to go back to normal!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, shaking her head.
"You do," Tai said,"You've been in each one of my changes. I know you know what's going on!"
Sara backed away from Tai, then looked over Tai's shoulder. Her eyes seemed to glow for a second, then faded. Tai turned around and saw a very large twelve-year-old with red hair with black stripes, cracking his knuckles. "Takenouchi!" he shouted,"What are you doing to my girlfriend?"
"Takenouchi? Oh wait, that's probably me." "Um, I'm not doing anything to your girlfriend," he gulped,"We were just talking."
"Don't believe him, Derwood!" Sara shouted.
"Derwood?" Tai thought as the massive girl swung his fist at Tai. He ducked and slammed his fist into the bully's stomach. Derwood gasped for air, then fell over. Tai smiled to himself as he turned around, only to see a teacher standing in front of him.
"Let's go!" he shouted, dragging Tai down the hall.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Taichi," Sora said, swirving the car to miss another car,"Fighting? I always told you to avoid fights..."
Tai wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, his mind was thinking of Sara. He knew that she knew something, and he was sure the way her eyes sparkled right before the bully arrived was her defense mechanism. She didn't want him asking any questions, that had to be it. "Are you listening to me Taichi?!"
Tai snapped to attention. "Yes, Mom," he said, automatically.
"You've got two weeks detention," Sora growld,"And you're going to spend it working in the flower shop.."
"Great," Tai mumbled,"Stupid flowers." He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his cheek. He spun around and saw Sora bringing her hand back.
"Don't you ever talk back to me," she said, resting her hand on the steering wheel,"I am your mother, and I will not have it!"
Tai turned his gaze back to staring out the passenger window, tears slowly starting to fall down his cheeks. "I can't wait to get out of this world," he thought.
Tai and Sora didn't speak for the rest of the afternoon. Tai sat upstairs in his room, trying to figure out what was going on. First he and Kari switched ages, then he was a baby, now he was younger, but was also Sora's son. He knew that that girl, Sara knew what was happening to him, but she wasn't going to talk. What was he going to do?
The door to his room opened and Sora peeked inside. "Tai?" she asked,"Can I talk to you?"
Tai felt his sore cheek, then shrugged.
"Please don't be like that," Sora said,"I..I'm sorry. You don't know what it's like to be a mother, I always have to be worried, I always have to try to provide the best for you. I...I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Tai said,"I...I'm sorry that I was in a fight. I didn't mean to."
Sora smiled, then hugged him. "You're still punished though."
"Okay," Tai said,"By tomorrow I won't even be here! Ha!"
"You'd better get to bed," Sora said, walking out.
"Bed time," Tai said, jumping into bed,"it's quickly becoming my favorite time of the day. " He slipped under the covers, and soon was fast asleep.