Sadly, this one has it too. I don't mean to, honest, but... that's just how I keep doing things. xox I'm sorry. I tried my best, though, to put as much as I could without it being too weird.
Anyway! I haven't updated in a while because I've been working on stuff, and I've been quite busy with school and also travelling around a little bit. Not to mention that, if you haven't noticed, most of TDD and TTT are written when "I feel like it". So yeah, please enjoy, since this has been my first chapter in a while.
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"So, is everybody ready?" Rumiko asked us, adjusting her sunglasses so that they were propped up onto the brim of her sunhat. We all stood outside of the Nonaka residence, and I had just put my red suitcase/Guilmon into Mrs. Nonaka's car. I muttered a small, "Be quiet, Guilmon!" as I shoved him in.
I looked around. Rumiko's lipstick red convertible was filled with our luggage. I stared at it.
"Mrs. Nonaka..." I said, staring at the luggage bags, "How are we going to fit?"
"This is precisely why I decided to take my car, too." Rika's grandmother stepped out of the house, her sunglasses shading her eyes from the blinding sun. She opened the door to her green mini-van. (AN: I know nothing of cars...)
"Good idea." Rika said, climbing in. Henry opened one of the doors and got in too.
I hesitated. I knew that Crystal and Jeri were both behind me, so I wondered what would happen if I was stuck sitting next to one of them, but not the other. I felt both of their glares on me, making four lazer-accurate eyes on me.
Henry saved me. "Hey Crys..." He said, patting the leather seat.
Crystal smiled, getting the message. I saw her steal a wink at Henry as she clambered in like a small puppy. She practically fell out of the car and back on the cement, but luckily Henry grabbed her hand and pulled her in, while I gently nudged her in. I pulled myself in, and felt Jeri's hand brush mine as I had pulled myself in, letting our hands briefly touch.
I felt my face grow slightly red. 'Wait, huh?' I wondered. I quickly looked down, trying not to let Crystal nor Jeri see. I heard slam of the door from Jeri, and started on our trip.
I had thoughts of Jeri's letter in my head, as I tried my best to keep my flushed face at a down low. I felt the road beneath my feet and underneath the car as I continued to look down, trying to make the embarrassed thoughts disappear.
Why was I suddenly thinking about Jeri though? So many thoughts rushed in my head - the letter, how she re-entered my life, how I was ending up on a beach trip with not only her but a trip with - well, my girlfriend?
I heard chatter rise amongst the girls and I continued to sit there with my hair blocking my gaze on the floor. I didn't push it away though; I felt like if I couldn't see the others, they wouldn't see me. I was going ostrich, but honestly it felt like it worked. No wonder those gigantic birds did it so often.
I blocked out their words as I continued to gaze, time quickly passing but my thoughts making it feel like eternity stood as still as a sentry. 'What's wrong with me?' I couldn't help think. I felt trapped for some reason.
I continued to think, my face no longer flushed but my mind in deep thought. I was thinking about all the times we had in the digital world. All those times I had been hoping she'd like me. And after I had finally helped her get over the traumatic experience with the D-Reaper, the problems that we had hit as tamers together, all of it... How I had finally gotten the courage to ask her if she'd be my girlfriend.
But then she left. And I guess I just reached out for Rika - because I had wanted her, as well...
I was becoming confused. 'Think, Takato, think,' I thought to myself. My thoughts were jumbled.
I started replaying the past few years back in my mind. A lot of them were fuzzy at first. I remembered the D-Reaper thread disappearing. I remembered comforting Jeri often. I was being generously nice to her, not only because she was my friend, but because I cared about her. And soon after that, I had asked Jeri to become my girlfriend. But then she had moved... leaving me "single", or as single as I could become with her still thinking we were attached.
And then my crush on Rika. She had been strong. I wanted strength - or rather, needed it. Forever I had been struggling to show people that I had inner strength, and it was hard, because I felt like people kept knocking me down no matter what.
Then Crystal... who wasn't just strong. She was clumsy, dramatic, and a tad weird... but... she was...
What -was- Crystal, anyway?
I remembered everything with sharp images. I remembered how she was nothing but my crush's cousin at first, and I had been afraid to open up to her (AN: This isn't shown that much in TDD, but it is) because I was afraid she would tell Rika. Then she became my teacher, teaching me what she knew, and I got closer to her than the others. She could understand my position - after all, she had felt the same way I had felt towards Rika. And then she became my love interest.
There were a lot of feelings swirling around me at the moment. I felt confused. Nothing felt good at all.
Then I felt the brush of skin against mine. I glanced at my hand. I saw Crystal's tanned, gloved hand on mine, but she had put something in my hand, and I saw her hand move away.
I looked in my hand, and saw an earphone. I glanced at Crystal, and she was looking down as well.
"Just listen," I heard her whisper come out raspily out of her mouth, as if she had been nervous to tell me this.
I slowly put it in my ear, and I started listening, and I could hear her slowly singing along as the beat continued and the melody played.
"Sometimes it stops, sometimes it flows, but baby, that is how love goes... You will fly and you will crawl, but God knows that even angels fall, no such thing as you 'lost it all', God knows even angels fall..."
That one line seemed to echo in my head as I listened to the rest of the song playing in my ear, and the words flowing out of her mouth in that voice of hers.
I felt like I was crawling on all fours, I could barely "walk". All these feelings were hurting me. A lot. I was confused... in a major way.
I looked at Crystal, and our eyes met. She sneaked a small smile at me, and I smiled back, but with uncertainty. I didn't know how I felt anymore... I just hoped everything would sort itself out.
"Everything'll work out," I heard her whisper, and I nodded, although I still carried uncertainty in my head, as the green convertible turned and the sun blazed down inside the windows, and the ocean reflected light off its glassy surface, shining in a friendly way. Sand stretched far and wide against the side of the road.
We finally reached the beach house some few hours later, all the while going past several boardwalks and piers, as well as beach towns and the latter. I was able to shake off most of the uncertainty, although I still felt somewhat uncomfortable.
"We're here!" Jeri said happily as she burst out of the car. She turned around and looked at me, and I shyly smiled at her as I got out of the car myself.
"AAAHHHH!" I heard behind me, as Crystal came crashing down on me, my face hitting the sand.
"SORRY!" Crystal exclaimed, hurridly getting off of me and looking at me, hoping she hadn't hurt me very badly. I managed to brush the sand off of my face.
Great. What a wonderful way to start my trip...
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Hmm... not bad, I guess. blinks I'll leave you at this. But I'd like to write a bit of a sidenote first.
If you don't remember, I had a bunch of feelings towards my boyfriend while I was writing Tamers Don't Dance. By the time I finished Tamers Don't Dance, my relationship with him was dead. And now... I'm feeling the feelings that Takato has towards both girls, except there -is- no other girl. I am here on my own, unlike Takato. So if someone is going to tell me that the feelings that Takato has are a bit unrealistic, well just letting you know - they are realistic... when you're in this kind of situation you feel this way. It's HARD to get over someone, as I'm learning. Feelings are easily rekindled by material possessions, actually they're easily rekindled by anything and it hurts, 'cause you have to let go.
Just letting you know, this is what's in my mind, and these two fics - Tamers Don't Dance and Three to Tango - are both my feelings poured into a situation that Takato is in. It just happens to be me that's writing.