Artistic Differences
By theladyknight
Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine!
A/N: I'm SO sorry it took a while to get this chapter out! To make a long story short my computer has contracted some viruses, too many to count on one hand, and is currently being fixed. Add that with a temporary case of writer's block and that about describes my week. But luckily I have very nice neighbors with the Internet and after watching the movies The Prince and Me and The Princess Diaries 2 and reading the Fifth Princess Diaries Book, I've got my inspiration back. So here it is, chapters 8…thanks to everyone who reviews and to my friend Red for helping me out while my computer's down. Read, review, and ENJOY!
Aino Yuy aka Usagi-Hater: I actually thought about Yamato having the crest of friendship but changed my mind…you're right, too, they're already good friends so there'd be no point in him showing it too her.
Scorpion05: It's here…you'll find out what happens!
Rosie: Yeah, I had to stop there, I'm sorry! Enjoy!
LiLi: Glad u like!
Raine189: Thanks! Expect more Sorato in this chapter YEA
Curtis Zidane Ziraa: They had better finish it…I'll be pretty mad if they don't!
Yume-dream: Thank you…yeah, poor Tai!
Soraslove: thank you!
Sorato4eva: You'll find out soon…
Shadowangel: read on to find out… thanks 4 reviewing!
SilentStalker: Forks? Couldn't you at least throw something that doesn't hurt too much like tomatoes…wait, I don't like tomatoes…make it something that tastes good J/K! It will be revealed in the first paragraph!
Kat: Yeah, Tai's the comic relief! What would the fic be without Tai?
Yama-sama: Tai would so say that too…why didn't I think of that!
Crazyamzy: It's summer…that explains the lack of vocabulary…mine's about the same right now.
Ishida's girl: I'm glad you like it!
Blondie121147: That sounds like something Tai would do not T.K.!
Recap Their lips were now almost at the point of no return and neither of them had any regrets at all. Slowly their lips inched closer ready to connect…
Chapter 8: Warnings
Matt brushed his lips gently against Sora's. Feeling no resistance from her, the blond added more pressure, kissing her harder. The princess returned the kiss with as much hunger, wrapping her arms around Matt and pulling him closer.
This is perfect. I could stay here and kiss him forever.
I can't believe this is actually happening. She is so perfect. Nothing can ruin this moment…"AHHH!" a scream sounded out. Matt and Sora pulled away, looking around and trying to figure out where the shout came from.
"Let's go. There might be trouble!" Matt exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. Sora reluctantly stood up, cursing their bad luck, and could tell by the look in the artist's eyes, he wished that moment was not over as well.
The two sprinted, well considering Sora had a long gown and healed shoes on, ran as fast as possible, hands interlocked, hoping no one was in trouble. They reached the clearing where the party had been, finding Sora's mother lying in her husband's arms.
"Mom!" Sora shouted, releasing Matt's hand and running over to her father.
"Sora!" her father exclaimed, relief washing over him. "Thank goodness you're okay!"
"Is mom?" The princess questioned, not wanting to believe what her eyes told her.
Her father looked up at her. "Thankfully she just fainted when the arrow came at her." He pointed to a tree with an arrow sticking out of it. Sora walked over to examine it.
"Hey, there's a note on this."
"What?" the congregation shouted.
"It says: The end of the Takenouchi kingdom draws near. Expect the unexpected and beware a traitor who may be in your midst…"
Matt walked over to her. "This kind of paper isn't used around here or is the style of writing." He faced the king. "If my guess is correct, I'd say this was made in the kingdom of Lockton."
The guests gasped as Malcolm and Nancy joined Matt. "I agree with you, son. I would have to say someone in Lockton was responsible for this."
"Alright, attention everyone!" King Haruhiko clapped his hands together. "I have received news that the armies of Lockton are on the move here and this only reassures my fears of it. I would ask that all the women and children head back to the castle, immediately, while the men help me search the grounds for any signs of our enemy."
The Queen motioned for the women and children to follow her but stopped as she reached Sora. "You father would like to talk to you and Matt." She said before heading off.
Sora and Matt looked at each other. He couldn't know what happened between his daughter andme back there. If so, the firing squad or executioner would most likely be brought in. "Your Highness." Matt said bowing as Sora curtsied.
"Matt, I'm sorry your birthday party got ruined."
"It's okay, sire." Maybe I'm off the hook.
"There is something I want to ask of you," Matt gulped. "I would like you to escort my daughter back to the castle and her room, making sure no harm befalls her."
Matt bowed down again. "Of course, sire, I will not let any danger fall upon the princess. I would give my life before I see her hurt." Sora blushed. If I hadn't already fallen for him, I'm sure that would have pushed me to.
The king smiled and patted the blond on the shoulder. "You are a brave, splendid young man, Matt. Take my dagger as yours. My father gave it to me the day I became king; it is an heirloom that has been passed down from each ruler to the future ruler. I think you are well-fit to become the next owner…" Matt blinked upon hearing the comment. Does he mean what I think he means? The king winked at him before handing Matt his shiny dagger and gesturing for the two to leave.
"Wait!" Lord Tachikawa exclaimed. "Where are the other children?"
"We were looking for them when we heard mom scream." Sora explained, lying just a little bit.
Matt caught on and added, "Yeah, we had just heard Tai's voice but decided this sounded more urgent. The Princess and I will go will go find them. They shouldn't be out there on their own."
The king contemplated it. "Okay, but send the two boys back when you find them. We need to address something with them."
"Okay." Matt and Sora answered in unison. Placing the dagger in his right hand, Matt offered his left arm to Sora and she clasped hers around it as they walked off.
"Are you sure its safe to let them go back into the forest? Your daughter…" Lord Kamiya asked.
"My daughter is in the safest hands in the kingdom next to my own. Matt will let nothing happen to her, believe me." Lord Kamiya looked confused as the king smiled at him knowingly…
Matt and Sora walked in an unnerving silence. "Matt," Sora finally whispered.
"Yeah," he answered back just as quietly.
Sora hesitated. "Do…you think that kiss was a mistake?"
"I…don't think it was." He looked down at the princess's beautiful face.
"I don't think it was either." She slipped her arm out of his and instead intertwined her fingers with his. But where does that leave us? They reached the clearing the others were at.
"Is anyone there?" Sora asked looking around. "That's funny, there's no one here. Maybe they decided to head back and took the other trail."
"Hopefully that's what happened. Come on, we'd better be getting back to the castle." He answered squeezing Sora's hand.
"Let's go this way. There's a trail that leads back to the castle over here that hardly anyone knows about. In fact, I think I'm the only one." Matt gave her a quizzical look. "I found it one day. I was doing some exploring on my own and found it."
Matt studied the girl. "With no guards? I would assume a king would have guards watch his daughter to make sure nobody harmed her, especially the more beautiful his daughter was." Sora blushed at his comment as they walked to the doors of the castle.
The Queen and Nancy Ishida greeted them at the entrance. "Are the girls with you?"
"We didn't find them." Sora explained. "We think they took the other path back to the clearing." The two women nodded and dismissed the two.
"Something just doesn't seem right." Matt said as they walked into her room.
Sora nodded her head in response. "I know. It has something to do with that arrow too, but I'm not sure what."
"I think the king's son, Marcus has something to do with it. If he found out I was here, he would do whatever he could to take out not only my family but also yours." Sora sat down on her bed and motioned for Matt to join her. He sat down next to her still holding her hand.
"Does he hate you that much?"
"His is one grudge that won't go away overnight."
"If it is him, Matt, please be careful."
Matt smiled at Sora. "Of course, princess, though if he attacks anyone in your family or mine, he will pay dearly; I will make sure of it."
Sora suddenly remembered something Matt had said earlier in the night. "When you told my father you'd die to protect me…did you really mean it?"
Of course, love, I would give up anything for you without a second thought. "You are my princess, and the future ruler of this kingdom, I would give up no less."
Sora smiled. "Matt, about before…" a trumpet sounded, signifying the king had returned. "We'd better go see what he wants."
Matt stood up and gave Sora a kiss on her forehead. "I don't know what we should do either…" he whispered finishing the thought she was going to say. The princess sighed as they walked down to see what was going on.
"Quiet please!" the king shouted. "We did not find any evidence other than a few footprints, that people had been there. However, my advisors and I have decided the ball for my daughter, for safety purposes, will be held at the end of this month instead of in two months time. Invitations will be sent out soon and the castle is looking more beautiful each and every day thanks to the Ishidas. Hopefully everything will be ready by then and hopefully we can escape any real danger from the kingdom of Lockton."
Sora looked at the blond artist next to her. "That only gives you another three weeks to get everything ready."
"That should be plenty of time for us to get done. My only real concernsare the ball and dining rooms."
"What about them?" Sora questioned as the blond artist walked her back to her room.
"We have everything ready to start them, but they will be a big undertaking. Most likely the four of us will have to work together on them until they are done. But that could result us falling behind on other rooms." Matt answered. "One month until the ball. Are you looking forward to it princess?"
Sora looked away. "I don't want to even go to it. There are plenty of suitors I've never met that may actually be different from the jerks I've met, but I have a feeling I won't fall for any of them." Besides, my heart already belongs to you, Matt. But what are we going to do about these feelings, which I'm pretty certain are mutual? You're an artist and I'm a princess…people won't accept us even if we do love each other. I'm so confused.
"Well, goodnight my princess." Matt said, kissing her hand.
"Happy birthday, fair artist." She responded as he walked off in the direction of his room. Sora walked into her own room and after taking off her dress, fell into a slumber.
The next morning Sora got dressed and ran into Cody. "The dining room is all ready under work so breakfast is being served in the kitchen." Cody explained.
"Thanks!" Sora smiled at him, hoping her friends were already in there. Wonder what happened with them last night. Upon entering the kitchen, Sora laughed at the faces of her three friends. "I take it you all got in a little trouble last night."
Tai glared at her and Mimi sighed. "You could say that."
"What happened, or do I want to know?"
"We were sitting out in this other clearing doing nothing at all." Sora coughed at Tai's explanation. Yeah right! "And we heard a scream. So we decided to check it out but we kind of got lost on the way back" Tai rubbed the back of his head as Sora giggled.
"Kari, you know Tai is horrible with directions. Why'd you let him lead?"
Kari rolled her eyes. "He said he was positive he could get us out of there. And it was only from one forest clearing to another. But then again…look what happened."
"Guys, this is Tai we're talking about, though. Sorry, Tai, no offense, but you get lost trying to find the river during the day." She started pacing behind Tai. "Did you expect to find your way back to a dark clearing at NIGHT?" Sora jumped around Tai wiggling her fingers, trying to scare him.
"Ahhhh!" He exclaimed jumping out of his seat. I hate it when she does that! "Don't do that!"
"So, did you manage to make it back to the clearing?" Sora asked, ignoring the nasty look Tai was shooting at her.
Mimi hung her head. "Yah, let's just say it wasn't pretty though." Sora raised her eyebrows, and Mimi continued. "Your dad, my dad, Malcolm Ishida, and their dad completely lashed out at the four of us for going off on our own and taking so longto come back. Then T.K. and Tai got yelled at for taking the females off to 'Romance Them.'" Sora burst out laughing.
"Did my dad say that?"
Kari nodded her head. "Yeah. Poor T.K.'s face was so red. We were all so embarrassed."
Sora smirked at her. "But if you guys weren't doing anything, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, was there?" The three blushed. "Well with the exception of Mimi and Tai exchanging a few I-love-yous and T.K. and Kari watching the stars, I'd say nothing happened." Sora replied innocently.
"How did you know?" Mimi finally asked.
"Kari, T.K., Matt, and I were spying on you until T.K. and Kari decided to get a little cozy…" Sora answered cheekily.
Kari turned red again. "Well what about you and Matt?"
"Matt and I walked back to the clearing…nothing more." Sora felt her neck warm up and casually glanced down at her crest of love. Oh my God, it's glowing. I hope no one notices! Sora fidgeted with the necklace, successfully concealing the glow.
Tai's face suddenly lit up. "OH!" he exclaimed, pointing at Sora. "You and Matt! You and Matt…why didn't I see it before? Why didn't you two see it before?" he yelled, pointing now at Kari and Mimi. "She likes him…you're a bad, bad liar, Sora!"
Kari and Mimi both stared at Tai. "Where have you been for the past week? It was so obvious they liked each other from the beginning. You boys are so clueless about love." Mimi shook her head.
"Why does everyone assume there is something going on between Matt and me?" Sora lied again.
Kari laughed. "You are a bad liar! Come on, Sor, you two are so into each other it's not even that funny anymore. Just stop denying it!"
Tai stood up and started waving his arms in front of him like a music conductor. "Matt and Sora sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then come little babies you'll name after me in the baby carriage! But that's not all, no that's not all; Kari and T.K. will baby-sit anytime at all! But that's not all, that's not all; Meems and I will have a son named Paul! And our kids will play together everyday, and my son will beat Matt's kid in CROQUET! So hahaha blondie!" Tai cackled, bowing in front of them.
The three girls stared at the bushy-haired boy. "Where does he come up with this?" Mimi wondered.
"He couldn't at least stick to the original version?" Kari responded.
Sora cleared her throat. "Tai, two words: VOICE LESSONS!"
Tai flushed. "You know you liked it." He looked at the time. "Guys, we have to get going to class, ugh…hopefully we don't have history lessons today."
The group walked to the classroom. "I was wondering if you all were going to show up." Sora and the other three sat down in their desks. Master Gennai had a habit of being kind of boring. Today was no different as he began preaching his once a week "service to others" speech.
If only we weren't stuck here in the classroom. I wish we could be out doing something with some other people, particularly one person who's got blond hair, blue eyes, and is an amazing kisser. Stop thinking about him…ahh, it's too hard not to think about Matt and the kiss. I just want to kiss him again! "Master Gennai!" Sora interrupted.
"Yes, Princess?"
"I have a proposition."
Master Gennai looked amused. "Oh really…do carry on."
Sora stood up. "You are always discussing how we should help others and make our service worthwhile. After talking to the Ishida family, I think my classmates and I could help them get the work for which they'll need many hands done. It could be a class project, sir…we could get graded based on how well we pull it off. And it would be inside the castle so you could make sure we were actually doing what we say we will. It would be a very good service venture and would almost guarantee the castle would be done by the time of the ball."
The others all looked at her then at their teacher with eyes full of hope. Damn, she's definitely going to make a good queen. Tai gave their teacher his puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
"Go ahead." Master Gennai conceded. "But I have a feeling you will all want to go change into some other clothes." He pointed out.
"Thank you!" the four teens exclaimed in unison. The group walked out the door and Tai pulled the girls into a bear hug.
"Free at last, free at last!"
Kari laughed. "Big brother, you do realize we're going to be spending this time working."
"Working?" Tai questioned. "Was that part of the deal?" The girls sweat dropped. "I guess it's better than sitting in class."
"That's the spirit!" Mimi exclaimed. "Let's go see if we can find some work clothes."
Kari pulled Sora back and motioned for her to walk slowly with the younger girl. "What is it?"
"You did that so you could spend more time with Matt. Just admit it: you are crazy about him. Here, I'll tell you something that might make you spill your feelings: I like T.K. a lot! Now what do you have to say?"
Sora thought before answering. "I like T.K. a lot too. He's a sweet guy, and you two are so cute together."
Kari balled her hands into fists. She's even more stubborn than Tai; that must explain why they're best friends! All right, that didn't work out the way I had hoped so its time to go to Plan X! "I saw your crest of love glowing today when we were talking about Matt." Sora gasped. "Don't even try to hide it; it's proof enough for me."
I thought no one noticed! Sora shut her eyes tightly as Kari smirked at her. I didn't want anyone to know! Sora made sure no one was looking before whispering harshly, "Fine Kari, you win, I'm crazy about Matt. Wait, I'll give it to you one better: I love Matt Ishida." Kari's eyes widened. "That's right, I love him! I don't care if we've hardly known each other a week, I know he's the one my heart will always belong to."
I had no idea she cared for him that much. Apparently it was love at first site. I'm happy for you, Sora.Kari put her hand on her older role mode's shoulder. "Go for it then. I've seen the way you two are around each other. Matt cares about you as much as you do for him."
"Thanks for the support, Kari. I wish it were as easy as it sounds, though…" she trailed off. "Just don't tell Mimi or Tai, okay? I'll tell them when the time is right. They've both got really big mouths. If word got out around the castle, well, it probably wouldn't turn out too well. Now, come on, we've got to go paint."
Kari smiled as they ran down the hall. I won't tell Tai or Mimi, but Sora, you never mentioned not telling T.K…
A/N: Thoughts? Please review! Next chapter will be up much sooner…I hope!