Artistic Differences
By theladyknight
Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine!
Inconnu: Yes, Yamato Ishida is the inventor of the concept of dating! LoL! Wowz, thank you for all the reviews! I'm glad you like it!
scorpion05: I get what your saying...we'll just have to see. I keep changing my mind about what all to put in here...I'm pretty indecisive sometimes...
Xymi Angel Ghost: Yeah, someone obviously had too much sugar!
Yume-dream: That just proves if Tai would have to work for food, it could happen!
Kat: I had an idea sort of similar to yours…it's in here somewhere…you actually like cliffhanger things like that? Wowz, I guess they're okay as long as the author doesn't take a long time to update…
Raine189: Thanks for the reviews! Update sooner, um, I'll try…school and soccer just have a way of getting in the way.
Curtis Zidane Ziraa: Thank you!
Yama-sama: That is a scary thought…I don't know if I'd want to be related to Tai and Mimi…well there would never ever ever times infinity be a dull moment with them as relatives...
Crazyamzy: Tai's more of a paint splattering target, but sadly for the others, it ends this chapter…
Placid Snowflake: I like the new name...what kind of forks are you talking about? Are they plastic or not? Cuz if they're not I wouldn't want to get hit in the eye!
Armitage: Bubbly…I like that. I guess Tai is kind of bubbly…
Chapter 10: Matchmakers Part 1
The princess and her group of friends spent the next week finishing up the dining and ballrooms. Master Gennai had evaluated them all, and each had passed with flying colors, even Tai.
Sora and Matt attempted to meet in secret, but Kari and T.K. always found a reason to follow them. The two sixteen-year-olds were making it their mission to catch the two alone and get them to express their love and finally hook up. From what Kari and T.K. assumed, it appeared the two older kids both knew the other had feelings for them but didn't realize those feelings were as strong as they were. T.K. and Kari had made an agreement: get the two together and betrothed or engaged before the ball, and the two teens had sealed their little pact with a kiss. Now the problem was getting Matt and Sora together.
To Kari and T.K., it was unclear who was more stubborn, the artist or the princess. It seemed everyone in the castle knew of the unspoken romance between Matt and Sora and had absolutely no problem with it. However, the two people at the center of it all believed others would not allow it. Kari believed that was why they were holding back from letting their most powerful feelings known.
Throughout the whole week, Kari and T.K. made every attempt to get the two alone and put every plan they could think of into effect. The score; plans resulting in success, 0, plans resulting in failure, 56.
"We're missing something, I'm sure of it. They're both so calm and cheerful. It's like they know something we don't." Kari told T.K. as they put the finishing touches on the ballroom with only two more weeks before the ball. The game of hit Tai with paint had sadly come to an end for all people involved, with the exception of Tai, three days earlier. It took him a while to figure out what was going on but when he had, he chased Mimi, Matt, and Sora around the ballroom while T.K. and Kari just laughed.
"I agree. I do not like being left out in the dark. We are going to get to the bottom of this. Should we tell Tai and Mimi?" T.K. whispered. With everyone in the ballroom they had to be careful of what they said and how loud they said things.
"Yeah, I think their big news has finally died down." I can't believe my brother is getting hitched! Who would have thought that it would happen before Sora got married!
It was true. At lunch on Wednesday, the Lords Tachikawa and Kamiya had announced the betrothal of their children. Everyone knew it would be coming but were a little shocked at the timing of the announcement. For the past three days, the same day as the announcement and the same day the paint game had ended, Tai and Mimi had been congratulated by just about everyone in the castle. No date had yet been set for the wedding due to the proximity of the ball.
Yes, the ball was still on. The King and Queen were both sticking to their choices and were planning on informing Sora of their plan in the next week. For now, they were letting Tai and Mimi take the limelight and joining the rest of the castle in marveling at how beautiful things were becoming.
Lunch on Saturday, exactly two weeks before the ball, was served in the dining room. It seemed everyone had been invited to join in this joyous feast celebrating the progress on the castle.
"After two weeks of hard, diligent work, we have seen an incredible change in this castle. I would like to propose a toast in honor of the Ishida family. None of this could be done without them and I have a strong feeling you all agree it would not have looked this fantastic with any other group of artists in charge. For all your hard work and enthusiasm in fixing our castle, to the Ishida family!" He raised his wine glass.
"To the Ishidas!" the group echoed. Sora raised her wine glass and looked Matt, sitting directly across from her, in the eyes. To you Matt, the one who stole my heart. May we be together someday.
Malcolm Ishida cleared his throat and stood up, looking to the king to see if he could make an announcement. His wish was granted. "Thank you, King Haruhiko, for everything. Your family and the rest of the people in this castle have provided the greatest hospitalities and support to us. My family and I appreciate every bit of it. I would like to announce that, according to my youngest son's calculations, we should be finishing the castle within the next week and at the latest, five days before your ball. Basically the only places left to finish are the bedrooms."
The guests all cheered. The majority of them were looking forward to this ball. The only thing Sora was looking forward to was seeing some of her friends from other lands. She didn't want to dance with any suitors. The onlyman she wanted to dance with and be with was Matt. I'm going to ask father if the Ishidas are invited. If they aren't, I'm just going to have to put my negotiating skills to the test.
"What's your plan for working on the bedrooms?" Lord Kamiya asked.
"I think we would work faster and get the best results if we split into pairs and groups of three. Are the teens still willing to work?"
"Of course!" Tai and Mimi shouted together.
The King smiled. "I'd like to take a try at painting too. I haven't done that in a good twenty years. My, I am old!" he joked, causing the others to laugh.
"Yes, painting does sound like fun. I think I'll give it a try too. Nancy, do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Queen Toshiko asked.
"Of course!" the female artist answered. "Well, this will all work into the plan. Queen Toshiko, King Haruhiko, and Malcolm will all work on the royal bedroom and help out with the others when they're finished, that is if you still want to help," Nancy explained to the two royals, "T.K. and Tai will take the male guest rooms while Kari, Mimi, and I will concentrate on the female guest rooms. Matt and Princess Sora can finish up her room and then go help out wherever else is needed."
King Haruhiko clapped his hands. "That sounds like a great idea. What do you all say we get started?"
The others nodded. They're continually leaving Matt and I alone…it's like they're pushing us together. Though, we will be alone and have some time to…sort out any artistic differences we have. And I know a way we can solve them...
I can't believe Sora and I are being left alone again. Not that I'm complaining…we haven't had much time together recently. It'll be good to be by ourselves, away from others. I bet we can get a lot accomplished…
Each group split up and went their separate ways. "So how does it feel knowing you're going through your last days as a single man?" T.K. asked Tai as they walked into T.K.'s room.
"To tell you the truth," Tai began calmly, "I'm scared out of my mind! I don't know what to do!"
"What do you mean?" T.K. asked, trying to calm Tai down.
"Once I'm married, I'm going to have all these responsibilities, and my track record isn't exactly the best one. I'm afraid I'm not going to be a good husband."
The blond sighed and put a hand on the older boy. "Tai, you should be able to handle it just fine. You and Mimi love each other, and you'll take care of each other." T.K. realized what he'd said. "Okay, so maybe you'll be doing all the providing, but you get what I'm trying to say."
Tai looked at T.K. "You're right Little Blondie." T.K. winced at the nickname. Little Blondie, couldn't he be a little more original? Never mind, it's Tai I'm talking about. Tai puffed out his chest. "I'm gonna be the man of the house! That's right, MAN OF THE HOUSE! Don't you just love the sound of it? Man of the house. Say it with me now…man of the house! Come on T.K.!"
T.K. rolled his eyes. He really needs to think about the things he says sometimes. The blond watched the brunette dance around the room, rapping the words "Man of the house" over and over.
"Tai!" T.K. exclaimed. "I understand." T.K. took out the paint and began mixing it before handing Tai a brush.
"I think you're right. I understand my role completely. I'm going to be the breadwinner, the protector, and the boss. My children are going to look up to me. I'm going to teach them how to do everything! One day there will be an army of little Tai's walking around!"
Sweet Jesus, no! One Tai is about all this world can handle! He's getting a little carried away here…
"T.K., could you…um, do me a favor?"
"Okay." The artist agreed. Wait, what did I just volunteer for!
"Great! Okay, I'm going to practice a speech I thought up the other night. It's going to be used on my son or on my daughter's fiancée. It goes a little something like this…" Tai paused dramatically and put on a serious expression. "Now son, there comes a time in life when a man and woman…"
Fifteen minutes later, T.K. slowly painted the same spot he had started at the beginning of Tai's talk. What's more boring, paint drying or Tai's speech. I pity his children! At least their household will never be boring.
"…so remember, be careful, be safe, and make good choices!" Tai's face bore a large grin. "So, T.K., how was it?"
What am I supposed to say? "Um…it's definitely interesting. I'm not sure what they'll think. But why did you want me to hear it?"
"Son, I've watched your relationship with my little sister," T.K. gulped, "and I approve of it one hundred and twenty percent! I give you my blessing to…"
"Uh, Tai. You can get out of your parent mode. Please."
Tai chuckled. "Right, sorry about that. T.K., you and Kari are okay by me. Just don't do anything to hurt her." T.K. nodded. "Maybe I should give your brother this talk too…"
Finally an opening! "I'm positive Matt would never hurt Sora."
"Actually I agree with you. Matt and I may not have gotten along right away, but he deserves to be happy. And so does Sora. She's my best friend in the whole world, and Matt is like the best thing that's ever happened to her. No matter how much she denies it, I can see it; she's crazy about him. And I don't know how your brother feels about her, but I'm thinking it's the same way."
Wow, I'm impressed Tai actually picked all that up. Who would have thought! "Well, Tai, you'll be happy to know some things your sister and I learned…" T.K. looked at the tiny square, the only thing he had painted in the whole room. We can paint later. Now it's time to go to Sora's room and get the two together…
-Girl's Rooms-
Mimi and Kari along with Nancy Ishida spent the whole way to the first room talking excitedly about Mimi's news.
"Congratulations." Nancy said again, smiling at Mimi. "I don't know you or Tai all that well, but I wish you both the best of luck. Marriage can be a challenging thing, but it's also a great wonderful thing as well. I just hope Matt decides to settle down soon."
Hmmm…maybe I can get Matt's mom involved in our plot! "Mrs. Ishida, what if I told you I already know Matt is in love with someone."
"Sora." Nancy said automatically. "But that won't be accepted."
"That's not what we heard…" Mimi trailed off in a singsong voice.
Nancy's ears perked up. "Really? Do share, please."
"Let's just say we heard the king and queen talking and both were very happy with the idea of Matt and Sora together." Kari grinned.
"That's not all!" Mimi exclaimed triumphantly. "Matt and Sora have actually kissed, and Sora loves Matt!"
Kari laughed watching the expression on Nancy's face change. "Wait a minute, Meems, how'd you know Sora loves Matt? I swore I wouldn't tell you or Tai, so I told T.K."
Mimi smiled guiltily. "I heard you and T.K. talking earlier in the week while I was cleaning my paintbrush."
These girls are so sneaky…I LOVE it! They care about their friends so much and just want to see them together. Matt's finally got a chance at happiness, and I'm not going to let it slip away from him! "So are you planning on playing matchmakers?"
"Yeah." The girls answered cautiously, hoping she wouldn't be mad.
"Well count me in! I haven't played matchmaker forever! Back when I was a kid…" she paused, "well I'm sure we don't need to talk about my childhood; it would bore you. Ooh, can we ask Queen Toshiko to help us too? This is going to be so much fun!"
"Is she serious?" Kari asked out the corner of her mouth.
Mimi shrugged. "Maybe the paint fumes have gotten to her?"
"If you're sure…" Kari trailed off.
Nancy smiled. "I'm positive. You guys want to set Matt and Sora up, I want to set them up, and I bet the queen does too. Let's head to the royal bedroom!"
The three ladies walked out the door and walked toward the master bedroom, no one realizing they had gotten absolutely no painting done. Who would have thought Mrs. Ishida would volunteer to help us? This could get interesting. I hope too many people don't get involved. I don't want it getting back to Sora that I told T.K. she loves Matt!
Nancy knocked on the door. "Excuse me, Your Highnesses and Malcolm." She began.
"Of course, Nancy, what is it?" the Queen asked.
"We were wondering if we could borrow you, Queen Toshiko. We need some more feminine ideas and help in the girl's rooms."
"Of course." She beamed. "Honey, can you and Malcolm handle it in here?"
"Sure! Though, the room may be a complete disaster area when we're finished." The Queen gave her husband a kiss on the cheek before the women left.
"I can't believe she just lied to the king." Mimi gasped.
Kari nodded. "That is one cool woman. Sora is seriously going to be marrying into a cool family!"
Nancy informed the Queen about he real reason they'd pulled her away. "What a good idea! This is going to be so exciting! Shouldn't we head over to Sora's room and see what's happening there?"
"Good idea." Kari responded. "But first we'd probably better go swing by the guy's rooms and pick up T.K. and Tai. They'll wanna see this too."
The Queen and Nancy both blanched. "The guys are helping us play matchmaker and spy on Matt and Sora?" Nancy asked.
"Yeah." Mimi answered. "Is that a problem?"
"It could be." Queen Toshiko replied. "In our case it is. If you had just asked T.K. to help it wouldn't be too bad, but Tai could cause us some problems."
"Oh God, I completely forgot about that!" Kari exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.
Nancy looked between the two. "Could you possibly fill me in?"
"Of course!" the Queen answered. "When Sora and Tai were nine they went through a "spy/knight/warrior" phase. Every day they would hide out in the garden," Kari turned red knowing she and T.K. had done that the other day, "and spy on people, gathering information was what they called it."
She paused and cleared her throat. "Well they never got much. Each day they would get caught even though Sora found new, great hiding spots."
Mimi took over. "Sora had absolutely no problem being a good spy. She got a lot of dirt on me! But Tai on the other hand, I love the guy to death, obviously, but stealth is not a strong ability of his. Kari and I were out in the garden having a tea party, and Tai tried sneaking closer to us but slipped in a mud puddle and ran into our tea set. I threw a fit, and Kari pushed him back into the mud."
"That's nothing!" the Queen laughed. "You would always see some part of Tai or see catch him doing something. Usually it was his hair, an arm, not diving into a hiding place fast enough, well you get the general idea. For today, we'll let Tai and T.K. help, but if we need to work at this longer, they're out. Sound good?" The others all nodded in agreement. "Alright then, on to Sora's room…"
-Sora's Room-
Matt and Sora walked out of the dining room, up the stairs, and to her room at a brisk pace. "Is anyone following us?" Matt whispered.
Sora casually glanced behind her. "Nope."
"Good." Matt smiled. The artist opened the door to Sora's room for her and as soon as they were both in, shut it, pinning the princess against the door and kissing her neck. Sora let out a moan as his lips traveled up her neck finally reaching her lips. She pulled him closer, pushing her harder against the door as she entered her tongue into his mouth. Matt smiled to himself and massaged her tongue with his. The kissing stayed that passionate as they both broke for air when it was needed but then continued their make-out session.
Finally, a good time later, Sora broke away from him, giggling. "Matt, we've gotta stop and get some work done. Otherwise they're going to know we haven't been working. Then they'll start to wonder."
"All right." Matt groaned. "But then we continue."
"Yes." Sora answered, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Then we continue."
Matt opened up cans of crimson, yellow, and blue paints. "We'll design the sky today." He said, sitting down on the edge of Sora's bed. "It's going to take us about a week at least to get everything just right."
"A week," Sora shook her head waving a paintbrush in the air and casually dropping it on the bed. "I guess we're stuck together for a week. What'll we do to keep us from getting sick of each other?" she asked as she stood in front of Matt.
"This." He whispered, pulling her down so she straddled him, continuing their make-out session. Sora pushed Matt down so he was lying on his back as things began heating up. Matt let out a moan as he rolled her over so he was lying on top of her. God, I have to control myself! Don't do anything stupid! The princess kissed him harder, running her hands through his hair and down to his back, reaching underneath his shirt to feel his back. Ah, to hell with self-control! Matt worked his hands under the princess's shirt and began massaging her back. Soon, the need for air consumed them, and Matt rolled off the girl so they could both catch their breaths.
Oh my God, he's such an amazing kisser and amazing just describes everything about him. I wonder what would have happened had we not needed to stop for air…
Matt leaned over to face Sora when he heard the creak of a door. Oh no! Think of something! Sora was about to sit up to see who was there when Matt grabbed her arm and began talking, "So you see, Princess, if you look at it this way, the mural would look almost three-dimensional versus just flat. That would be the advantage of having half of it on the ceiling and half on the wall below. But I don't really know which one would look better…" Matt trailed off.
Where did he pull that from? I wonder who's spying on us. Sora sat up and looked at the people standing by the door. Her mother, Matt's mother, Kari, T.K., Tai, and Mimi. "Hey guys! What are you all doing in here?"
"Oh…" So they weren't kissing…or were they…they're lying on the bed together. I don't know! "We're just checking how things are going in here." Tai made up. "Are you two just taking a nap break?" Kari punched her brother. "Ouch!"
Nancy smiled. So that's what the others tried to warn me about. "We're just wondering if you two needed anything."
"No mom," Matt answered. "I think everything's under control. Although…"
"Yes!" the crowd at the door exclaimed, hoping Matt was going to announce he and Sora had admitted their feelings for each other. Sora looked at Matt wondering what he was getting at.
"Sora and I were just trying to figure out how the mural we'll be painting should look. We could really use your advice. I was just going to paint a flat out mural on the wall but then I suddenly got an idea to paint part of it on the ceiling to make it more lifelike. If you lay down on the bed, like Sora and I were doing, you'll get a better idea."
Grr…that's all they're doing! Foiled again! "Can I try?" Kari asked.
"Of course." Sora answered. "We can't get started on the drawing and painting until we know how it's going to go.
The group all rushed in and chose spots on Sora's bed. "Hm…I don't know." Nancy mused. "It could go either way." The group spent the next thirty minutes debating how the mural should look, or in Tai's case, whining about how big and comfortable Sora's bed was and demanding he should get a new one. In the end it was decided to put it on both the ceiling and wall.
"Thanks for all of your help." Sora said sincerely. "How are your room's coming."
"Um…" T.K. looked at the others. "Good?"Matt smiled knowingly. "I bet so. Little brother, could you hand me my drawing set. I'm going to begin sketching this then." Matt began his work on the wall. The group of matchmakers all looked dejected.
"Well, we'd better get back to work." Queen Toshiko said. "See you two later."
"Bye." Sora waved as she handed Matt a charcoal pencil.
Kari closed the door and looked at the others. "I guess they weren't doing anything. How about we go back and work and come up with another plan to use tomorrow?"
"Yes!" Tai muttered pumping a fist in the air. "We get to play spy again! Can we have our own theme song?" Everyone looked at Tai and laughed before walking off, prepared to actually do some work.
"They're gone." Sora smirked at Matt. She had her ear pressed up against the door and had heard every word of their conversation. "They're plotting something for tomorrow, though, I don't know what it is, and I don't think they do either."
"They're some odd ones. Wonder what's up!" Sora nodded in agreement and put the lock on her door.
"We're prepared in case they come back."
"Not a bad idea." Matt answered as he set his pencil case down next to the window. "What's this?" he asked, picking up a rope ladder.
"Oh, sometimes when I get really restless at nights or just bored when I was little, I would climb down it and go walk around, taking that path I found."
"I see." Matt answered putting down the rope ladder and standing behind Sora, wrapping his arms around her. "What a sneaky little princess you are."
"You're not exactly the most innocent either." She joked. Matt smirked. "What?"
"Now can we get back to doing what we were doing before?"
"I suppose we can fit that into our schedule." she answered kissing him once again…
A/N: Thoughts? Please Review and let me know if you liked it.
Theladyknight