Last Edited17.12.o5

Written: 16.o7.o5

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, but by now…you should know that I do own this story. Please don't steal these ideas because they are precious to me, for I have put my own saying and feeling to every word I write in this chapter…and some of the events in these stories are based on (some part) of my life. © Flipstahhz

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Do You Still Think of Me?

PART ONE – Fragments of memories

Chapter Five

By Flipstahhz

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"You should have told us!" he roared, then demanded, " Why didn't you!"

How did he know!

She shriveled back. Her bottom lip trembled, eyes widening as she stared at the male in front of her in aghast. He frightened her. She had never seen him this angry… ever

It was rare to catch Yamato acting so fierce…especially to her. Sure, she had seen him been furious before…but she never expected him to show this emotion to her…he had always treated her differently…

She could feel his eyes piercing directly at her. Her back hung lower as she played with a rose, between her slim fingers, behind the counter of the empty stall. He was the last in line, the last one she was to serve before she closed the store. She hadn't expected him to find out… But she knew she'd have to face either her friends about the truth eventually.

But she wasn't ready…she didn't want to be ready for the confrontation. She was a coward.

She watched as he ran his hand through his sandy colored hair, through a stressed gesture, pondering what words would come next out of his mouth.

" Sora!" he said bitterly then began to almost yell out in rage, " Why did you hide it from all of us! How could you keep something this big to yourself! How could you suffer this all this pain by yourself? We….Mimi, Tai and I…we are your friends. We'd want a fair chance to help you out!"

She didn't want to stare at him. She could feel her whole body trembling as she proceeded to fiddle with the scarlet rose between her fingers. Even though her eyes were on the rose, she wasn't even noticing that she was stabbing the thorns into her fingers….unaware of the thin lines of blood oozing out of the open cuts.

" Sora…don't," he cried out. " Just don't you ever do this to yourself again. I know how it's like to hide things…and hiding it causes more pain. It raptures you and slowly takes away who you are. Doing … this …you think you're causing everyone else to worry. Let them worry. They deserve the chance to. I-we care about you! But taking those things out on yourself…you should never do that…I don't want you getting hurt!"

" Matt – …" she finally broke out, but then she began to shiver, shiver from the emotion in his anger that was pouring out to her.

" Sora….I'm sorry…I didn't meant to get all worked up over that. It's just…that I care too much for you…as a friend and all. I'm real sorry about your mother…"

To her surprise, his tone became softer than the words he had rambled out earlier. She relaxed, the tension turning languid. For the first time it felt as if all her shield was broken down. It was as if she had nothing to hide anymore…except her feelings for him…

She began to cry. She hated crying…she thought she was over it all…not crying at her mother's funeral…or when she was revealed to her death. After staying strong from that, she was still prone to tears. It made her feel weak. Out of all times, why did she decide to cry in front of Yamato? Knowing this made her collapse into even more sobs. Not the silent sobs…the painful chockfull ones…the ones that happened when you felt extreme sorrow.

" I….I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled so madly at you back then…without thinking," he repeated his apology sincerely. There was nothing else he thought he could do at the time…so he embraced her tightly. She simply needed a shoulder to cry on. She needed him. And this was what he could only offer towards her condolences.

" No Matt…It's not your fault…not at all," Sora whispered lightly, eyes pink from the tears. " I just…never expected things to turn out like this. I was taking life for granted –."

"We all do…". She believed him.

They remained silent for a while, as she chocked, crying more into his embrace until she stopped…she released herself from his arms.

" If it's okay to ask, is this the secret you've been hiding all this time?" her asked, not staring at her. His eyes were now scrutinized at the wall behind her.

She nodded.

"Then you'd better not keep any other secrets, like this, from us…or me…you should have at least told someone. Even Mimi. Isn't she your best friend?"

"But you know now…" she replied. " How bout you…you've hidden secrets too…"

" I do," Matt responded. " But it's the simple ones of my parents divorcing. That was ages ago though…you probably would have known already…Plus, those get around town fast. Even those old fake magazines saying I sleep with any girl I come across. How sickening is that?"

"Yeah…"

" Let's get back to you." Matt shrugged, uncomfortable from speaking about himself. He wanted to know whether Sora was alright. " Next time you'd better tell me…or someone about your problems or tragedies, in this case. But about all this….you better tell Mimi and Tai soon. Just promise me –"

" Promise you what?"

" Promise me…to not go through unnecessary pain anymore."

" Sure. Just like our old promise," she simpered. " But you probably forgot it by now…"

"Forget what?" he questioned thoughtfully. " Is it that I'm not letting you give up on your dreams? About you becoming a clothes designer…."

"Yeah, that's right," she shrugged. " Don't know how you remembered. I thought–"

" How could I forget? And…I still think you should follow your dream sti-"

"I'm not going to…." She said uncomfortably. " It's too risky now…I'm going to become a nurse."

" A nurse? But don't you want to –."

" I know what I want, Yamato. I know that my dream was to be a fashion designer. But it's clearly unreachable! Do you know how hard it is and perfect you have to be to get into that course! It's impossible!"

"But…you can't give up," he objected. " You can't give up like that…"

"You've always been a dreamer," she sighed tiredly. She was in no mood of having useless verbal fights with him. Complaining with Yamato wasn't what she intended…but she wanted to express her point of view. " Sure, some dreams always are fulfilled. But not every dream becomes accomplished."

"What do you mean?"

" I mean that I thought it was wrong that I leave my mother's business …so I'm continuing it for her. And I need the money to pay off for my schooling … and I want to practical. I want to spend the money on something that will possibly work out in my future."

" Is that why you want to be a nurse? Because it's practical?" he clicked the pieces together.

" Yeah, in those terms. I guess," she replied with a hint of confusion in the way she spoke back.

" You aren't even sure! You've got to learn to take risks, Sora."

"Yamato, please! Don't worry…after all…all the subjects I've chosen are medically related and I also have no design subjects. I'm taking chemistry, biology, human development-"

He interrupted, not caring about the subjects she was listing to him. " But …it still won't make you happy. Because you want to be a fashion designer…."

" You're so stubborn! You and your stupid dreams," she exclaimed waving her hands in the air. " Who cares if I'm not happy! Dreamers…don't get anywhere in life-"

"But you'll be unhappy. If you try…you never know what will be the outcome of it."

"Stop it, Yamato! I don't care if I'll be unhappy!" she said, " Stop trying to convince me!"

" I can't," he smirked. " Then I'd be breaking my promise to you over five years ago."

"You and your bloody promises," she rolled her hazelnut-shaded eyes. " You probably aren't even going to continue your dream anyway…

" That's where you got me wrong," he mumbled. " I'm still taking music up…"

"Fine. It's I who will break our 12-year-old promise then. God Matt…that was years ago! Why do you even care?"

" Cause I do," he shrugged. " I'd better get going…need to get home, greet my mother a Happy Mother's Day and –"

"Don't forget this," Sora Takenouchi handed him the rose she somehow still had mangled in her hand. " Free of charge."

" Thanks," he smiled. " Guess I still am a cheapo…"

"Yeah," she laughed. " Just think of it as thanks for … well… today and hearing me out…though you found out yourself."

"No problem. But you didn't really need to get me anything," Matt said as he dug his hands into the uniform blazer's pocket. " Here."

She accepted the handkerchief. After all the trauma, laughter and discussion about dreams…he still realized that she was bleeding…

"Thanks for everything, Yama," she said rather thankfully.

He strolled to the door and suddenly came to a halt.

" What….what now?" Sora queried, hands on her hips.

"You called me Yama," he stated with another smile tugging on his lips. " You haven't named me that in a long time…"

" Guess my old bad habit is coming back," she mocked, sticking her tongue out.

She continued to watch him exit the store, hearing the bell chimes from the door, as he lifted his left hand behind him with a wave.

The ice had finally broken...

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2006 (a year later – final year of schooling)

For the four people of the small clique, the year had flashed by so quickly and they all found themselves being year 12 students, accomplishing their final year at school. As seniors, they barely had time to hang out with each other. Everything was so hectic and busy…and all they did was study.

Tai was the slackest amongst all of them and it seemed he still focused on playing soccer more than studying. But to their surprise, even though he was slacking off, he managed to get straight A's for his legal studies class and the teacher kept on recommending that he was to be a lawyer. Mimi, on the other hand, was suddenly acing all her cooking classes, though she still wasn't particularly sure what she wanted to do when she left school.

Matt still took music classes, still firm that he wanted a career that had anything to do with music.

And Sora…

She still wanted to be a nurse. She was probably the one that concentrated on her studies the most out of the four. She took up many science subjects, but secretly had time to sit back and design some clothing…

When she finished designing and finalizing the product, she sneaked it into her bag into the design tech. class for the teacher to view. She wanted a professional opinion on what she had made.

So here she was…watching the teacher carefully.

"My my," the teacher muttered as she held the dress and carefully observed every view of the formal wear. " This is spectacular. Absolutely beautiful."

She could feel her cheeks turn a violent shade of pink. She gained her composure. " You think so, Ms. Chambers?"

" Why, of course so dear! All I do is tell the honest truth when it comes to magnificent types of clothing!" the teacher brightly beamed at the young woman. " From the stitches to the material you chose…it's hard work and very original. I'd be giving you an A plus if you took this class!"

Sora turned back to the dress she had made, from a different type of light. The jet black dress was made of silk, a criss-cross pattern at the back, and it was a halter neck that tied around her neck twice that made it look as if she was wearing a choker. It wasn't completely plane nor was it too fancy.

" Dear," the woman sighed. " I still don't understand why you didn't take this class. You would have been great!"

"Thanks, Ms…but you don't have to be-"

"I'm simply telling the truth, Sora!" the teacher exclaimed. " I know that you want to be a nurse, even after I told you last year that this subject would be great for you. And…"

The teacher's tone became softer and more approachable. " And whenever you make something again, I'd be ecstatic if you do show me, so I can also help you with anything you need assistance with. Continue doing the great work!"

" Thanks, Ms. Chambers," Sora said gratefully. " I really needed your opinion on this one."

"You're welcome Ms. Takenouchi. Come back soon!"

The two exchanged goodbyes as Sora strolled out of the design room feeling rather glad and proud of herself for gaining the courage to even talk to Ms. Chambers about what she had created.

As she continued to walk down the corridor of her school, she felt rather strange since she the corridor was very empty and spacious. Usually, when she took this route of the school, the corridor was crowded tightly with students that you had to hold your breath to be able to slip through and get across the other side of where you wanted to go.

Her eyes continued to gaze at the rooms she walked by, and realized she was still pacing down the 'art' section of the school. She saw the drama class, and gave a quiet snigger. She was never good at the subject, if she wanted to pursue acting she'd have made into a mortifying actress. She laughed freely to none other but herself. She stared at the next room, which was the photography dark room. It reminded her of how Tai was bragging with pride of his younger sister and how her piece of artwork had made it to one of the top secondary student's photographs in Odaiba.

Suddenly her mind was interrupted with the loud beat that boomed out of the music room. Sora thought that she'd be the only student at school, her assumption was obviously incorrect. But…who would want to stay after the school hours?

She became suspicious, and peered around to see what was happening in the room. A soft smile pressed on her lips, as she spied into the room. She should have expected it.

There she was Yamato in the room, with a couple of his old band members – Brian & Kent. Jay was the only member t hat was lacking from the crew that afternoon.

Yamato was singing as he strummed his electric guitar, Bri was pounding the drums as if there were no tomorrow…while Kent was letting his fingers run up and down the keyboard in tremendous speed and skill.

From the looks of things, they weren't playing seriously. They were just having a good time, and a good catch up. She did recall Matt saying that music was a way to handle stress and she understood that everyone would be stressed with the amount of homework, exams and tests they'd been having lately. Music was his way of relaxing. Even though the form of relaxation was extremely loud…

"Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind. I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind," he sang out loud, "My, my, my, aye-aye, whoa! M-m-m-my Sharona!"

She laughed when she heard Yamato sing the words really loud with evident mockery towards the classical song.

The song they were playing was a classic. She gave a smile, and walked past the room…already sure that they wouldn't notice her. If Matt was going to continue to pursue his dream…

Maybe she should…

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Song Used – My Sharona ;D haha