Last Edited:27.o1.o6

Written: 22.12.o5

Disclaimer: I don't own Titanic. shudders

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Do You Still Think of Me?

PART TWO – Picking up the fragments

Chapter Seven

By Flipstahhz

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" Now," she prodded her chin thoughtfully as her eyes wandered down the shopping list. " I know I've forgotten something…"

Her eyes lit up when she remembered that she was going to baby-sit Stevie that night. Yes…she was going to buy chocolates. She felt giddy. She had a feeling that she was going to end up eating way more than the little tyke. She had the right to have an chocolate obsession since majority of the female population were chocoholics themselves.

She sighed as she stared at the aisles filled with items. Sora had never been fond of shopping…especially when she was using her crutches that constantly kept getting in her way. She couldn't even use the supermarket's shopping trolley because she'd lose her balance. Instead, she was using a shopping basket and was kicking it across the floor wherever she went. Sure, it was embarrassing..no humiliating was the correct word…but she certainly didn't want to starve to death without the weekly supplies. If she were back in Odaiba, Mimi would probably of helped her out. But she was in Tamachi. She could've asked Grace, but Grace was studying for her exams. There was Yamato also…but she didn't want to hassle him. He was probably busy with schoolwork corrections.

She dropped two blocks of chocolate into the basket, then began to kick it to the serving counter.

" Sora?"

She turned around.

" Hey Matt," she smiled. She flushed realizing that her appearance must have looked rather awkward. A crippled lady that was kicking her basket along; it had to be very awkward indeed.

He laughed, scratching his head, " Still not used to seeing you with crutches."

Her eyebrows knitted. " Well, aren't you going to help me?"

She took a breather, catching some rest as she watched the man load her items onto the counter. She was bound to meet him one way or another. They basically lived in the same area…

" What are you doing here? I err went to – visited your err house," he spoke, tongue twisting. " But…I – you moved. Why are you here in Tamachi, it's quite a long drive…you know?"

Sora simpered. " I live here."

It was her turn to laugh at his surprised reaction. His eyes ogled at her. " You…what?"

" Got a promotion. The label's factory is here, in Tamachi…they're paying for my accommodation and all. I'm actually considering in staying in this town for good. It's quieter here, than it is back in Odaiba."

" Are you serious?"

" Yeah," Sora laughed, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. " Why?"

"Nothing really," he said impassively. " We're going to be in the same town…that's all."

" A bad thing?"

" Of course!" he said sarcastically. " Nuh, I'm glad that I've got some one from my childhood here. It's strange. The only people I know are the teachers and students at the school."

" Oh okay," Sora answered. Yeah, she was only a childhood friend, nothing more. The person that was serving coughed. " Sorry."

Sora handed the cash and smiled in appreciation as she watched Yamato put all the grocery bags into a trolley.

"Matt, I …I carry – no - kick it with the basket. I can't push it with a trolley," Sora said truthfully.

" Don't worry, I'll push it for you," he said casually. " Where's your car?"

She spoke out the directions while he stirred the trolley into the parking lot. After a light spat, Yamato abducted the automobile's keys and – with care – jammed the groceries into the boot of the car.

Sora watched him. " You still feel bad, don't you?"

His startled blue eyes regarded her. She could read him like a book. "No-I…if I hadn't been so thick headed…you wouldn't be on those crutches right now…"

" Matt, please," she started. " You don't need to get all worked up about what happened. It's over. I'm just glad to be alive…and that's all that matters to me right now. You should be thankful too, only getting a few scratches and bruises."

" Could you…could you at least let me drive you to your apartment?" he said quietly. "As atonement for my wrong doings."

" Atonement? Please…it takes an idiot like you to come up with all of these stupid reasoning and apologies that couldn't be helped!" Sora rolled her eyes, giving up. " Fine. You can drive me back to my apartment. But after that…no more blaming yourself! You have no reason to be guilty over this!"

Yamato took her words as an excuse to open the door for her, assisting Sora into the passenger seat. After she was buckled up, he hopped into the driver's seat and triggered the engine.

" Where's your car?" Sora questioned. " Don't tell me you're going to walk back here to fetch it? I live about five blocks away from here!"

" Don't worry. I walked here. Needed some exercise. If you live five blocks away, your house is pretty close to mine," Yamato said, considering the other direction was heading towards Odaiba.

As Yamato drove down the main road, Sora rolled down the windows feeling the cold airburst onto her face. It felt refreshing, and she hoped that her pink cheeks would fade away. She hated people seeing her blush. They stopped at a traffic light.

" Yo! MR. I!"

One of the pedestrians on his skateboard stopped by her car.

" Hey Jeremy," Yamato noticed his pupil with a mild smile lingering on his face. " You shouldn't stop in the middle of the road to say hi. In seconds the light could turn green, you know. But I don't think you'll listen to me anyway."

" You know me to well, Mr. I. So why are you with Grace out of school hours? Are you having a secret affair?" the boy glanced at Sora, but looked closer to see that it wasn't her. " Hey…you're not Grace!"

" I think I know that," Sora replied in a matter of fact tone. " I think you'd better get moving…the light's turned green."

She was right. Soon tumbles of beeping horns filled the Tamachi air.

" Catch you around, Mr. I! Your wife's pretty hot!" Jeremy sped off before Yamato could call back to his student that Sora indeed wasn't his 'wife.'

" Turn left here. Number 58," Sora instructed. The blond headed man stopped the car in front of her apartment. She frowned when she noticed that his jaw was tense. " What?"

Yamato gave up. He let his peels of laughter escape his mouth. " He thinks you're my wife! I mean…are we really that old that we look like we're married?"

" That's not funny, Matt," Sora glared, fists curled menacingly, but she was snickering. " I'm not that old! You're the old one!"

"Well…you're not that young either!" in self-defense, the man quickly waved his palms in front of him, but he was still gloating it up….chuckling like a mad man.

" Same goes for you," she snapped, she folded her arms. But the next thing she knew it…she couldn't resist it either. They were now both cracking up in laughter in unison. " Yo-you…my husband? That's a crack…up! First he thought I was Grace…then he thinks I'm five generations older! Some kids you're teaching, Yamato. Why don't you knock some common sense into them!"

" You're bagging your own cousin."

" I don't care!"

They burst into more fits of laughter.

"Y-you…you wanna come in? We're here anyway….I'll cook you dinner," Sora nodded her head towards her apartment.

He gave a broad grin. " Sure."

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"I'm stuffed," Yamato groaned as he languidly sat on the couch, eyeing the television screen. He shoved over so Sora could take a seat next to him. She had just completed washing the dishes. Yamato had argued to help, but she said he had helped her enough that night.

"Care for some red wine?" Sora didn't wait for an answer, pouring out two glasses of the blood scarlet liquid.

He accepted the offer, taking a sip. " Though, I prefer white wine."

" Same here…ran out of it."

" I assumed you would have liked red wine."

She arched an eyebrow. " And why is that?"

" Well…red is you're favourite colour…unless it changed over these years," Yamato shrugged, changing the station to a movie channel. He didn't understand why he still remembered her favourite colour. He avoided his thoughts, gazing back to the television. He was glad that she had cable television.

" It's the same. I still like a red," she smiled. " Didn't know you'd remember."

" What's mine?" he said softly.

" Your what?"

" My favourite colour."

Without pausing, she responded, " Dark blue."

" Didn't know you'd remember too," Yamato smirked, but it was soon wiped off when a cushion spat onto his face. " Careful…you almost knocked over the wine, Sora dear!"

Sora rolled her eyes. " You're still the same. The same cocky idiot."

" Me? Cocky?" he pretended to appear appalled, "Never!"

" Just like in elementary when we were paired in bat tennis. Inter-school sports…" she eyed him. " You thought I didn't know how to play just because I was a girl. And then you hogged most of the balls, showing off!"

He sneered. " Me! Never."

" Give original and non-repetitive comebacks!"

" If I did," he gave a sly simper. " I'd win instantly."

" Whatever," she leaned back on the chair next to her, smile tugging her lips.

He remembered…

Sora certainly wasn't going to admit it because she knew his ego would expand enormously than it already had. Taking the silence as a justification, Yamato switched the channel. It so happened that the movie that was screening was…

" Titanic?" Sora almost choked on her wine, gurgling in titters. It had been a while since she had seen the movie, and she seriously wasn't willing to watch it again. Saps weren't her type of films to watch. They more categorized under Mimi's interest.

" That's terrible, change it Matt!"

Yamato set the remote onto the coffee table. " Let's watch it."

" Are you for real?"

" Aren't I always?" he gave a toothy grin. Then his smile evaporated when she slapped him on the face, with a cushion, for the second time that night. He wasn't going to give into defeat that easily. He shrugged. " C'mon Sor. There's nothing else on T.V, let's just watch this."

" And then what? Watch them pretend they're flying on a ship?" she said bitterly in pure utter derision. She didn't want to watch a romance…especially with him around. It would be just…surreal. No, beyond surreal. Sure, she had probably wanted it badly when she was back in high school. But this…this felt so fake…yet so…special

" You should know me better than that," he chuckled. " Tai and I watch these sort of movies all of the time."

Sora gaped. " What? That's -"

" As a matter in fact, we're straight," he told her, shaking his head as he attempted to get the thought as quickly as possible out of his mind.

" I wasn't going to say that!" Sora rolled her eyes. " I mean…Tai's with Mimi…but why in the world do you watch them?"

" What we do…" he paused. " Is bag the shit out of them."

She tilted her head towards him, interested. " Example please?"

" Just wait for it," he laughed…it was as if he knew every scene because as every second came closer he began choking for gasps of air, trying not to erupt in chuckles. Sora gazed at the screen to see that Jack and Rose were fornicating each other in the car.

" What's funny about this?"

" I think the movie won awards because of this scene. I do recall that this sort of sexual intercourse doesn't require a hand on the window to be shown with smog surrounding it. It's pure stupidity."

Sora blinked. " Are you done?"

He continued, " I mean…cheap porno beats the special effects in this movie."

He stopped, glancing at Sora's shocked and disgusted look on her face.

" So…is this what you and Tai do during watching sappy romances?" Sora laughed. It was typical of them to. What do you expect from men watching chick flicks. She smirked. " I think I'll join in on this debate."

" Go ahead."

" You see when Jack and Rose jest that they feel like they're flying when they're on the tip of the ship?"

" You're never going to beat the expert," Matt said. " But…yes…?"

" I mean…if they want to pretend they're flying…they seriously shouldn't have used all that money on the special effects. All Rose could have done is stayed at home and jumped on her bed with her window open on a windy day."

" Or an electric fan," Matt added.

" They didn't have electric fan's in those times."

" So what? They still made special effects with the whole hand-on-window incident," he pointed out. " Body head couldn't stimulate that effect."

" You never know," Sora shrugged.

Before they knew it, they stripped off into more fits of laughter. They were talking about nonsense over a stupid movie.

" And I don't even know why my friends go crazy over Leo DeCaprio. He's not hot!" Sora exclaimed. " If you look closely you see these little -"

" Don't bag my favourite actor!" Yamato announced, though the glints of amusement in his eyes gave his sarcasm away. It earned him a third stab from the petrifying cushion of death.

After the whole movie had ended, the pair had criticized almost every aspect of the movie in complete enjoyment. (As well as Yamato earning himself more hits by Sora's cushion)

" I knew that you still had it in you!" he declared. Underneath the labeled clothes Sora was attired in, she was still a tomboy at heart. Now this was the Sora he knew…

They high-fived each other.

" I never thought I'd like that movie," Sora admitted. " You've turned this movie into something worth while…"

The bell rang.

Sora staggered towards the door, legs feeling like jelly. She hadn't drunk that much wine…yet she felt a bit tipsy. She opened it, with Yamato looming after her. She wanted to hit her head when she saw Mr. and Mrs. Takaishi standing there with their little tike that she had forgotten to baby-sit.

" Sowa!" little Stevie cried as he leapt into her arms.

" Matt, I didn't know you were here," TK noticed his brother's figure, his facial expression looked a tinge guilty. " I would have asked you to look after Steven, but I thought you'd be busy with school corrections…which was why I asked Sora -"

" Don't worry bro," he responded casually as he observed the formal wear Kari and TK were wearing. " What's the occasion?"

" Our wedding anniversary," Kari confessed, slight blush pinching onto her pale face.

"Congratulations!" Sora grinned. He gazed down at Steven. " Is this why I'm stuck with this lil twerp?"

" I'm notta lil tleerp!" he stuttered, pouting. This only caused Kari to give her son a kiss on the cheek. " We'll be back before twelve."

Yamato, Sora and Steven watched the pair leave.

" Lovebirds," Yamato stated, smiling at his brother and sister-in-law leaving them.

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Sora thought that Yamato would have left hours ago, but from the looks of things he was still in her apartment assisting her in taking care of his nephew. After spoiling Steven with attention and drugging him with bombards of lollies and chocolates, the boy had finally dozed off.

The man yawned. " I think it's best if I leave now."

" Oh Matt, let me at least repay you with some coffee."

" But you just fed me dinner and offered me free screenings to sappy movies…what else can a guy ask for?"

" Coffee," she confirmed, rushing to the kitchen and boiling the water.

" Sure, there's that," Yamato surrendered. Knowing there was nothing good on television, he followed her into the neatly well-kept kitchen. Sora didn't even notice that he was there.

He watched her. Her brown eyes held a distant gaze…as if she wasn't in reality…as if she was somewhere else. Her apron wrapped around her thin figure and her shiny auburn hair glistened, giving her the touches of some sort of celebrity. Her character didn't suit being in kitchens. Perhaps that was why she suited being a clothes designer.

He had a great time that night…a great time in a long time…

As she put a couple of teaspoons of sugar into a mug, she still appeared to be somewhere else…locked in her own imagination.

"Sora…"

He held a chuckle when she jumped to the reaction of him calling her name. Maybe it was time to keep Grace's promise. Her eyelids fluttered towards his direction, making him feel uneasy.

"Didn't see you there!" she let out an exasperated sigh.

"You…you still space out, don't you? Aren't you happy you've achieved your dream?"

She stared. " I didn't achieve my dream."

" You got what you wanted."

" That's the thing with you, Yamato. There's a difference between you and me," she said sternly, though her eyes were glued to the tiled floor. " You dream more than me."

He generalized, " All dreamers are the same."

" Not when they dream of different things," Sora whispered. " Like I did…"

Make your move now…

" Do you remember the first day of high school we shared together? – When our campuses combined?" She didn't wait for him to answer, still staring at the floor. " You owe me a favour after that time I covered up for you …"

He stared at her bemused, not knowing where the confabulation was leading. " What -"

She silenced him. " Close your eyes, Yamato Ishida."

Matt trusted her. His eyes shut close only to have them reopened when he felt her mouth clasp against his. The osculate wasn't sweet…no…it was very un-Sora like. It held a sense of desperation and longing…how long had she wanted it…how long had he?

He thought he would be the one confessing…

Recovering from astonishment, he kissed her back throwing his thoughts aside and following his natural instinct. He shivered as her fingers ran down his hair and caress his cheek lovingly. He wanted every bit of her…he wanted to take every bit of her and claim her as his possession. His eyes lingered on the droplets of tears gushing down her face. He could see that she was sobbing as they kissed. They let go…

"Sora…do you lov-."

"Don't say it," she laughed timidly. " This is turning out to be one of those sappy movies."

He returned a weak smile.

" I dreamt…but I never got it. I didn't care if I got the lifetime job I wanted, Matt," she muttered. Her eyes engaged with his. " The dream- No…my childhood dream…was to only be with you…and that….that was all that mattered."

" That was my dream too," he said, stroking her auburn hair and letting his arms fall tightly around her waist. He didn't want to let her go. " I guess we had the same dream after all."

"Matt…I lov-" she was unable to choke the words out. Her weak fragile figure enticed him. He gently pushed her head upwards and uncontrollably kissed her. They didn't know how long they explored each other for the first time…but they were rudely interrupted…

" Mommy and daddy take der clodes off next, ya know?"

They released each other. Yamato shuddered, " Don't tell me what TK – my baby brother - does with Hikari."

Sora suppressed a giggle as she straightened up, tucking her hair behind her ears. " We thought you were asleep, Stevie."

Steven was rubbing his eyes, he grumbled, " I wan hot chocolate!"

The kettle cried.

" I'll get it," she said, leaving Yamato's grasp.

Yamato gave his nephew a hard cold stare. They were interrupted.

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This chapter dragged. Yes, a 'finally' sappy conclusion to one of my chapters. First Kiss! LOL. How long did that take? HAHA! Told you it was a 'very' slow Sorato. Haha. Now that this chapter has been completed there are three more to go! (including the Epilogue) How scary. I loved writing this story, I hope you all have enjoyed it too!

Take care. Love

Flipstahhz

Next Chapter: To cut things simple, it's the night before Taichi & Mimi's wedding. Tai's having a bachelor party ;D

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