Unsuspected

By

Marie Darkholme

Chapter Five – Bomb dinner

What was crossing through Sora's mind as she drove through the streets of New York with an unexpected passenger by her side were of mostly of anger. In fact, she was sure that if Tachikawa, Mimi was as near as her as Taichi was, she would turn history in two seconds. The auburn haired was burning in anger towards her best friend. How could she have done what she had just done was beyond Sora's reasoning. She felt like to kill Mimi, break her neck, blow her head off, throw her off a building…Fortunately for Mimi, and Sora too, since spending her life in prison wasn't exactly her dream for the future, the pink streaked haired wasn't there and neither would Sora ever be able to commit such a hideous crime.

In fact, the auburn haired could point some reasons for Mimi not telling her that Taichi was her mystery guest. Slowly, she began to calm down and as she did, her anger gave place to a shivering fear. She tried to calm herself down. There was no way that Ai would still be up when she got home.

She looked into the car's watch and bit her lips. Nine o'clock was Ai's curfew; besides, Mimi knew not to let the little six years girl walk around when they were having dinner with someone, especially when it turned out to be some of Mimi's dates. She allowed herself to relax, even if not completely. The company wouldn't allow her too.

It had been a while, most exactly seven years since she had last seen his face. He was smiling by then, even if it was not for her. For a split second, something inside her asked for the whereabouts of Sakura. The other side of her, told her that the brown haired was probably…not absolutely in a business trip and that was the reason why he was alone.

The environment was way too heavy around them, the silence saying more than she wanted. Because the silence was telling him she hadn't forgot about him, that she still longed for him… feeling too uncomfortable on her own car, she took the moment when the traffic light was red to turn on the radio. A strange music burst through the columns of the car. Obviously Mimi had messed with the station again. However, even if strange and unknown to her, she found it fascinatingly beautiful. The voice was entering her with her soft melody…

…

The memories ease the pain inside,

Now I know why.

All of my memories keep you near.

In silent moments imagine you here.

All of my memories keep you near.

Your silent whispers, silent tears.

Taichi listened. He knew the music. It was from a group called Within Temptation and though he couldn't quite put the finger in the name of the music, at the moment, it just didn't seem to matter.

He dare not looking to the girl driving besides him. He dare not speak a word, afraid to awaken a sleepy beast. He could tell she was surprised to see him. He could tell she would kill Mimi if she had the chance. He was surprised at how much she had changed and yet stayed the same.

The music started filling him, just like the memories. It was right. The memories kept her near him, even when she ran away. He never knew why…no, he knew the reason. He just couldn't accept the fact that he had lost her because she loved him. Because she loved him, she could not see him again. At the same time, he understood and despised her decision. With time, he learned to only understand and finally accept. It had been the best decision after all. In spite of that, it didn't make the confusion diminish in him, only made it larger and larger, like swirling candy cotton. It took time, but he managed to understand everything, and though everything had changed, one thing remained unalterable: love.

The music had ended and as another filled the air, he allowed himself to look at her only to be surprised by her own eyes mirroring him.

"How have you been?" she asked her voice neutral. She had always been quite good to hide her emotions. He knew she felt like to scream at the moment.

"Good." He replied. It didn't occur him anything else to say. Well… in fact it occurred him quite an amount of questions, half of them he didn't had the courage to ask, the other half weren't appropriated for the occasion, so he just asked the most common question. "You?"

"Fine." Sora replied.

Those were basically the only words they traded during the entire journey. It would have been short if it wasn't for the always chaotic traffic. Each one of them in its own world, trying to drive away thoughts that were strangely similar, because staring by the corner of their eyes, the only thing they could think of was he last time they had been together, that fateful night that neither of two could forget.

When arrived at hers and Mimi's place, Sora's heart begun to throb as the rhythm started to accelerate again. In her mind, she prayed silently that Ai was silent asleep in her cosy bed with her Pooh bed sheets. She slowly picked the keys from her pocket, taking her time, trying to listen to any sound from her beloved child from the other side, the fear of lost and anger growing inside her. She hoped that any traces of Ai had been completely erased from the house: the books, the games, the fluffy toys, the cars.

Taichi followed the auburn haired through the stairs that led to her apartment that he knew she shared with Mimi. He couldn't stop himself from looking her from top to bottom. She was indeed beautiful. As she reached the door, he noticed how she played with the keys, and inquired himself if she was trying to stalk time before they went in. finally, after a long sigh and some murmurs that he could not understand, the turned the key in the lock and opened the door. He could see her hands trembling slightly, though she masked it very well. However, he was the master at seeing when people were nervous; it helped a lot in his job. She was definitely nervous, he just couldn't figure out the reason. He doubted that his mere presence could put her hands shaking like that. At least, not anymore. She had learned to control those kinds of feelings around him; to stop looking at him with longing mirrored in her eyes. He sighed and followed her lead into the house.

He watched rather amused as Mimi appeared in front of them with a comic pink apron. The house was bigger than it appeared from outside, with a large entrance room. The table was set on the dining-room with three plates with its respective silverwares, napkins and two sets of glasses, one for water and the other for wine.

"You've arrived finally. I feared to have to eat all this food by myself." Mimi joked as she greeted Taichi with a kiss on the cheek, her gloved hands backing away from the brown haired's clean outfit. "Now go and settle down on the dining-room." She continued pushing him into the small beige painted room. "You can choose the wine from those in the shelf and open it. We'll be right back, guest." She mocked him.

As soon as her eyes set on the entrance, Sora's face began to relax. There were no signs that Ai was awake or even living there in fact. Nevertheless, seeing Mimi, the friend who had so sneakily ambushed her awoke some of the primary instincts she had had earlier. The knives over the counter in the kitchen looked suddenly helpful. However, the auburn haired limited her killing instincts to glare at Mimi.

The pink streaked hair girl continued to chop the vegetables to the salad. Sora looked around and leaned the door, making sure Taichi wouldn't hear her. However, before she could say a single word, Mimi interrupted her.

"We'll talk after the dinner, okay?" she asked, looking the other girl in the eyes. Sora sighed exasperated and nodded. "Ai's asleep." She informed seconds later. Then, she stuffed a board in Sora's hands and pushed off the kitchen. "Go keep company to our guest." She ordered. Still not very happy with the situation, but slightly more relieved, Sora walked to the dining-room where Taichi was admiring the fairly large amount of wines the girl had on the shelf.

"You have quite a collection here, huh?" he said as she entered the room. Sora smiled. People at work liked to give bottles of wine, especially expensive bottles of wine, to her and Mimi. Why, she didn't know. "Let's have this one." Taichi continued, taking one of the bottles. He could feel Sora's gaze on his back as she moved to take a place in the dinner table.

The silence set between the two again, as Taichi pretended to watch the wine closely and Sora rearranged her silverwares. When Taichi was about to open his mouth, Mimi came in, carrying a large board with lasagne. It had an incredible good aspect.

"Here you have." She said smiling through all her pores as she put the board over the table. Sora cursed inwardly. If it was to make lasagne she could have done it herself and Mimi could have gone pick Taichi up.

"Err, Mimi…I don't think wine would got that well with lasagne." Taichi tried not to make the menu sound bad. Actually it had been a while since he ate homemade lasagne, since he always ended up by burning something, whether it was the cheese or the pasta or sometimes even the meet.

Mimi smiled sheepishly. "You're probably right. I'll get the beer and the ice tea." She said. Few seconds later she was back. They all started eating, Mimi expecting the two best friends to make a conversation; Sora expecting Mimi to start a conversation; and Taichi feeling awkward with the silence of the two. He felt like there was so much they wanted to talk and yet they were restraining themselves to do it. Finally he took the lead.

"So, Mimi, how's your supermodel job going?" he asked, putting a small piece of lasagne into his mouth.

"Actually it's going very well. I've been making publicity and they pay, well, a fair amount of money." She chuckled. "But right now, I'm slowing down a bit. Sora has the highlights now." She smiled, pushing the talk towards her friend. The auburn girl, seeing the two of them looking at her, stopped her fork in middle air.

"Well, my Spring collection impressed the big bosses." She simply said. Mimi chuckled again.

"Oh, c'mon, don't be modest." She said, turning to Taichi. "She totally rocked the place with her child collection. She was even invited to go to Paris and work there. Her collection was a tremendous success." She drank a sip of her ice tea. "As it was the Winter collection and the Autumn collection and the Summer collection…basically, this last…two years have been Sora's alone."

Taichi was impressed. He always imagined that Sora was meant for big things, but he had never imagined she could ever reach so high. Of course, the fact that she had moved to New York had surely to do with the fact. In Japan she would have never gotten such a global success. He noticed how she blushed, giving Mimi the look that told her to stop.

"It's not such a great deal." She replied, anxious to change the subject. "How about you, Taichi? How're your international affairs going?"

Taichi cleared his throat. "Great. I travel almost every week to a different place now, so I get to meet the world. Our company it's doing fairly well in business and we plan to have an office here in New York, to add to the California and Texas offices, just here in the States. That's actually the reason I am here." He replied, and then took a sip of his drink.

"That's good. So, how long are you staying?" Mimi asked.

"About a week, I think. If everything works alright." The brown haired man replied.

And so, the conversations started and little by little they looked like the friends they had once been. They talked about work, politics and sports, fashion, movies and clime. Basically they talked about everything, always careful not to approach each other's personal life. However, Sora's mind titled with the question. Something seemed different about Taichi, something seemed out of place. She wanted to ask the question, but she couldn't herself to do it.

They were in the middle of a debate about Agassi and Federero, when a little voice interrupted the talk.

"Mommy, I can't sleep."

Sora's heart almost stopped when she saw her half asleep little girl in her blue pyjama standing in the doorway, her messy brown hair pointing in every way possible and her little hand over her eyes. Mimi bit her lip as she exchanged looks with her friends. Before anyone could say whatever, Ai approached Sora and took her hand.

"Sing me a lullaby, mommy." She asked sweetly. Only when raising her eyes, she noticed the man sitting at the table. She noticed how similar his hair was to hers and smiled. "Hi sir. You have a hair like mine." She pointed out, but before she could say more, Sora gently wrapped her arms around the petit girl's body and carried her to her room.

"Mommy, is he your new boyfriend?" Ai asked, as Sora pushed the covers to cover her. The auburn haired bit her lip and forced a tear back.

"No, honey, he's not. He's just a long time friend that was on the city."

"He has a spiky hair like mine, hasn't he, mommy?" the girl continued. Sora put her hand over Ai's head.

"Yes, he does, but now it's time to sleep." she kissed the girl's cheek and started humming a lullaby to her. Minutes later, Ai was fast asleep. However, Sora took her time to go back to the dining-room, worries filling her mind quickly. It was impossible for him not to have noticed how similar Ai was to him; how old she was and making his own conclusions.

She slowly walked back. Mimi had already tried to smooth the environment. In spite she not knowing who Ai's father was, Sora distrusted that her bright friend had it long figured, after all, Ai was much looked alike him.

She sat down quietly and started eating again, but the food had suddenly no taste. She could feel Taichi's eyes on her.

"You have a daughter." He stated, as he put down his silverwares and cleaned his mouth with his napkin. By his reaction, Sora could tell he was surprised and sort of disappointed. "How old is she?" His voice sounded hurt and the auburn haired was suddenly enraged, fast to change the subject.

"How's Sakura?" the question blurt from her mouth and after she said it, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from upon her. Taichi's head lowered and Sora wondered why. Mimi could see the environment getting heavier and before either of them had the opportunity to say whatever…

"Anyone wants desert?" she asked, collecting the plates.

Sora picked a beer and emptied it in her cup. Then in two sips she emptied the cup. "I do." She replied roughly, the beer rubbing her throat. The velocity in which she emptied the cup made her feel slightly light headed and Mimi felt it was necessary to take the drinks from the table. Nevertheless, the auburn haired put her hands in another beer that she emptied at the same speed as the other. She knew that if she got her hands on the third soon, she would get drunk, but at the time being, that didn't seem to matter.

They ate desert quietly, everyone trying their best not to open their mouths, especially Sora and Taichi, who knew that this could only end in disaster. The entire dinner idea had been a huge mistake. They were like a bomb, expecting to blow up at any time. Two danger solutions that when mixed could only produce an explosive device.

Taichi could see Sora was not drunk yet. It remembered him of that night. Could it be? Could have happen? Life goes around and around in an interrupted circle of changing. Everything would change she had said. It had indeed, changed and then changed again. How many more turns would his life have to bear until he got it right?

He cleaned his mouth. "I think it's time for me to go." He informed, standing. "Dinner was great, Mimi, but I have to wake up early in the morning, so…" Mimi followed his lead and stood as well. "I'll catch a cab."

"No way." Mimi interrupted. "I'll drive you."

"There's no…"

"No buts. I'll drive you back to the hotel." Mimi insisted. The brown haired nodded. Sora stood. She suddenly felt fragile and in need to be hugged. Had it been other times, she had her always trusty friend right by her side. He would hug her while she rested her head on his chest and cried her tears into his shirt, while she wished that they would always be like that, for all eternity, she knew her place would always be in his arms. Had it been other times, and she would have thrown herself onto Taichi's lap and cried. But things had changed. He was married, married…the word always repeated in her head every time she felt down.

Pushing the tears away, she made a strong look, her hand over the table, stabilizing her.

"Goodbye, Sora." She felt his lips on her cheek and for a brief moment, the heat of that tender kiss invaded her. His lips over hers, his hands on her skin…Love. I love you was what she wanted to hear, what she wanted to say, not goodbye, never goodbye. And again that image. He's mine now. Take good care of him. Goodbye.

"Goodbye, Taichi." She whispered into his hear.

She heard the door close, the elevator and then Mimi's car outside. Immediately tears fell down her face. Could she allow that to happen? Allow the love to return? He couldn't take her…but he could take Ai from her. The thought frightened her. Stumbling to the shelve she took the wine he had had in his hands earlier. The wine they had had in her birthday before he announced her he was in love…with Sakura. How ridiculous. She opened the bottle. It tasted just like she remembered. It tasted to pain and sorrow. It tasted to broken heart…

Sorry for the delate as always.

I would like to thank everyone that reviewed the last two chapters and hope you've enjoyed this chapter.

Sonicmixtfr: my chapters were bigger, but I thought people would often get scared by the size of them and not read my stories because of it, so, from ten pages, I diminished to maximun five pages. Nevertheless, I would like to update sooner, but the fact is that I can't. There's always lots of homework and school work to do and that HAS to come first or I would never be able to post ever again, until I'm out of my parent's, of course.

digimon-Taiora: thank you for reviewing.

DarkMetalAngel of Destruction: it would have been pretty romantic, yes, but unfortunately I couldn't make it happen. So sorry. And yes, bringing them together will be a problem, but I'll work it out. After all, this is TAIORA.

Anubis24: sorry, but it was on purpose, of coure. I wanted to keep the suspense, make you think what the hell was going to happen. I just wasn't expecting to take so long. Sorry about that.

Musashibf: all your stories got deleted? That sucks! And you're not posting again? I was still waiting for the end of your story...

And people, I'm still looking for an editor, so e-mail me anyone interested.

Ja ne, minna and Happy New Year