The sun was setting over Tokyo Bay; Sora gazed out the window on the train as it made its way into Odaiba alongside the Rainbow Bridge. It was now September, it had been nearly three months since Matt left, making her nearly six months pregnant already and she was counting down the days until her husband was back. It had been a rough summer, morning sickness and hot weather were not the nicest of combinations but luckily it hadn't stopped her too much from everyday activities. Lately she had been working again, teaching Ikebana to a class in Western Tokyo and getting out of the house had been really good for her.

The train pulled into the station and the redhead carefully made her way off the train and began her walk home. Outside the station she saw the familiar figure of her spikey haired friend, unlocking his bike, he himself getting ready to go home. She called over to him and waved as she approached, Tai smiled and waved back.

"Sora! How are you?" He gave her a big smile and he pulled his bike out of the rack.

"I'm great! Are you heading home?" She asked, standing aside as he turned his bike round.

Tai nodded, "Yep! Wanna walk together?"

"Sure," the pair began to walk, Tai walked his bike alongside them.

"I see you've been teaching today," Tai said, referencing Sora's kimono, her hair was up in a nice bun. She nodded. "Did you feel okay? I hope you didn't have to go a long way or anything…"

"It wasn't too bad," she said feeding Tai a little white lie, it had been over an hour away by train.

"Did you puke?" He grinned, teasing her.

"Yep!" Sora laughed.

"I knew it!" Tai laughed too, it wasn't nice for poor Sora but it had become a running joke between them. The severity of her morning sickness had died down but she still vomiting at least once a day, especially if food was around. "Anyway I thought your mom was supposed to be covering work for you?"

"Aren't I allowed to go out of the house and work and be normal for once?" Sora asked with a sigh.

Tai shook his head, "Nope!" He replied playfully, "Not when you're puking all the time you're not!"

"Hey come on, don't lecture me again!"

Tai stopped walking and gave her a semi-serious stern look, "Hey I'm just saying, it's hot out, the trains are busy and you gotta be careful!" He loosened his tie.

"Alright, jeez!" She stopped too, "I made it home in one piece didn't I?"

"I guess you're right," Tai conceded and the pair resumed walking.

"The truth is, my mom is away teaching for a couple of weeks so I've been doing some work here and there, T.K has been babysitting for me." She admitted, "so don't go worrying about me okay?"

"T.K, huh?" He said pondering the situation, "Matt really had been looking out for you, that's impressive!"

Sora stopped as they reached her building, "You wanna come up and say hi?"

"Sure!" Tai agreed. Sora waited for him as he put his bike away and they went up together. Tai couldn't help but wonder about his friend, they had only seen each other a few times in the last month or so and he hadn't talked with her one on one in a while. He hoped she wasn't still feeling down. Sora announced their arrival as they walked through the front door and Akane rushed over to give her mom a big hug, she grinned at Tai and showed him some stickers she had been playing with.

"Hey Tai!" T.K greeted, warmly, he had Hiro strapped in a carrier to his back, the little boy seemed content and was resting his head against T.K's back. Hiro had a hard time settling when Sora wasn't around, he needed extra measures to keep him happy. "I haven't seen you in a while! Not since I came back for the fireworks festival!"

"Yeah man, how have you been?" Tai sat down at the table and Akane followed him over, she sat down and continued to pass Tai stickers.

Sora put her hand to her cheek in a thoughtful pose. "Wait, has it really been that long? I can't remember..."

Tai laughed, "Don't you remember? You puked in the bushes downstairs?"

Sora blushed, "Does every story have to revolve around me being sick?!"

"Yep." Tai gave a playful grin, nudging her with his elbow and Sora groaned in embarrassment.

T.K laughed too, "Poor Sora, she can't catch a break.."

Sora stroked her little boys head and told him she would be right back- she went to get changed into something more comfortable while T.K served dinner to the kids. He got Hiro off his back and placed him into his chair.

Tai gave Hiro a little smile but got nothing but a pout in return. "You still don't like me, do you little guy?"

"Hiro doesn't like you?" T.K was surprised, he handed Tai a cold glass of barley tea.

The spiky haired man sighed, "Not since I took Sora away from him that day she went to the hospital but wow he likes you! Way more than anyone else I've seen!"

The blonde man simply smiled, "That's because I'm his Uncle!"

"Wah!" Tai nearly spit out his drink, "But still! I'm kind of his Uncle too…" he trailed off, glancing at Hiro.

"Yeah but I'm his real Uncle." T.K grinned, knowing it would annoy Tai.

Tai flopped his head onto the table, "It's hopeless…" Realising he didn't have much time before Sora would return, he sat up and spoke in a hushed tone, "Hey man, how is Sora doing? Really?"

T.K flinched, taken aback by the sudden questioning, "You sound like my brother!"

"Sorry… I was just, you know, wondering. I haven't seen Sora that much over the Summer break. I didn't realise she had gone back to work or anything." Tai stared off in the direction of Sora's bedroom; he tried to come off as casual as possible but T.K could see he was worried. Tai was no longer just his brother's friend; he was his brother in law now. Kari and himself were married and had a daughter. He loved having Tai in his family but he was still slightly terrified of him, in the dating your little sister kind of way. However, there was something in the back of his mind, he began to feel protective of Matt and Sora's relationship, he felt a niggling, T.K wasn't sure what it was- why was Tai so concerned? They seemed to be a lot closer than usual.

A cold expression set over T.K's face, "Well she has a lot of support around if she needs it. From family, that's why I'm here."

Tai sensed T.K was being off with him but he wasn't exactly sure why. His matter of fact response wasn't very convincing. "What about Kari? Doesn't she need you too?" He shot back, calling the younger man's bluff.

T.K immediately crumbled under the pressure, "Oh man are you playing the older brother card on me?!" He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"You started it!" Tai leaned forward in his seat, he began whispering so they wouldn't attract any unwanted attention, "Why are you being so weird?!"

"You're being weird!" He whispered back, loudly.

"Me?! I feel like you're accusing me of something here! What's your problem?"

"I don't know…" T.K crossed his arms, "You guys just seem friendlier than usual..."

"What are you saying?! Sora's my friend!" Tai quickly decided it would be best to just give up. "Forget it." He exhaled loudly, he felt like he wasn't getting anywhere with T.K, "I was just asking, okay?"

Sora walked back in, she had changed from her kimono to a pair of leggings, a stretchy black vest and a blouse she kept unbuttoned. She sat down at the table next to Hiro and began to help feed him, "What are you guys talking about?"

T.K leaned back in his seat and gave a Sora a stiff smile, "Oh nothing, just at how terrible an Uncle, Tai is."

Akane piped up, "I like Uncle Tai!"

"Yeah alright!" Tai smiled and ruffled Akane's hair. "Anyway I better go home for dinner, Meiko is making curry tonight." He stood up and made his way to the door. "Oh don't get up, Sora, I'll be okay."

To T.K's dismay, Sora stood up, "Don't be silly, I'll see you out" she said with a smile and followed him to the door. He couldn't help himself, he leaned his neck over to try and hear what they were saying. When he heard the door close he turned his attention back on his niece and nephew. When Sora returned she sat back down and pulled Hiro onto her lap.

"What were you guys whispering about?" She asked, not skipping a beat.

T.K stood up and took the dishes to the sink, "Oh nothing…" he was trying to play it cool.

"It sounded like you guys were fighting."

Akane chimed in, "They were fighting and being weird."

T.K began to sweat, "Hey! We weren't fighting!"

"What have you guys got to fight about anyway?" Sora continued, ignoring last statement.

The blonde man signed and gave up, "I don't know, I just… you know you don't have to turn to Tai for help, you've got us, your family!"

Sora put Hiro down and walked over to her brother in law. She put her hand gently on his shoulder, "Of course, I know that, I think you're getting the wrong idea, Matt asked Tai to look out for me, that's all… There's nothing weird going on, okay?"

"He did? Why didn't he ask me?" He asked, surprised and a little sad.

"I don't know, there could be lots of reasons… In fact he did ask you, that's why you're here, silly so I could go to work! Don't worry about it, okay? We love you! And the kids love you! You're the best uncle around!"

T.K felt a pang of sadness in the pit of his stomach, "I know, I know..."

"Don't be silly," she smiled warmly at T.K but before they could continue their conversation, Sora's cell phone began to ring.

"It's Daddy!" Akane yelled in excitement, she stood up on the chair and flung her arms in the air with glee.

…

It was just after eight in the evening when the doorbell at the Kamiya residents went off, Meiko blinked at Tai in confusion but he responded with a shrug. They had been relaxing for the night, their son was fast asleep in bed and they were snuggled on the sofa and not expecting any visitors.

The spiky haired man peered through the peephole and saw T.K, he opened the door, a little worried due to their earlier conversation. T.K smiled, his hands in his pockets, no matter how much T.K grew up, he still had that boyish charm about him. "Do you wanna talk?"

…

The pair leaned onto the balcony railings of the apartment building, they were situated outside the front door looking out into the night, Tokyo's lights glowed in the distance.

"So?" Tai began.

"I'm sorry about earlier," T.K sighed, "I didn't mean to imply anything was going on."

Tai turned around and leaned back onto the railing, "Don't worry about it, you didn't have to come over to tell me that." He peeked one eye at T.K, sensing there was more to come.

"I'll level with you," He turned to face Tai, he looked sad. "Sora's been really depressed."

"Depressed?" He asked gently.

"That's why she's been working a lot, she's been lonely at home and struggling to look after the kids by herself"

"I see."

"I saw you guys walking together… She looked so happy to be joking around with you today; I guess that's why I got mad." He sighed, "I've been babysitting for her so she could work, it seems to have helped her mood but even after Matt called this evening, all she did was cry after the kids went to bed."

Tai put his hands on his hips. "T.K. you can't carry this all by yourself, have you talked to Matt?"

"I… don't want to upset him" T.K looked down at the ground.

"Why is everyone so afraid of upsetting Matt?" He rolled his eyes," It's his wife! He needs to know!"

T.K groaned, "You know what I mean, Tai, it'll kill him, I don't wanna worry him when he can't even do anything about it."

"He needs to know." He reiterated, "Wouldn't you want to know if something was up with Kari?" There was a short pause, T.K looked pensive. "Look, I'm going to fix this, okay?"

He relaxed and nodded, "Thanks, you know… After all these years there's still something of a leader in you, Tai."

Tai understood where T.K was having difficulty, maybe he was too close to them both to see clearly. "Don't worry about it, okay? Maybe it's time I picked up some slack anyway, I've been on vacation and busy at work the last month."

T.K thanked him again and Tai gave him a big pat on the back before sending him on his way. "And hey get back and look after my sister, you hear?"

"Alright!" T.K grinned and waved goodbye to his brother in law.

Tai waved back and he returned inside. Meiko was waiting for him in the living room.

"What was that all about?" She asked her husband, sitting back down on the sofa.

Tai sighed, "Did you guys know Sora was depressed?"

Meiko tilted her head to the side, "It's hard to say, of course she's going to be sad with Matt gone but she doesn't really open up to me. She'll listen to me cry but for some reason she won't let me do the same for her. Is that what T.K was talking to you about?"

"Yeah.." he looked up at the ceiling, "It's just the way she is, even if she's close with you and Mimi she doesn't let up about her what's really going on unless it's with Matt. It's always been that way."

"Or you," Meiko poked him playfully.

He chuckled nervously, "I guess so…"

"Actually there was something but I didn't want to worry you…"

Tai sat up in surprise, "Why is everyone so afraid of upsetting each other?!"

"I'm sorry!" She winced.

"It's okay, I'm sorry I didn't mean to overreact.. what happened?"

Meiko took in a deep breath, "The night of the fireworks, Sora was running late, Mimi went up to check on her and apparently she was having a fight with her mother about leaving the kids. She was hysterical; she didn't want to come at all. Mimi said in the end she did calm down but I think all Sora's mom wanted was for her to go out and have a good time."

Tai nodded slowly, listening intently. He knew what he was going to do, he would set his plan in motion tomorrow. The digidestined had all planned to meet at the beach in Odaiba for a picnic, so the kids could play and the adults could sit back and relax. Tai hoped he would get a chance to catch up with Sora at some point and get to the bottom of this before he had to lie to NASA and get Matt home earlier than planned. He imagined that wouldn't be a good idea or easy to pull off, well or so Izzy told him.

…

The afternoon was a success. The weather wasn't too hot, there was a nice breeze and it was accompanied with lots of food and laughter. Joe and TK joined them too. Unfortunately Kari had to work.

"Hey," Tai greeted his friend with a smile and sat down next to her on the picnic blanket. Hiro was napping on her chest; Tai passed her a bottle of water, which she gladly took. "The vomit count has been zero this afternoon; you're going to ruin my score!"

Sora nearly spit out her water, "Your score?!"

Tai grinned, "Me and the guys have been betting on when and where!" As if on cue, Izzy and Joe sat down, joining them on the blanket.

"I'd say the trash can is more likely." Izzy sat down on the other side of Sora.

"And I bet the picnic basket," Joe said.

"Not you too, Joe!" She cried out, blushing. "I can't help it you know!" Hiro shifted around on her lap, she began to lightly stroke him. "And anyway there's never any warning so there's no use betting." Sora shrugged with a coy smile. They all chuckled.

Joe sat down, he looked over at Hiro, "How is he? The guys were telling me he's been a handful." He asked gently, going into doctor mode.

Sora looked to Tai in a panic, "Tai! What did you tell Joe?"

Tai gave her a stern look, "Come on, Sora, maybe Joe can help."

Sora blushed deeply and looked down at her sleeping toddler, she knew if she wanted to help him, she had to admit what was going on. "It's not him." The three men looked at each other, surprised she really was talking. "It's me…"

"What do you mean, Sora?" Joe asked carefully.

"It's my fault, I've been a terrible mother to them since Matt left." Her voice was shaky, "I'm not good enough. I don't know how to be a good mother anymore."

Mimi, Meiko and T.K came to join the group; the children were busy eating, the oldest child Naomi, Kari and T.K's daughter, who was nine years old seemed to be supervising them all.

Joe was still taking the lead, "Sora, right now, your mother is away and you're alone right? It's going to be a lot harder when you're doing everything by yourself. It's not that you're doing a bad job, you're sick, pregnant and have two young children…"

Mimi's eyes filled with tears, "I struggle sometimes too, even without anything else going on." Meiko nodded along with her. "You're not alone."

"I'm sorry; I don't want to cause a fuss like this." Sora said as tears fell down one by one into her lap.

"We're going to help you, Sora," Tai looked into Sora's eyes, "You just have to let us."

"That's right," Izzy chimed in.

Mimi gripped onto Sora's leg, "Please Sora, we love you so much, we're so worried about you."

Sora was taken aback by the love of her friends. "Are you sure? T.K can tell you I've not been easy to be around." She glanced up at him.

Her brother in law shook his head and smiled, "Don't listen to her!"

"Yeah quit that, Sora!" Tai added passionately. "Remember what I told you last time." He playfully pointed a finger at her. "None of this doing it on your own stuff."

"Alright…" The redhead finally nodded. "Thank you." She gave Tai a smile and then was brought into a big hug by Mimi.

"Yay! Thank goodness!" She exclaimed.

A warm fuzzy feeling ran over the group and the scene caught the attention of the children who began to demand ice cream. The rest of the day the group planned amongst themselves how they were going to help their friend.

…

The gang said their goodbyes to Sora; they were going back to Meiko and Tai's place to have a couple of beers. Tai offered to walk Sora and her kids back home first. As they walked into the apartment she turned to say goodbye to Tai but to her surprise he kept walking in.

"I'll help you put the kids to bed." He said cheerfully, taking his shoes off.

"Oh! I don't need help with that, Tai!" Sora said waving her hands in a panic..

Tai made his way into the bathroom and started running the taps, "I can't hear you!"

Akane giggled, "What is he doing, Mama?"

"Well…" Sora began but was unsure herself. Tai returned and took Sora by the shoulders and lead her into the living room, when he reached the sofa he merely pointed.

"Here. Stay here."

"Wha- but you don't know how to put them to bed?"

"I'll tell him!" Akane exclaimed excitedly, eager to help.

"See?" Tai grinned at Sora. She lamented and sat down, stroking her bump happily. Tai passed her the remote, "Now watch TV and don't move an inch!"

Hiro began to cry but Tai picked him up before he could make it over to Sora, "Hiro, you and me are gonna be best friends by the end of this, right?" Before Sora could intervene, Tai had already carried him away. Akane followed in, giggling all the way.

"My brother cries a lot!" Akane proudly told Tai.

"He sure does!" He replied.

Sora laughed to herself and left them to it.

….

Tai walked into the living room some time later, the apartment was still, quiet and peaceful. The children were fast asleep and he could see that Sora was as well. He deliberated whether or not he should wake her up but found himself crouching down in front of her.

"Sora," he whispered, "The kids are asleep, I'm going now."

She nodded, unable to rouse herself awake just yet. Tai smiled and stood back up, unwilling to disturb her any further. He grabbed a blanket from the side of the sofa and placed it over her. He turned off the television set and began to make his way out of the room.

"Tai?" He heard Sora call out.

He peeked his head back in, "Yeah?"

She stumbled over to him and wrapped her arms around him tight, almost falling on top of him. "Thank you so much." Tai blushed and wrapped his arms around her too. He could feel her bump in between them.

"I told you I could do it for you" he smiled down at her.

"I can't believe he stopped crying."

"See? I'm the best!" He teased her.

The embrace lingered, he was sure she was crying but she didn't make a sound but he could feel his shirt becoming damp. It seemed as if Sora's defences had crumbled, it took him by surprise, her sudden embrace completely melted his heart. His legs began to feel like jelly. Without thinking he kissed the top of head and whispered to her, telling her everything was going to be okay. Tai held onto her tight, she was hurting so bad and he wanted to stop it. He gasped as he felt his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

"I'm sorry- y-you should go." Sora quickly withdrew her arms from around him.

To her surprise, Tai pulled her back into his arms, "I wish I didn't have to." He whispered, barely audible but Sora heard it.

"But you do," she smiled up at him, tears still falling.

"I don't want to."

"I'll be fine."

"I know you're just trying to be brave." And it kills me. A tear slipped down his cheek, he pulled Sora closer to him.

"Tai..." Her voice was muffled; she pressed her face into his chest. Sora was taken aback by his tears.

He felt a lump in his throat, "I'm just so worried about you," Tai tried his best to stop his tears falling but it was futile. Their hands bumped together in their tangled embrace, their fingers linked together tightly. She looked up at him as he pulled her hand up to his chest, their eyes met, Sora could feel her cheeks burning. Tai felt himself leaning down, their lips millimetres apart.

His phone began to vibrate again.

Sora quickly stepped away from Tai, "We can't do this, you have to go home"

He nodded; giving a small "Mm" he gave her a melancholy smile. "I'm so sorry, Sora," I don't want you to be lonely. "I'll be back okay?"

All Sora could do was nod back through her tears as he left the apartment.

…

Tai was unprepared for the rain, it was pouring down heavily. He quickly made his way down the stairs of her apartment block and into the street. Tears continued to flow and for some reason he couldn't stop them, he gave up trying to navigate through the rain and found himself coming to a slow stop. Taking cover under a tree, Tai wiped his cheeks. Stop it please stop it. He told himself, feeling ashamed and guilty, like he had taken advantage of Sora in some way, he just wanted to make her happy. She was so lonely. More than anything, he was terrified he had ended their friendship for good. T.K was right, how did he see it before me? But I don't love Sora, I know I love Meiko.

"Tai?!" He heard Izzy calling out to him, Tai looked up and Izzy ran over to him, passing him an umbrella. "We tried to get ahold of you so you wouldn't get caught in the rain, why didn't you answer?!"

Tai ran his hands over his face; no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get a hold of himself.

"What's the matter? Did you get into a fight with Sora?" Izzy was shocked and confused. "Tell me what's going on!"

"I just... I just need a minute" his voice was shaken up, he turned away from his friend. Izzy opened his mouth to speak but words wouldn't come, instead he put a hand on his friend's shoulder and moved the umbrella to shield him from the rain.