It was a cold January afternoon and Sora stepped off the bus, she wrapped her burgundy scarf tightly around her neck to protect her from the cold. Luckily she had thick duffle coat on, however she regretted the choice to wear a skirt and tights as she could still feel the cold through them. She gave her little ponytail and quick tighten and began to walk in the direction of her home, back to Matt and the kids. As she made her way past a row of shops she saw the familiar visage is of a spiky haired man coming out the convenience store in front of her. They hadn't seen much over the past couple of months, save Izzy and Mimi's Christmas party. They had tried to resolve things that night but in reality it still hadn't felt the same between them. She called his name and gave him a small wave.

"Sora!" Tai said with a surprised look on his face, "How- How are you?" He asked carefully, stumbling over his words.

"I'm good!" She smiled awkwardly, scratching her cheek lightly. "How about you?"

He attempted a big smile, "I'm great! What are you doing out and about? I thought you'd be at home with the baby?"

"I had counselling today." She glanced towards the direction of the bus stop. "It's not far." Sora understood why he had asked, her baby was only a few months old but Matt had insisted she returned to counselling as he felt she not only would benefit from talking to someone but she needed time to herself once in a while. She was never gone more than a couple of hours.

"It's great you're going, Sora, is it… helping?"

Sora nodded and repositioned her hand bag on her shoulder. "Yeah it is… I think so anyway!" Silence fell between the pair and Sora could see that he was struggling to maintain his smile. "Is everything okay, Tai?"

"Yeah what do you mean?" He said furrowing his brows and looking away, a little surprised that she had seen right through him.

Her expression turned to worry. "You look like you're carrying the world on your shoulders right now."

"I actually... I… wanted to text you or call... I'm not sure why though." She noticed his voice was a little shaky as he talked, it worried her.

Sora crossed her arms and gave him a stern look, "We're friends, isn't that reason enough?"

Tai sighed, "It doesn't feel the same now though."

"No… you're right." Sora looked down at her shoes. "I suppose it never will be." Another moment of silence fell between them before Sora began again. "Do you wanna go somewhere and talk? I have a little time…"

"No, it's okay, really-"

"No come on, let's go for a walk. I'll text Matt and tell him, it won't be a problem." With that Sora reached into her bag and got out her cellphone. As she tapped away at the screen, Tai contemplated all the ways he could turn her down.. I can't be alone with you. Why are you so insistent? She interrupted his thoughts with a cheerful, "Ready?" She smiled up at him and he smiled back, unable to protest, she had won.

They walked along the river in Odaiba and Sora smiled as they reached a familiar underpass, the bridge where the Digidestined used to meet as teenagers to have their secret meetings, it felt nostalgic.

"Remember when we used to meet here and talk about saving the world?" Sora said gripping onto her coffee cup for warmth.

Tai gave a small smile, "Yeah…" Sora frowned at the sadness in voice, she sighed and leaned against the concrete of the wall under the bridge, gently blowing on her coffee. Tai leaned next to her, looking down at the ground, gripping onto his own coffee cup. Sora thought she could see him shaking, without warning she grasped onto his arm. "What's happened? Just tell me." Tai gasped the sudden physical contact, dropping his coffee cup to the ground, he then felt his world crumbling around him, her touch had sent him over the edge. He began to cry.

"What's going on, Tai?" She asked again gently, she felt her chest hurt as she watched him slide down the wall to the ground and sob.

He hid his face in his forearm and pulled his knees to his chest. "I'm sorry, why... is it... always like this?" He struggled to get his words out. Sora quickly dropped her handbag from her shoulder and placed her coffee down to crouch in front of him, taking a grip onto his knees. "Did you have a nice Christmas?" The spiky haired man barely got his words out through his poor attempt to change the subject, he was terrified where the conversation might lead if he told her what was really going on.

Sora furrowed her brows, confused at what Tai was trying to do, "Christmas?! Tai, please just tell me what's wrong! Is… Meiko leaving?" The man in front of her took in a sharp breath and broke down completely, he sobbed and sobbed and showed no signs of stopping. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around him, it felt as if her own heart was breaking as she listened to him cry. Whispering to him gently that everything would be okay, she rested her head against his, trying to soothe him. The sound of the rain beginning to fall caught Sora's attention, she glanced beyond the cover of the bridge and watched it fall down hard onto the pavement.

"I'm so afraid..." He cried like a child into her arms, "She's going to take Shinya away again!"

She squeezed him a little tighter, tears of her own began to form in her eyes, blurring her vision. "It's all my fault… I'm so sorry." She ran her hand through his hair. "Just tell me what I can do to fix this!"

"Just stay with me please." His voice was muffled but she heard him loud and clear, she felt his arms wrap around her as he dropped his knees down from his chest so he could bring her closer to him. Sora burrowed her face into his shoulder and took a deep breath in, his familiar scent filling her senses. "Sora, she knows, she knows that I-" He quickly stopped himself as he felt her sit back up and break the embrace, he saw tears stain her cheeks. She shook her head, telling him to stop before he could finish his sentence. "I'm sorry, she won't stay with me unless I'm away from you. From everyone." He looked into her eyes and gently wiped the tears from her face away. "I don't know what to do.."

"You should be with her, Tai. Don't think about me anymore, okay?" She pleaded with him, cupping his face in her hands.

Tai gave her a sad smile. "I might be moving to Shimane soon… I'm sorry I didn't know how to tell you." She gasped, the seriousness of the situation between him and Meiko suddenly hit her, she felt awful. The thought of Tai being so far away hurt and frustrated her. He flinched as he suddenly felt two fists pound against his chest.

"It's all your stupid fault!" Sora belted out in anger, sobbing through her words.

Tai took hold of her hands and pulled them to his chest, "Sora…"

Unable to look at him in the face, Sora shut her eyes tight, "Why did you let this happen?! I was happy when we were just friends! Now everything is all messed up and wrong!"

"Wait hold on! You can't just put this on me, Sora!" He looked down at her and spoke with confidence. She averted his gaze, feeling her cheeks getting hot. "You were the one who happily leaned on me when Matt wasn't there, remember? Tell me.. did you really

feel nothing for me? Was I just a replacement husband for you?"

Sora suddenly pulled her hands away from his grip and leaned away from Tai. "You mean did I use you?" She shot back at him without missing a beat.

"I have to know the truth." He reached out to touch her but she batted his hand away.

"Stop it, Tai!"

He reached out again and this time managed to get a hold of her hand, squeezing it tight. "Do you love me Sora? Or was it all in my head?" He asked, looking her dead in the eyes. "What you say and what you do are completely different, I don't know what to believe."

"I can't do this, Tai." Sora had had enough, she quickly removed her hand from his grip, stood up and grabbed her handbag and began to walk away from him. She clumsily took out her fold down umbrella and it took her several attempts to get it up through her blurry tear filled eyes as she made her way into the rain away from the cover of the bridge. Tai's heart was racing, a part of him couldn't believe what had spilled out of him but the other part knew he couldn't contain it any longer. He stumbled as he ran over to her, just about managing to grab onto her shoulder. She stopped and turned to face him, the rain began to soak through his flannel shirt on the top of his shoulders.

He winced as she looked up at him, she was crying. She positioned her umbrella so he was shielded from the rain. "I can't leave this unfinished, Sora. I feel broken."

"Being with each other won't fix that Tai!" She belted at him.

"Sora, I-"

Sora shook her head, unable to hear anymore. "Go with her please. Go with Meiko and forget about me!" Her voice was shaky as she spoke, she was almost hyperventilating.

"I can't!" He raised his voice in frustration. "Just tell me, are you happy, Sora? With him?"

"Of course I am! I love him! I can't do what you're asking of me, Tai!"

"What about me? What about us?" He demanded.

She grabbed onto his hand tightly as she began to plead with him. "You're not happy right now. You're searching for something to fill the void, it can't be just be about me."

"It is… Sora… I…" He looked at her, his eyes glazed over as they filled with tears again, "I love you."

Sora gasped and her mouth fell open upon hearing those words. The sound of the rain pelting against Sora's umbrella filled the momentary silence between them.

"Sora, I'm not asking you to leave Matt. I just want to know that I'm not crazy, there is something between us, right?"

She finally understood what he wanted from her, Sora felt her body relaxed as the pressure from Tai lifted from her. He was being sincere, he truly just wanted her reassurance. She took a hold of his face with both hands, "I love you, I do, Tai. How could you ever doubt that?" Tai's eyes widened, surprised by her admission, he responded by wrapping both arms around her and holding her tightly. "Tai, every moment we shared together while Matt was gone meant everything to me, okay? You were never just a replacement, you were you, you helped me so much words cannot express."

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her. It was a long and gentle kiss on the lips, something about it felt pure. It meant thank you, it meant goodbye and it meant they understood each other.

When they broke apart, Tai pulled her back into his arms, he held her like he never wanted to let go, the umbrella fell from Sora's hand and onto the ground as he squeezed her tightly. She nuzzled her face into his shoulder, tears falling freely from her eyes and running onto his shirt along with the rain. "Thank you for everything." She told him, her voice cracking slightly.

"I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat." He replied, giving her a hard kiss onto her cheek. Loving her hurt like hell, knowing they would never be together, knowing they would both return to their partners as if nothing had ever happened, it stung but Tai knew in his heart, he would always treasure the time they had spent together, regardless of the outcome.