Sora laughed, her eyes streaming with tears. Taichi looked grumpily at her, pausing in his outrageous story for her laughter to subside. To him, it was not as funny as Sora's laughter implied. He had been the victim, after all.

"Not as funny as you think," he scowled.

Sora laughed even harder and Taichi decided to walk away as his way of protest. He knew Sora would follow him sooner or later for the rest of his story.

"Taichi, wait! I want to know the rest." She extended her arm to stop him, still laughing.

"I'm getting something to eat," he said, stomping his way to kitchen. Sora renewed her laughter at his way of walking and her eyes met Yamato's.

Yamato silently stared at her.

Sora stopped abruptly.

"What?" she asked self-consciously.

Yamato seemed to come to himself at her address and straightened up.

"Nothing." He smiled quickly, his face slightly flushed as he looked down at the homework the trio was supposed to be doing, "Don't mind me. I was just thinking about something else."

Sora was sure that was not the case but Taichi interrupted them, bringing a bag of potato chips and inviting them over.

x-x-x

He knew they were supposed to do homework - that was the sole purpose of gathering at Taichi's house - but he found himself not minding Taichi's outrageous tale that made Sora laugh. Especially because it made Sora laugh.

He was surprised why he had never noticed the way she laughed before: head thrown slightly back, cheeks flushed, eyes bursting with energy. She had an infectious laugh - one that made him laugh without even listening to what Taichi was actually telling - and it made him observe her more closely.

He had seen her laugh many times before, never noticing the tiny details, but now he could clearly see the difference. With people outside of their trio, her laugh had been nothing more than a polite chuckle, or a rather reserved sort of laugh. With Taichi and him, though, she never seemed to hold any of herself back.

It was a liberating sort of laughter, building slowly at the base of her throat until it spilled out all at once, and the sound of her laughter was not exactly girlish, but still . . . nice. Fresh and sincere.

Taichi, finally taking offense, stomped away, and Sora, still smiling, turned to their homework. Her eyes lifted, meeting his gaze unexpectedly. Immediately, her smile faltered and she asked, "What?"

Yamato blinked, feeling caught and embarrassed.

He sat up straighter.

"Nothing." He smiled and looked away from her to his notes. "Don't mind me. I was just thinking about something else."

A sideways look at Sora's face made him realize that she didn't believe him.

And therefore, as soon as they were out of Taichi's house, Sora rounded him.

"So, tell me. Why were you staring like that?"

Yamato went blank at the sudden assault.

"Mmm, just thinking about something else."

"It was my laugh, right?"

Yamato stared at her in shock, surprised by her accuracy.

"Your - your laugh?" he stuttered.

Sora sighed and shook her head dejectedly.

"It's loud, I know. And not very good."

"Huh?" Yamato was still confused.

"My laugh. It's really bad. That's why I try not to laugh that often."

"No, no." Yamato was surprised she would come to that conclusion. "Your laugh is really . . . not bad."

"Uh-huh." She didn't look like she believed him.

"No, really!" Yamato insisted, "It's actually . . . nice."

"It's loud," she insisted. "And boyish. My mother always tells me to laugh less loudly, that it's not 'lady-like'." She made quotation marks in air. "But it's out of my control."

"Well, I don't mind it," Yamato assured her. "I still think it's nice - the way you laugh. Makes me laugh, too."

Sora looked sideways at him. Her eyes narrowed.

"Is that why you were staring at me?" she asked.

Yamato stared at her, his mind going blank again.

"I - no, I was -" He caught Sora's grin and realized she was kidding. He sighed with relief.

"I know, I know," said Sora. "You were thinking about something else."

"Yeah," he muttered, "Something else."

x-x-x

A/N: Yeah this chapter came out later than usual ... maybe because of the lack of as many reviews as I was expecting, but hey! I DID update, right? That's the silver lining. And I must say that this chapter is written and published only because of you guys who reviewed and liked the series. I almost lost interest. Chikamelia (sorry for the diabetes attack), Rayy, CassandraOT5, misaki92 and AyakiStory. Oh and Rayy, you asked for more Sorato family fics but I already have written quite a few. You can check them out on my profile. Thanks for your review on Shared Memories, too.