I AM BACK! The final chapter is here at last! Rejoice and be glad, everyone. Sorry for taking so long on this; I had life, school, and other stuff going on in my life that drew me away from finishing this up. I'm sure that you guys will really like it so enjoy!

Now when many teenagers picture how they want their high school prom night to go, they imagine everything going smooth like ice that they won't have to worry about anything other than looking good in front of their date. Trying to imagine anything possibly going wrong is the last thing any teenager wants to worry about.

For Tai Kamiya, things did go wrong…and in a big way.

When he and Sora went to dinner at the best restaurant in the Odaiba district, he was expecting a nice, quiet dinner with some pleasant conversation to set the tone for a perfect evening. It started off well enough: they got seated quickly and the service was fast enough to their liking. Izzy and Mimi were there too and sat down with them. Mimi looked fantastic in a full pink kimono, which Tai and Sora saw coming from a mile away, and Izzy was quite handsome in a tuxedo that was similar to Tai's.

As they enjoyed their dinner, some jerk started making wolf whistles and catcalls at Mimi and Sora from across the restaurant. Tai and Izzy had been annoyed with it but carried on as if nothing had happened. They didn't want to cause a problem and felt like the guy would just leave them be after a while.

Sadly, that didn't happen as the guy soon made his way over to the table and once again starting flirting with the girls, particularly Sora. Tai finally decided to do something and confronted the man, which resulted in an altercation that became physical within seconds.

Even though he did his best, Tai was still beaten to a pulp before the man was escorted out of the restaurant. With a bloodied nose, bruised cheek and a black eye, Tai looked like he went ten rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime.

"You can be such an idiot sometimes," Sora groaned as she pressed her handkerchief against Tai's eye.

"Ow! Don't touch it," Tai groaned as he laid on her lap in the limo. "Don't touch it!"

"Don't be a baby," she admonished before instructing him to hold it against his eye. "What were you thinking getting into that? I know the guy was in a questionable state of mind but you didn't have to go looking for a fight."

"I couldn't just sit there and do nothing, Sora," Tai retorted, wincing as she touched his black eye. "A man never lets another man make unwanted advances on a woman, even if he ends up being the one getting hurt."

Sora gave a small smile, knowing that she couldn't disagree with that statement. Tai had always been the first one to stand up for her, or anyone for that matter, whenever the situation called for it since they were little kids and she deeply admired him for it. It was no wonder he was the Digidestined of Courage in the first place.

"I just worry about you sometimes," Sora sighed as she continued to dab her handkerchief on his eye. "Your recklessness has gotten us into trouble one too many times. Need I remind you of the SkullGreymon episode?"

"Please don't remind me of that," Tai nearly shouted before talking at a lower level. "Sorry. It's something I would rather forget."

"Still a touchy subject, I see," she muttered.

Tai wanted to retort but remembering what she said about worrying about him caused him to hold his tongue. It was in Sora's nature to worry about everybody else but knowing she worried about him most of all made him feel special. Maybe things would go as planned that night after all.

"I know you worry about me," he said. "But you don't have to. I'm more worried about you than I am for myself sometimes."

Sora's face turned pink slightly at his words before a smile curved up her lips.

"Idiot," she chuckled, giving him a light smack on the head.

Not much later, they finally arrived at the school. The driver got out to open the door for them. Tai got out first so that he could help escort Sora out of the limo. All around them, their fellow students walked by towards the entrance to the gym. Girls were dressed in kimonos of all colors: some lighter and others darker, while gentlemen wore variations of a tuxedo.

"Just ignore your eye," Sora whispered as she hooked her left arm around his right one. "It'll be fine."

"Whatever you say," Tai replied with a roll of his one good eye as the two began to walk inside the school.

"Whoa, Tai. What happened to your eye?"

The Digidestined leader frowned as he turned to face the source of the question, which turned out to be Matt. Matt looked even more handsome than usual in a dark garnet-colored jacket that stood out from all the other males' typical black jackets and black pants. His blonde hair was slicked back and well-combed, making him look like a GQ model.

"Had a little accident when I was throwing my soccer ball up in the air," he replied stubbornly. "It's no big deal."

"I don't know how you can get a black eye from just throwing the ball up in the air," replied Meiko, who clung to Matt's arm. She was dressed in a full black kimono that was outlined with bright red, making it stand out from the others.

Sora snickered beside Tai, who gave her a dirty look. "That's because it didn't happen that way," she said. "He got it when we went to dinner. Some guy started hitting on Mimi and I and Tai 'heroically' tried to get him to back off but ended up getting beat up for it."

Matt and Meiko couldn't help themselves and started to laugh hysterically. The two couples were in line to get their prom photo taken along with many others before they could go into the gym for the actual dance itself.

'She just wants to embarrass me every time something happens,' Tai groaned to himself as Matt and Meiko continued to laugh.

"Did anyone ever tell you to know when to pick your battles, Tai?" Matt asked through his laughter.

"That was a battle worth fighting for," Tai puffed his cheeks in frustration. "A man never lets another man make unwanted advances on a woman."

"And yet you are the one who ended up with a black eye."

"Want me to give you one so we can match, pretty boy?"

"Ok, Tai. That's enough," Sora pulled him away from the blonde and blocked his path so he wouldn't try to get to him. "I know you're still mad about that but let's try and enjoy ourselves tonight."

"Yeah, sure," he replied, sounding more unsure than he would have liked. Everything that he had done to make sure things had gone smoothly had failed him but he felt he could still salvage something.

"Next," said the photographer.

Sora moved closer to Tai until she was right on him, wrapping her arms around his sides, before turning to face the camera. The action was so unexpected that Tai's face flushed red and he couldn't recover quickly enough to smile as the shot was taken.

"I wasn't ready," he protested as Sora dragged him towards the entrance of the gym.

"Too late now," she replied carelessly.

Tai tried to pry himself free but Sora had an iron grip on his hand, which led to a back and forth tug-of-war between the two of them until they finally entered the gym. Their jaws dropped to the floor at how extravagant it looked for the occasion. Streamers were "streamed" everywhere, dark and bright lights clashed against each other, and dance music blasted from speakers stationed at all corners of the gym.

Making their way through the crowd of people, they noticed Mimi and Izzy already occupying a table and moved towards them. The two of them seemed to be in deep conversation before they noticed Tai and Sora sitting down at the table.

"Hey guys," Mimi was the first to greet them. "How's your eye, Tai?"

Tai grunted at the mention of his eye. "It's seen better days," he grumbled. With a roll of his eyes, he drawled, "Thanks for asking."

"My pleasure," she giggled.

Tai then felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked over his right to see Mr. Nishijima's smirking face. With how devious the smirk seemed, Tai wasn't sure whether to be relieved or scared by his presence.

"What's shaking, kids?" he greeted. "Having fun?"

"We just got here, sir," Sora responded in kind, giving him a friendly smile. "But it seems like it's pretty good so far."

"Excellent," Nishijima then turned to Tai. "Hey, Tai. That's a nasty shiner you've got there."

Tai frowned as Mimi and Sora giggled before answering. "I had a bit of an accident earlier. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Ok," his teacher chuckled. "Can we talk man-to-man for a brief moment?"

"Uh, sure, sir," Tai nodded, getting up from his chair to join him.

The two walked out of the gym and towards a quiet, isolated corner of the school. Tai was not sure what his teacher wanted to talk to him about but why they had to walk to a quiet part of school unnerved him.

"Uh…Mr. Nishijima?"

"I'm going by Squall now, Tai, so you will address me as such," Nishijima replied. Silence fell over them for several seconds. Tai looked at his teacher with a confused look, unsure of what to make of this.

Nishijima then burst out laughing. His laugh carried through the halls as he doubled over in hysterics. It was so contagious that Tai couldn't help but laugh as well, though he did not understand why he was.

"I…I've been practicing that all week," Nishijima gasped between laughs before he finally managed to get himself together. "I'm just yanking your chain, Tai. But I did want to talk to you about something."

"About what, sir?"

His teacher looked up and down the hall to make sure that they were alone while the music from the gym echoed through the entire building. Once satisfied that no one else was around, Nishijima proceeded.

"About women," he said.

Tai's face erupted in a blush. "Women, sir?"

"Yes, Tai," his teacher nodded. "Women. Women are not just beautiful, cunning, and interesting creatures; they are the loyal companions of man. Every good man needs a good woman by his side to keep him in check. There comes a time in every young man's life when he must take the first step towards fulfilling that manifest destiny."

Tai took this all in to try and process it. The image of Sora came up in his head and everything that the two of them had gone through seemed to flash before his eyes. Every major milestone in his life, she was right there with him and vice versa. He could not imagine what his life would be like without her; watching her and Matt go out for the better part of a year gnawed at his heart even though he did his best to support them. He didn't want to be selfish but it seemed like that was no longer an option.

"What are you getting at?" he asked.

"I'm saying that you are wanting to tell Miss Sora how you feel, am I right?" Nishijima replied, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "I watch the two of you all the time. I know that the two of you have been best friends since you were kids and have been waiting for the other to make the first move. I think you should make that first step."

As Tai stood in deep thought, Himekawa came strolling up to the two of them. Tai had to admit that she looked stunning in a black kimono with white outlining. One white part blended into a black part in a yin and yang style that easily brought out her beauty. He snickered when he saw that Nishijima could hardly speak with his mouth slacked open and eyes wide.

"I thought I'd find the two of you hiding back here," she chuckled, sneaking an arm around Nishijima's back. He gave her a teasing look in return. "What were you talking about?"

He chuckled. "Just man stuff, Hime. Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about."

Himekawa snorted a chuckle before giving him a light smack on the cheek. "Darling, behave tonight," she admonished teasingly before turning to Tai. "Especially around the kids. You know how impressionable they are."

Tai bowed in greeting to Himekawa, who gave him a warm smile.

"Hi Ms. Himekawa," he said. "It's a pleasure to see you."

"Same to you, Kamiya," she returned. "You best get back out there before anyone notices. She is waiting for you."

The sly smile on her face caused Tai to flush with embarrassment.

'How can I be so dense-headed while everyone else is able to pick up on it with no problem?' he thought to himself, watching as the two older former Digidestined walked away together. Nishijima whispered something in Himekawa's ear that caused her to giggle like a schoolgirl.

Tai groaned.

"I don't understand women but they somehow understand us. Maybe it's me they don't understand."

'Just stay cool. One foot in front of the other. Oh no, I just stepped on Sora's toes. Hope she doesn't notice…and she did.'

Tai was guiding himself step-by-step as he and Sora slow danced together. While trying to keep his cool, his stomach was doing flips as it sunk in that he and Sora were dancing together…and so intimately!

Looking around, he noticed Mimi being all over Izzy but the computer genius looked like he didn't mind at all. Matt and Meiko danced elegantly together, the blonde's movements graceful and sincere while she was able to keep up just as well.

"Tai, my eyes are right here," Sora chastised before using her hand to tilt his head back to center so he could look at her. His face erupted into a blush but thanks to how dark it was, she couldn't make it out well enough.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," he stuttered, accidentally stepping on her toes once again. "Sorry."

A look of discomfort flashed across Sora's face as the pain from his foot stepping on hers surged through her leg. She was tempted to sit him for the amount of times that he had stepped on her toes up until that point but she could tell he was nervous about something.

"You know I know you better than that, Tai," she frowned. "What's the matter?"

Before Tai could answer, the slow song stopped and all the other couples broke away. A war raged inside his head for him to decide what he should do at that moment.

"C-can we talk?" he asked, looking deep into her crimson eyes. "Just the two of us."

"Sure, what do you have to say?"

"I mean alone."

Sora's face turned a slight pink at the mention of him wanting to talk to her alone. Was he going to do what she thought he was going to do? There was only one way for her to find out.

"Ok," she nodded. "Let's go."

Tai led her out of the gym just as tango music began to blast through the speakers. He caught a glimpse of Nishijima and Himekawa in the middle of the dance floor; she had stripped off her kimono for a glittery silver dress that flashed in the disco ball lights and the two of them were dancing an elaborate tango. Couples around them stepped back to form a circle, many of them with uncomfortable looks on their faces as Nishijima and Himekawa danced.

Walking down the hallway to almost the exact same spot where Daigo had taken him to talk, Tai felt his palms start to sweat with nervous anticipation. His heart raced as if he had finished a ten-mile run and his entire body quivered as he gathered his thoughts together for what he was about to do. This was arguably the scariest moment of his life.

Sora felt Tai's hands get a little clammy.

"Tai, your hands are sweating," she blurted out. "Are you sure that everything is ok?"

"Never better, Sora," he forced a smile while chuckling nervously. "Just peachy."

Sora was not going to take that for an answer so she pushed him against the wall. If he wasn't going to be straight with her about what was happening, then she wasn't going any further with him.

"Whoa, Sora. What the…" Tai reacted in surprise.

"What is with you tonight?" she demanded, irritation clearly in her eyes as they locked with his own brown eyes. "You've been skittish ever since we got here. What are you hiding from me, Tai Kamiya?"

"Could you please back up?" he asked as she pressed her forehead against his. "I have personal space issues."

After she moved back to a more manageable distance, he cleared his throat so that he could speak.

"I know I've been a little weird tonight but there's a reason for that, Sora," he began. "We've been friends for a long time, haven't we?"

"Oh yeah," she nodded, smiling as all sorts of memories flooded her mind. "Since we were basically in diapers. You were four and I was days from my fourth birthday when we met."

"And in that time, we have done plenty of crazy things together," he continued, causing her to scoff.

"Speak for yourself. I have always been the sensible one, Tai, and the one who has gotten you out of more trouble than I would have liked to admit."

A blush streaked across his face, knowing that she was right.

"Can I please just finish?" he requested. Her silence told him that it was ok to keep going.

"No one completes me more than you do, Sora. We've been through a whole heap together that I cannot imagine what my life would be like without you. Excuse me for saying this but I felt like I had lost my best friend when you went chasing after Matt. It was hard watching you be happy with him for that time you were together because I felt like the body of work we had together just was not enough for you to look my way. You complete me, Sora, and you always will. I love you."

His face felt like a fried egg as he finished his outpouring of affection for her. He didn't even need a mirror to know that it was red as a tomato and burning like a stove at that moment.

Sora's eyes went wide in realization to what he said, a strip of pink spread across her face to accompany her shock.

"Do you have to be so corny?" she groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead.

"What?" Tai demanded, offended by her question.

"Do you honestly think old pick-up lines like that are going to impress me? You impress me enough just by being yourself, Tai. Being the same old lovable doofus that I have known since I was a little girl. The doofus that I have loved since I was a little girl."

Sora had said those things without thinking. It took a few seconds to register but once they did, her blush got even deeper. She had just confessed her feelings for him.

"Er…I mean I have always loved you as my best friend and all," she tried to save face but was failing miserably. "But I…"

Tai could not help himself as he started to laugh at her embarrassment. Doubling over to bang his fist against the floor, he felt like his gut was going to burst from all the laughing he was doing.

Sora huffed indignantly at this act. "What's so funny?" she demanded with her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry," Tai gasped as he continued laughing. "But what's funny is you. You have not changed at all."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Finally getting himself together, Tai got back on his feet to look Sora in the eye. His whole demeanor did a one-eighty and now he was serious, more than she had ever seen from him before. There wasn't a hint of playfulness in his eyes as she gazed into them.

"It means you still have all the things I love about you, Sora," he said in a lower tone. "You are always there for me, you're someone I always want around, and you've been so good to me all these years. There's no one else I would want to spend time with more than you."

Tai couldn't take it anymore and finally pulled her into his chest with his right hand on top of her head and his left around her upper back. Just feeling her be this close to him sent tingles down his spine and made him feel warm and safe. It felt so right.

Sora buried her face into his chest as a wave of relief and happiness overcame her. Her hands clutched at his trapezoids before wrapping around his back, her heart fluttering in joy.

"So what are we now?" Tai shattered the silence between them.

Sora couldn't help but chuckle. "What do you think, stupid?"

"I know but I just want to make sure that this is really happening," he smiled the biggest smile that Sora had ever seen from him. "Is this a dream?"

A smirk flashed across Sora's face as she thought of something.

"You tell me if this is feels like a dream," she said before commanding, "Sit!"

CRASH! Tai fell face-first to the floor with a resounding boom that reverberated off the walls.

"Why?" he groaned in anguish.

While he wallowed in pain, Sora took the chance to sit down beside him on the floor with her back against the wall. With a soft smile working its way on her face, she caressed his wild brown hair, running her hand through it and patting it like she was a comforting mother.

Tai turned onto his back to look at her as she moved her hand to rest on his cheek, causing his enraged gaze to soften. They stayed in this position for several moments as one waited for the other to make the first move. The echoes of music from the gym, this time a softer number, made the moment seem that much more romantic than it already was.

Sora brushed one side of her auburn hair behind her ear nervously before doing the same with the other. She felt bad at telling him to sit this time so she decided to come clean with him.

"Remember that necklace I gave you when we were eight?" she asked.

Tai nodded. "Yeah. I never take it off."

"Well that is how I get you to sit every time," she continued. "The necklace allows the one who bestowed it upon another to control them. In my case, it's to keep you in line when the situation calls for it."

He frowned. "So basically it's a necklace of subjugation?" he asked. "You can be so sadistic sometimes, Sora!"

"Only for you, Tai," she returned with a smirk and a giggle. "The reason I never gave one to Matt was because it wasn't right for me to give another one to someone else. You were the one I chose to give it to and it wouldn't be the same if it wasn't you."

As she spoke, Tai found the strength to at least sit himself upright beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder before pulling her into his side so that her head rested on his left shoulder.

"Thank you, Sora," he murmured.

And they just sat there, happy to be in the presence of the other and knowing what the future held was something amazing.

And that is that. I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. I wanted to make it extra long in order to make up for the lost time that I had not updated so I hope it was to your liking. Be sure to leave a review and subscribe to either me or the story as you guys read. I'll see you all really soon with a new project that I'm sure you will find fascinating. See ya.