tutti-frutti456: Thank you for you message, however I couldn't reply.
Digi-Girl101: Here is an update, I think you will like it.
gizmo-396 : Thank you for your reply and I always appreciate you continuing to read this story.
cutie sora: I think this chapter will answer some of your questions.
Stained In Negativity: I'm glad the chapter was at least useful. I didn't think highly on it. It is now very early morning and for some reason, I couldn't put this chapter away. I had to finish it once I started. I'm pleased with it but maybe it is because of being so late.
FallenArchangelDD: For now, she seems to be but give me a moment. In this story, her clueless is just a front.
JyouraKoumi: I would have never guess that the colours meant that.
Broken Angel01: I think baby names will be in the next chapter. We'll see what name Matt gives his child but…you already know. That was to tease everyone else. I think we are both in agreement that it depends on the story which couples fit together. I'm very much caught up in your story and to be honest, I don't see Matt and Sora would fit in the Footsteps story. I am also reading another story with Matt and Kari. That was hard to over come but once again, it suit's the story and the writer is doing a remarkable job of it.
Matt was impressed with Mimi's choice of restaurant. To his astonishment, she had selected a subdued place to dine. The retreat was in an area less traffic, pushed far into the trees to give it a cabin hideaway look. Tables were set up inside the building as well as outdoors with a landscaping of an enormous lake surrounded by a sandy beach. The night sky gave an illusion to a soft velvet blanket with a pale glow from the distant moon in a half crest.
After a superb meal, the small party took a stroll along the beach shore. The girls were walking a head of the boys, shoes in hands. Matt kept his hands in his pocket, breathing the woodsy aroma of water and earth. He glanced over at his friend and smiled. Tai had a large grin on his face, his eyes captivated by Mimi. The blonde looked away from his friend's face when he heard Sora's laughter interrupting the peaceful setting. The girls were running the length of the shoreline, their bare feet slapping against the chilly water.
"I don't want tonight to end." Tai confided in his friend. "I feel so…right. Like this is where I'm supposed to be."
"Where else would you be?" Matt looked over at him.
"Not a location but a place in time. I mean with her…" He pointed over to Mimi who had hooked her arm through Sora's and now ran with her friend deeper in the lake. The water swirled around their bare legs and Sora squealed with the shock of the cold. "I can see us doing this again. Me with Mimi, you know, coming here and just relaxing. Look at her," Tai's mouth grew with a smile. "Have you seen a more beautiful person? Don't get me wrong, I know looks shouldn't be everything but in the end, we are only fooling ourselves. It is the first thing we notice. Yet, Mimi offers much more then the pretty package she bares so..."
"Mimi is a flirt, Tai." Matt warned him. "And she is turning you into a panting dog that is willing to lap at her heels."
"Oh I'm aware of her flirting with me and ever guy that grins at her." Tai sighed. "The thing with her is she loves so easily and she loves with everything she has to offer. I want that. I want everything she offers and I want to be the only one for her."
"It ain't going to happen, Tai." Matt looked over at the water, watching the small wavelets sparkle under the light. Winking almost.
"Why not?" Tai looked questionly at his friend, anger quickly building within. "I have as much of a chance as everyone else." He declared.
"Maybe more since you know her. The people that look at her the way you do have to introduce themselves, but not you. You two go way back." Matt glanced over at Tai. "The problem is, you keep telling me what you are going to do, what you want but you never push it. That is the problem with you. You talk too much."
Tai froze, watching Matt's back as his friend kept walking. "If that didn't make sense, I'd be really pissed at you right now."
Matt spun around and continued to walk backwards so he could observe his friend, "Yeah. But you know my problem is completely opposite of your own. I don't talk enough."
"So what are we going to do about it?" Tai caught up with Matt.
"I don't know. I don't even know if I have a chance any more."
"I heard what she said to you in the Pink Barbie contraption." Tai shrugged, "And…well we talked. Sora and I talk a lot."
"And?" Matt studied his friend's features. Normally, Tai was easily read, he was an open book and he did not seem to mind. With the darkness engulfing their surroundings, Matt found this normal simple task to be difficult.
"And…" Tai shrugged. "There is a spark there. At one time, there was a wild blaze but you were too blind to feel the heat. Now, it shimmered down to a spark. If you know how to rub it right, that spark could turn into the flame it once was."
Silence hung in the air between the two friends, drawing Tai's eyes to his friend. Matt had a far away look in his eyes, his head towards the lake once again. Tai knew it meant that he was done. The conversation was over and now the blonde worked his mind to try to fix his predicament.
"Come on," Tai grabbed Matt's sleeve, "Let's chase the girls. I will never understand why girls get turned on when we chase them."
Matt shrugged but took off with Tai beside him. Sora and Mimi screamed with delight when catching the a glimpse at the boys sprinting towards them and took off into their own run, running forward but laughing with pleasure when the boys scooped them in their arms.
"No!" Mimi screamed as Tai cradled her in his arms and headed for the deeper section of the lake. "Sora!"
"Mimi!" Sora giggled as Matt flipped her over his shoulder. "Don't you dare! Matt! You better put me down!"
Matt and Tai exchanged glances, both boys grinning ear to ear.
Mimi shrank closer to Tai's chest, trying to keep her body away from the water, her arms circling his neck, her legs drawling up, and her toes curling as she clung to him.
Tai loved the way she felt in his arms, he loved the way her hair brushed his cheek, the way she smelled, even the little pout expression that favourite her face from time to time. Tai grinned as Matt's arm slipped away from Sora's bare legs; his redheaded friend slid down the length of Matt's arm and disappeared through the glassy surface of the lake.
"Tai, don't you dare!" Mimi warned him after seeing Sora suffer from Matt's prank.
"Don't what?" Tai asked innocently.
"Don't drop me." She lifted her face towards his, her eyes searching his own, "Don't let me go." She said softly.
Tai stared intensely into her eyes, his own eyes melted with what he saw.
"I won't." Tai gave her a soft smile and bent his head down. Her felt the softness of her lips as his own brushed against her. He closed his eyes when she parted her glossy lips, giving him the permission he was silently asking for. His tongue slid pass her parted lips to taste her peppermint mouth. Tai's legs felt weak when a soft moan slipped from Mimi's mouth into his own.
"I hate you!" Sora yelled, breaking through the surface of the water. She placed both hands on Matt's shoulder and pushed him as hard as she could. He stood as a rock imbedded in a river. "Stop laughing!" Sora pushed him repeatedly but he kept standing before her, laughing at her pitiable attempts. "Aggh!" She slapped her hands on the lake's surface only to cause a rush of water to collide against her face. The blonde boy facing her went into another series of laughing fits. Sora smiled, nodding her head and slowly sank down into the water.
"Sora?" Matt stopped laughing. "Sora what are you…." He watched as her head disappeared under the water's crest. He made a small circle, his eyes focused on the surface of the lake, trying to find where his prey went. Then he felt her, she swam hard against the back of his knee causing him to buckle under the pressure. He felt the cold wetness of the lake as it covered his face, his shoulder and the rest of him. When he broke through the surface, he came face to face with a grinning redhead. He did not have time to say a word, the girl before him placed both of her hands on top of his head and once more, he found himself under water. He reached out and grabbed her by the waist pulling her under with him.
Tai carried Mimi in the shallow part of the lake, the water circling around her knees. He cupped his hands to cradle her face and bent down for another taste of her mouth. Mimi closed her eyes and reached up to wrap her arms around Tai's neck, her fingers tangling in his unruly hair. Matt and Sora's laughter was an echo in their minds; the whole world disappeared as their bodies pressed close to each other. The rotation of the earth froze for them. There was no past or future, it was now and they savoured it, wrapped in each other's arms.
Sora coughed up a mouthful of water and stared at her blue-eyed friend and his devilish smile. They both had pushed further in the lake and Sora now found herself brushing her arms over the water and kicking her feet to keep her head above water
Matt's eyes held a fixed stare on her ruby lips as she trembled from the cold of the water. He inched closer to her, not finding the same problem as she had; his own feet were still able to find footing on the bottom of the lake. "Do you want a piggy back ride back to the shore?" Matt whispered to her, he reached out and slipped a chunk of her hair behind her ear.
Sora nodded her head, slipped her hands around his neck, and pressed her body against his back. When they broke out of the lake; Matt still carried her but his hands now locked under both of her knees. Sora tighten her legs tightly against him and he fought off a groan that threatens to escape from his mouth. He could feel her whole body tremble from the cold, yet at the same time, he could feel the heat of her body against his own.
Matt walked right up to his two friends who were still in a lip lock, unaware that he stood right beside them, inches from them. Matt turned his head slightly to look at Sora, who wore a wide smile. He felt the red head shrug against him before he turned back to Mimi and Tai.
Matt bent closer to his friends, "We are a little wet and cold, and so when ever you two are ready, we would like to leave."
Mimi and Tai jumped apart, both astonished to see their friends directly beside them.
"Not that we want to interrupt you two or anything but," Matt glanced at Sora.
"Hell I'm freezing my ass off." Sora grumbled.
"And there isn't much of that left." Matt replied, only to receive a slap over the head from the girl on his back.