A/N:

So- back for more? I know you wanna know what is going to happen next… is it wedding bells and happy times, or is there a detour on the road to the altar… you will have to continue to read to find out!

Anyway- thanks for the reviews!

Relax, and enjoy!

The next day was so close to perfect Tai thought he was dreaming.

When he woke up laying beside him was a peacefully sleeping Sora… but not just your regular Sora… no, she was wearing the ring he had purchased for her. She had said yes.

Granted it was rather early by most standards about becoming engaged, but when you knew that something was so right, you had to jump on it.

Placing a kiss to her forehead, he silently slipped out of bed and grabbed his shorts. He wanted to make her breakfast. He had missed being able to cook for her after waking up from a late night.

It had been way too long, he decided as he scrambled some eggs and quickly whipped up a big breakfast. Finding a serving tray, Tai gathered everything and went back to his bedroom, breakfast in hand.

Sora heard the door close. Deciding to ignore the noise, she rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. She was having such a nice dream… she was not going to spoil it by waking up fully.

Soon another noise got her attention. The door opened and closed once again. Hearing the light clinking of what she assumed to be glassware, she nuzzled her head deeper into the warm pillows, fighting to return to sleep.

"Sora." She could almost hear his voice… came to think of it she could smell him on the sheets too… Confusion swept over her as she took a mental note of her surroundings without opening her eyes.

Finding that she was blanketed in a soft and fuzzy blanket, wearing nothing underneath she knew she was not in her own bed. Indeed there was further evidence to prove that… the smell of the sheets, the feel of the sunlight coming through a window, that was in the opposite direction in her room… and then his voice calling to her.

"I know you are up. You can't pretend to sleep on me, not after I made this for you." Tai smiled seeing that she was awake, just not wanting to open her eyes to him.

"It's all going to be a dream if I wake up." She mumbled even if she knew that she was being childish.

"I promise it won't." He assured her rubbing her back. The coolness of his hands and the tender motions sent shivers down her spine. Turning around so she was on her back facing him, she opened her eyes.

As she did, he kissed her, proving that things were not a dream. Things would always be like this from now on because she had agreed to marry him… even after all the mess they had lived through the past few weeks, she still loved him. He was glad.

"Look, I made breakfast." He smiled as she sat up, using a sheet to cover herself more from the cold then out of embarrassment.

"So, what are your plans to today, Soon to be Mrs. Kamiya?" Tai smiled thinking about the fact that she had said yes again.

"Well, I wouldn't suppose that lounging around all day would be out of the question?" She asked not really feeling like going anywhere. It was her day off anyway. The FIFA Women's team would begin practice the next day.

"Sounds good to me. We can watch moves and talk."

"About?"

"Well, wedding dates would be good. Honeymoon locations." He said picking up a piece of fruit and feeding it to her.

"Let's not rush things, ok?" She said putting her hand to his chest. "I do want to marry you… just not in a hurry… I am only 22 after all… And my career…"

"Just kidding. Calm down." He chuckled. "I know things are going fast, so let's just forget even brought it up. Besides, I would not dream of taking you away from soccer. I want you to do whatever makes you happiest."

"And that does include marrying you… just not quite yet. Give me a couple months and then we can discuss things, ok?"

"But we are engaged, right?"

"You bet your soccer shoes we are." She smiled back and kissed him.

The tabloids were having a great time with the apparent on again relationship of the two most successful soccer players in Tokyo. Rumors were circling that there were wedding bells and baby showers in the near future, but both players kept away from such topics.

At the moment they were happy to be back together and all the mess of the past forgotten.

With the World Cup games about to begin the two saw less of each other, but still managed to get together whenever they had a free moment. Tai had become an expert of the quick picnic lunch on the field, causing most of the girls to swoon even more over her fiancé.

The flight over to Europe, where the World Cup was held was rather enjoyable. The collective wealth from the Japan teams were able to get the players and a few important others a comfortable private jet.

Since Tai and Sora were both representing Japan, they were able to fly together. The long flight that would take nearly ten hours didn't seem too long.

Once on the ground, the groups were ushered to their prospective locker rooms and then to their accommodations in a posh hotel owned by the sponsors of the tournament.

At the evening meal, Tai and Sora were finally able to find some alone time as they took a table away from the main group of players from around the world. The media coverage that they had thought to be bad in Japan was tripled.

Walking around the city was nearly impossible without being blinded by flashes from the cameras, or being bombarded with microphones. What made things worse was that the language differences only added to the problems.

The two enjoyed the free time they got, but both had to call it an early night due to the games the next day.

"Good luck tomorrow." Tai smiled as he stood outside of her hotel room. Tai had to admit he was proud of her achieving so much in only her first year of professional play. But he was a little worried about her. Lately Sora had been extremely tired and often sick. She chalked it up as nerves and continued on through out practice. Tai knew there was something else going on, but Sora didn't seem to want to discuss it much. She kept brushing it off.

Tai could notice a few little changes in her the past few weeks that they had been back together. He had even gone so far as to ask Joe to give her a medical exam, but the doctor's request was also brushed off by Sora.

Sora kept telling everyone and herself that she was fine. That nothing was the matter- just nerves, stress and maybe a slight stomach virus… but deep down Sora knew something was a miss.

It had started maybe two months ago… after she and Taichi began dating. For a while now she had ignored the signs and she wanted to continue doing so till after the tournament.

"Yeah, it's only the first game, but we are the favorites to win." She smiled holding his hand.

"Confident are we?" He laughed as he put his forehead to hers.

"Maybe. But isn't a little confidence a good thing?"

"Are you confident enough to maybe… consider a late night?" His charming smile almost won her over to the idea.

"You know, if I didn't know any better I would have to say you have become a little dependant… can't sleep alone at night anymore?" She smiled as she put a finger to his chest and smiled. "Or are you sent by the other team to keep me preoccupied?"

"Is that such a bad thing?" He smiled back giving her the lost puppy dog eyes.

"Which one?" She asked knowing he meant the first assumption. "I would love to, but I do have to get up early tomorrow."

"What if I promise to just cuddle?"

"You said that on our first date and look where that got us." She pointed out the fact that 'just cuddle' and 'nothing happening' never really happened with them. Things always got a little more… well, not just a little. Not that she minded. But tonight she could not chance getting up late, or being tired in the morning.

"Well, isn't it lucky I didn't bring any protection, thus we kind of can't." Tai said putting his arm on the door of her room and moving closer to her lips.

"Always the romantic, aren't we?" She laughed. "As long as it is just cuddle then." She gave in and turned to unlock her door.

True to his word, for the first time with that sort of promise, the two sent the night sleeping in each others arms. They both had made it a big issue to make sure protection was used every time they were together. Especially after their first night of frenzied coupling, they had made sure that something like that only happened once, ok twice.

As Sora's mind thought back to their first night, something clicked. Looking at the clock on the dresser, she found that she had twenty minutes to enjoy lying next to him. But her mind would not let her just enjoy the warmth. Things began to add up.

Wondering how stupid she had been to miss the tell tale signs, Sora put her hands to her stomach. She had been gaining weight. It was getting to the point that it was a little noticeable. No matter how often she worked out or tried to cut back on portion sizes, she was steadily increasing in weight, cup sizes and pants sizes.

Her eyes began to water thinking of what that all meant, when coupled with the nauseous feelings and the missed cycles. Assuming that her missed monthly visitor was normal due to her irregular cycles, she had not even thought that they were missing for another reason.

Tai was warm and happy. They had not made love last night, but it still was enjoyable waking up next to her in the morning.

Noticing she was awake Tai moved closer and leaned in for a kiss. Getting closer he noticed that tears were coming out of her open eyes. Sitting up so he could look at her, Tai instantly became worried.

"Sora?" He called to her but got no response. It was not until he started shaking her and her alarm clock going off that she snapped out of her trance.

"Tai?" She blinked and quickly brushed off the tears that were on her cheeks.

"Sora? Are you ok? I was worried, I was about to run and get Joe…"

"What?" She smiled sitting up, trying to forget everything she had been thinking about… now was not the time.

"You were out of it for like five minutes…"

"Sorry, just thinking about things." She said rolling out of bed. She began to look through her duffle bag and got out her uniform for the day.

"Sora?" Tai knew she was hiding something.

"It's that today a dream of mine comes true… I have always wanted to play in the FIFA tournament, maybe even win MVP or something…"

"Yeah, I know… are you sure that is it?"

"Yeah, well I better get going." She smiled and quickly left the room not liking that she wasn't totally honest with Tai.

a/n:

Well, kind of a slow chapter... but that does not mean things are going to be slowing down at all.

If you want to know what is going to happen next, you know what you have to do!