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"I like you, Yamato."

Sora nodded to Taichi. "Say it."

"I…like you, Yamato."

Sora glowered at him, exasperation on her features. "Taichi!"

Taichi grimaced. "What? I can't just say it now!" He exclaimed, shaking his head furiously as he buried his hands in his hair. "This is too nerve wracking for me!"

"If you can't say it to me how are you gonna say it to Yamato?!" Sora demanded, twitching.

"It's impossible, Sora!" Taichi whined, "I can't do it!"

"Don't be a coward, Taichi!" Sora frowned. "It's simple, really!"

Taichi stared at her as she turned and faced Mimi. "All you have to do is go up to Yamato and tell him you like him!" Sora placed her hands on Mimi's shoulders, lowering her voice as she spoke, imitating Taichi, "I like you, Yamato. Will you go out with me?"

Mimi grinned, "Oh Taichi, I thought you'd never ask!" She said happily, "Of course I'll be your girl- I mean, boyfriend!"

Sora grinned and turned to face Taichi smugly as she removed her hands from Mimi's shoulders. "See?" She gave Taichi a thumbs up, "Easy!"

Taichi winced. "Yamato doesn't act like that!" He shouted accusingly.

Mimi blinked, tilting her head, "Well, would he stutter and blush then?"

"No, he'd tell me to stop joking and punch me!"

Sora sighed. "The point is, Taichi, you have to tell Yamato you like him!" She jabbed a finger at the frazzled brunette. "You can't hide your feelings for him forever!"

"That's right, Taichi!" Agumon said, nodding.

"Sora-kun is right," Jyou said agreeably. "But maybe we should let Taichi do this on his own?"

"That would be best," Koushiro said contemplatively. "Taichi-san is the one confessing after all. He should know how to deal with it."

Sora pouted. She released a sigh, regarding Taichi sternly. "Fine. But, Taichi, if you don't confess to Yamato by the end of today, I'll…" she thought for a while, then smiled and said, "I'll take your soccer ball away from you when we get back to our world!"

Taichi gasped. "You wouldn't!" He said as he thought of Sora stealing away his precious soccer ball back home.

Sora smirked. "Oh I would," she said almost tauntingly. "Or maybe I won't play soccer with you for a month." She seemed to muse. "Or two months, maybe?"

"But Sora, you love soccer!" Taichi protested, grimacing as he thought of the possibility of not being able to play soccer with one of his best soccer mates, "Don't be cruel!"

Sora smiled slyly. "And you love Yamato. So…" she drawled. "Are you going to stop being a coward now?"

Taichi scowled as he realized his childhood friend was practically blackmailing him And taunting him. He knew he should never have let her known of his feelings for Yamato. "Fine!" He said, stomping off with a huff. "I'll show you I'm not a coward, Sora! I'll go tell Yamato right now!"

Sora smirked as Taichi broke into a sprint. "Good luck!" She called cheerfully after the retreating Taichi.

"If you can't confess, you can just kiss him!" Mimi yelled over, grinning as she winked, "Actions speak louder than words, Taichi!-san!"

Taichi shot a glower at the two girls over his shoulder as he dashed off towards the forest. Sora and Mimi grinned as they turned to the boys, who were staring at them in surprise.

"I didn't know you could be so…" Koushiro searched for a suitable word, "…Cunning, Sora-san."

"Well, I kind of suspected Taichi liked Yamato for a while," Sora admitted with a sheepish smile. She shrugged. "Taichi can be really stubborn. I have to force him or after today, he'd never tell Yamato!" She bit her lip, her smile faltering a little, "And...if Taichi never tells Yamato he likes him, he wouldn't ever be truly happy."

"I guess," Koushiro said, looking at her. "But Taichi-san seems to really like Yamato-san. He wouldn't want to risk their friendship by confessing."

"But if he never confesses, then what's the point?" Mimi asked.

"That's true." Jyou agreed.

Mimi beamed. "Hey, should we go and spy on them?!" She said excitedly, "Oh, this is so much more exciting than all those digi battles!"

The Chosen Children sweatdropped. "I don't think we should do that," it was Takeru who spoke. He stared up at his older companions. "Onii-chan would be really mad if he caught us a second time."

"And Onii-san would be even more nervous!" Hikari added. She nodded. "We should leave them alone."

"Right." Sora said. She turned and smiled at the group, making a mental note to blackmail Taichi for all the details later. She slid a hand into her pocket, brushing the sweat away from her forehead.

"Well, let's hang out here while Taichi makes his confession."

Where was Yamato?

Taichi frowned worriedly as he ventured into the forest, reaching the spot where they had set up camp. The digimon were awake, and he made his way to where Piyomon was munching on some fruit. "Hey guys, did you see Yamato?"

Piyomon blinked at him. She pointed to the left, "I saw him running past. We called out to him but he didn't seem to hear us." She said, tilting her head to the side. "Where's Sora?"

"And Koushiro-han?" Tentomon added anxiously, "He's alright, isn't he?"

"Did Jyou get lost?" Gomamon questioned curiously.

"Is Mimi okay?" Palmon said worriedly. "I can't find her anywhere."

"Yeah, Sora and Koushiro are alright, they're outside the forest," Taichi gestured, "Jyou and Mimi are with them."

Tailmon blinked open her eyes. "I fell asleep," she said. She jumped down from the tree, landing in front of a startled Taichi. Her voice was as sharp as her roaming gaze. "Where's Hikari?"

"Takeru!" Patamon called, looking anxiously around, "Where are you?!"

Taichi smiled reassuringly at the worried digimon. "Don't worry! They're all outside the forest." He said. "There're no digimon outside there so they're safe."

"Oh." Piyomon said. She smiled in relief. "Sora should be fine then!"

"Eh? Where are Agumon and Gabumon?" Tentomon asked suddenly as he scanned the area, "They're not here."

"Everyone's outside there." Taichi said, as he searched the forest for Yamato. "They should be coming back soon."

Tailmon frowned. "I must be by Hikari's side." She said, and dashed off to find her partner.

"I should make sure Takeru's alright!" Patamon flew after Tailmon, "Wait for me, Tailmon!"

Taichi blinked. He smiled, feeling glad that his little sister had such a reliable partner. He turned his gaze back to the rest of the digimon. "You guys have to stay, or they wouldn't know where to return to." He told them logically. The brunette turned his head. "I'm going to find Yamato."

Gomamon cocked his head. "Why are you searching for Yamato?" He asked.

Taichi blinked. He turned away, flushing slightly, "I have…to tell him something important."

"You better hurry," Piyomon cautioned. "There may be bad digimon in this forest!"

"Yeah!" Tentomon agreed, nodding, "Yamato-kun doesn't have Gabumon with him!"

Taichi grimaced. He ran off in search of the missing blond, "Right!" He waved to the digimon as he ran deeper into the forest, before keeping his worried gaze forward.

"Yamato, where are you?"

"Yamato!" Taichi inhaled, raising the volume of his yell, "YAMATO!"

The brunette's heart sank when there was neither sight nor sound of the blond. He cursed himself inwardly. What if Yamato was in danger? What if he had met with an evil digimon? He didn't have Gabumon to protect him!

"Yamato…" Taichi murmured. He bit his lip, and went deeper into the forest. "I'm such an idiot! If Yamato gets hurt it'll be my fault-"

His anxious thoughts were interrupted by a soft sound. Taichi blinked. He paused to listen more closely. The sound was familiar- a smooth, soothing melody-

"Yamato!" Taichi smiled in relief when he realized the sound came from Yamato's harmonica. Renergized, he followed the sound of the harmonica, and soon found the blond he was searching for sitting cross-legged on the floor of the forest, his harmonica to his lips.

The brunette grinned, springing forward, "Yamato!"

Yamato looked up, startled. His blue eyes widened and he jumped up as if he had been bitten, cutting off the melody of the harmonica abruptly. "T-Taichi."

"Yamato! I was looking for you…" Taichi trailed off as Yamato looked at him, turned then ran. "H-Hey! Where are you going?!"

"Wait!" Taichi gritted his teeth as Yamato ran away from him. He moved to chase after the blond, "I said wait, Yamato!"

"Leave me alone!"

"No!" Taichi yelled stubbornly and he increased his pace. "I have something important to tell you!"

He felt frustration rise in him as Yamato only ran faster, "You can't run away from me, Yamato!" Taichi shouted to Yamato, as they moved swiftly through the forest. He dodged some vines blocking his way, "I play soccer! I'm used to running fast!"

"And I'll lose my soccer ball if I don't catch him!" Incensed by the thought, Taichi spurred his legs to move faster. "But more importantly, if I don't tell him today, I won't have the courage to tell him another time!"

"So what? I'm in track!" Yamato yelled back.

Taichi blinked. "You are?" He called over.

"Yeah!"

The brunette grinned. "Well, we should have a race sometime then!" He smirked as he neared Yamato, "But right now, I'm catching up to you!"

"In your dreams!" Yamato countered. He sprinted faster as he glanced back at Taichi, unaware of the obstacle in front of him.

"Yamato!" Taichi's eyes widened as he saw the low, sharp branch Yamato was about to collide into, "Look out!"

When Yamato turned his gaze back the front, the sharp branch was inches away from his forehead. His blue eyes grew wide, and moments before his forehead was about to hit the dangerous branch, he felt a hand wrap itself around his waist as he was crushed against another's body, which collapsed onto him, shielding him.

"Oww…damn…" Taichi muttered as he held a hand to his injured forehead. "I thought forests had no short trees!"

"Taichi!" Yamato said in panic as he looked at the boy on top of him. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, it just scraped me," Taichi grinned reassuringly at the worried blond as he wiped the blood away from his forehead. "You're alright, aren't you, Yamato?"

Yamato stared. "Y-Yeah."

"That's great!" Taichi smiled. Then he remembered what he had chased Yamato for, and felt his nerves start up. "Uh, Yamato…I have something important to tell you."

Yamato found his cheeks warm at the close proximity of their faces. "What…?"

"I…I…" Taichi stuttered. Sora was right- he couldn't even say it to her, there was no way he could say it to Yamato!

The holder of courage felt sorely tempted to brush the matter off, but he remembered the words of knowledge from Koushiro. "Even if Yamato-san doesn't like you back, he'll at least know of your feelings for him. You won't be hiding anything from him anymore."

"Taichi…?"

"Darkness can't exist without light." Hikari, smiling up at him, wisdom that was beyond her young age in her eyes. "No matter how hopeless you think it is, you'll always still have a chance."

"You've got to have hope, Taichi-san!" Takeru standing beside her, giving him a bright and encouraging smile, "Never give up!"

Hope- he had to have it, didn't he? He had to at least have the hope that somehow, for some reason or another, Yamato would return his feelings, or at least not hate him for them.

"Yamato treasures your friendship," Gabumon's honest voice resounded in his mind. "He won't hate you if he doesn't return your feelings."

Gabumon had said Yamato wouldn't hate him. And if there was anyone who knew Yamato better than him, it was Yamato's trusted, loyal partner.

"Taichi…" Yamato looked uncomfortable, "What is it that you want to say?"

"You're the bearer of courage, Taichi!" Agumon, his own digimon partner's image appeared in his mind, a wide, reassuring grin on his face, "Yamato isn't even an enemy! You have no reason to be scared!"

Yamato was waiting for him- to say what he wanted, no, needed to say. Gathering up his courage, Taichi inhaled, looked at Yamato squarely in the eyes, and said with as stable a voice as he could manage. "I like you."

Yamato was staring at him, as if believing he had heard Taichi wrongly. Or perhaps he wasn't being clear enough. Taichi took in a deep breath, releasing it quickly, "Sorry."

Before he lost his courage, Taichi found himself taking Mimi's advice. He placed a hand on Yamato's cheek and leaned down to kiss him gently. He heard Yamato release a soft sound of surprise and shock and resisted the urge to spring away out of fear. He was the holder of Courage, not a coward.

The kiss lasted shorter than Taichi would have liked, but Taichi stayed long enough to be sure Yamato was aware of his feelings for him before he withdrew, staring down at the frozen blond. "That wasn't an accident," he said, as he met Yamato's deep blue eyes. "Not like before."

"Well Taichi-san, you have to be sincere!" Mimi's exasperated voice sounded in his head. "You have to show Yamato-kun you really like him!"

"Trust is important, Taichi." Jyou looking at him with a serious expression, nodding his head. "You're not being honest towards your feelings for Yamato by hiding them."

Nodding inwardly, Taichi smiled, never removing his gaze from Yamato's wide blue eyes, "I like you, Yamato." He repeated clearly. "I really, really like you."

"Like…" Yamato said, hesitance in his blue eyes. "As in…more than a friend?"

It was then that Taichi remembered his childhood friend's words, "And you love Yamato. So…" there was a teasing tone to Sora's voice, but she was looking at Taichi in the way she looked at him during pinches in their digibattles, trusting him and believing in him. "Are you going to stop being a coward now?"

This wasn't about proving Sora wrong- proving to her that he wasn't a coward. It was more than that- he wasn't telling Yamato to prove his point to Sora, so that he could keep his soccer ball, so that Sora would continue playing soccer with him. Taichi swallowed. No, this was about his true, sincere feelings towards Yamato. It was what Sora had been trying to get him to realize.

"Actually…I don't just like you," Taichi said lowly, his hand still on Yamato's cheek. He breathed in deeply, and with the courage everyone had given him with their support, said the words in his passionate heart which he wanted-needed to say.

"Yamato, I love you."