Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon!
A/N: Hope you like this chapter. I'll do better in the next one. Tell me what you think and thanks for all the reviews everybody!
Problems, Troubles and More Thinking!
Taichi and the others were shocked and most of them couldn't move. Tai gritted his teeth a bit and thought "This is bad, not only did she ruin the whole plan but now we have to reveal ourselves in front of her."
Cassandra suddenly appearing was no advantage to any of them. None of them thought that something like this would happen, so at the same time they couldn't do anything to counter it. Koushiro and Ken were both shocked as well as the others. When they were planning for this in the village, neither of them thought of a plan B if ever the first one backfired.
They didn't have any more time to just keep in hiding. Tai could already tell that something bad was about to happen so he spoke up "Guys, come on lets get out of here."
"Are you crazy? If she sees us then we're done for!" countered Davis
"Look Davis, Tai has a good point. Yamato and Sora got caught remember? We don't know how much she heard or saw to the very least. We have to back them up now before things get ugly." Said Ken stating Tai's point. None of them could tell how much Cassandra heard or saw. They were all too focused on the scene before them that none of them even noticed that she was approaching.
"Takeru, you stay here alright?" said Koushiro looking at the blond boy
"Huh? Why is that? I can come with you. That way she can't do anything to…" as Takeru was speaking he was cut off
"No, you have to stay. If she finds out that you were in this too then things could get messier. Besides Takeru this is still mainly our problem. You've already heard that she hates us, we wouldn't want to get you into bigger trouble." Explained Koushiro
Ken thought for a moment then he too spoke "Jou, you should stay here as well. Stay hidden along with Takeru."
"What? Wait Ken I have nothing to…" Jou was protesting when Ken cut him off
"Jou, may I remind you that you have a job here? You can't loose that job just because you tried to back us up. Wasn't being a doctor your dream? We don't want you to have to give that up just because of this." Said Ken with a smile. Jou worked so hard to accomplish and get where he was now. Loosing all that just because of this would be a real waste. Jou couldn't deny that he didn't want to give up his current occupation, but he also wanted to help his friends somehow.
"Ken's right Jou, just stay here. We'll be fine." Said Tai in agreement. Soon Jou had no other choice but to nod in defeat.
They all nodded on Tai's proposal to show themselves and help Yamato and Sora out. They couldn't do anything more. Takeru would stay behind, along with Jou, in their current hiding place as to not get caught. Their plan had backfired and now they had to be prepared for what had to happen next…
Yamato was in shock to see Cassandra right before his very eyes. Just as he was about to tell Sora how he felt for her, Cassandra had to come running in. He never expected this and he sure wasn't prepared now…
"Yamato, I've been looking for you everywhere." Said Cassandra sweetly then she looked over at Sora who was shocked for the moment "Hello there, I remember you. You and I met a few months ago did we not?"
"Y-yes princess." Replied Sora, she had a bad feeling in being around Cassandra and she didn't like it.
"Y-you two have met?" asked Yamato shocked.
Sora wasn't surprised to hear him say that. When she first found out about Yamato's engagement with Cassandra, she didn't bother to tell him that they've met. So far, only Takeru knew the details of what happened.
"Yes in fact we have…I should ask you the same question. You never told me that you knew someone from the village. I was also surprised with Takeru's actions in the royal ballroom earlier. I don't think that displaying such affections for such a girl is quite appropriate for a prince like himself." Said Cassandra
Sora turned furious with what she'd heard. Was this princess telling them that Kari wasn't good enough for T.K? Sora soon spoke "Princess, with all due respect…I don't think that his highness's feelings are bound just to love those of his own kind. It is his heart that is to decide that."
"Oh? Well…I won't dwell on this matter any more. You have your on thoughts of this and so do I." said Cassandra then she turned to Yamato once again "Her majesty is looking for you Yamato, you shouldn't have wandered off like that. May I ask what you were doing here with this lady?"
"I- I was simply showing her around Cassandra." Replied Yamato "And on your earlier topic, I do hope that you respect Takeru's decision as much as I do. I have no problem with his past actions." Yamato didn't like what Cassandra had said either. In his point of view Kari is enough to make Takeru happy and as long as his brother s happy then he is as well.
"I see…I'm sorry for what I said then. I truly apologize. Now please do go to your mother, she's quite worried about you and wants to see you. I'll follow suit." Said Cassandra, she was furious on the inside. Yamato was taking Sora's side instead of hers and she couldn't have that.
"Alright…" said Yamato, he didn't want to leave Sora especially after what had happened but if his mother was calling for him then he had no choice. Yamato turned to Sora and spoke "I must leave, I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly but I have to. Thank you for your time."
"No it's all right. Thank you your highness." Said Sora
Yamato felt hurt, he didn't like Sora to treat him like a prince. He didn't quite understand why her attitude suddenly changed. Not knowing the incident months ago, her actions were confusing him. He knew he'd speak to her about it soon enough but now he had to leave. He bowed and soon he was gone.
Sora was silent for a moment as she followed Yamato's figure leave the garden. As she noticed that Cassandra was doing the same, she suddenly felt uneasy being alone with her. As she was lost in her own world for a while Tai and the others suddenly arrived from where they were hiding.
Tai tapped Sora's shoulder from behind and spoke in a low voice "Sor are you alright?"
Sora looked behind her and was relieved when she saw Tai and the rest of her friends "Tai, I'm so happy that it's just you guys. Yes I'm fine." Replied Sora
"Thank goodness you're alright. I'm glad that we made it here on time…" said Mimi with a smile
"W-what are you talking about?" asked Sora still in a soft voice
"We'll tell you later, right now I suggest that we take our leave." Said Ken
"A-alright whatever you say…" Sora replied with no other protests, but before any of them could either speak or even take another step they saw Cassandra turn around and face them.
Cassandra walked towards them, and went near Sora. She didn't speak and simply looked at her. Sora could tell that this was the real princess, the same one that they met. There was a glint of anger in her eyes and all of them could see that. Sora stood silent for a while, then out of the blue….Cassandra raised her hand and…
SLAP!
Sora's eyes grew wide and so did the others', she touched her cheek where she was hit and the pain that she was feeling really began to hurt. Sora avoided Cassandra's gaze and as she was once again about to suffer another hit…
"Stop." Said Tai's voice, he stopped the hand that was about to hit Sora once more, he gripped on it to make sure that it would not hit it's target "Enough of this."
That was it, Tai was officially angry. Those simple words were enough to tell that he was mad and the others could clearly see it. As his closest friends they'd rarely see Tai in such a bad mood, but whenever they did they knew that it wouldn't be good. Sora was one of Tai's best friends ever since they were little and the one thing that made him angry the most was either Kari or Sora getting hurt. And this was one of those times…
"H-how dare you…" spoke Cassandra still in Tai's grip. She pulled her hand away from his grip out of her anger and rage.
"Enough of this princess, please just let us leave." Said Tai retaining his cold voice
"…" Cassandra was silent for a while then she spoke "Do you think that I'm blind? I might not have heard your conversation, but I could have seen enough!" said Cassandra looking at Sora with rage.
Sora remained silent as she avoided the princess' gaze, this was one of the times that she didn't want to get into an argument especially when Tai's at this state. Kari, being worried for her brother went to him and help his hand.
"Don't you ever get near Yamato ever again!" said Cassandra then she turned to Kari "And you! I will not tolerate your actions towards Takeru earlier! Who do you possibly think you are? Do you honestly think that someone like you would be allowed to posses such feelings for him? Have you forgotten that he's a prince?!?"
Kari was suddenly hurt and felt pain within her. She was now confused, was loving Takeru such a crime? She was afraid that Cassandra would end up doing something that would separate them both. She didn't want that, she would never want that…
Meanwhile, Takeru and Jou listened to the whole conversation. Takeru's fists were clenched in anger. As much as he didn't want to be angry at Cassandra that much he couldn't tolerate what she said about Kari. Not to mention the part when they saw her ht Sora as well…
Jou saw Takeru's anger and spoke "Are you alright? Don't mind her Takeru, I guess this goes to show that Tai was right. She really does hate them…"
"She has no right…she didn't have to speak about her like that. Kari…is it wrong Jou? Is what I'm feeling for her…wrong?" asked Takeru
"No, of course not. She just doesn't find it fitting I guess." Said Jou, although he himself didn't like what Cassandra had just said about Kari either. Just because she's not a princess that doesn't mean that she can just talk about her that way.
This time Tai's anger grew twice as much. This same princess didn't just hurt his best friend but was now saying that his sister wasn't fit for Takeru. Tai soon spoke "Don't ever talk about Kari that way. There was nothing wrong about what she did. There isn't anything wrong with telling someone how you feel for them."
Tai wasn't the only one getting pissed off, Davis was as well, and so were the others. "Listen, can we just get out of here?" said Davis "The only reason that you're so angry is because you can't admit that Yamato doesn't even like y----….." before he could finish, Ken put a hand over his mouth and whispered "Cut it out Davis, don't put your anger at it's worst now!"
Cassandra kept silent for a while then she looked back at them "Leave…now! You will never set foot into these walls again, I'll make sure of it. I don't know how you met Takeru and Yamato, but I will put a stop to this at once! I will not allow them to get near you all, not after this encounter. Now leave!" as Cassandra said this, she took a few steps and was about to leave when she spoke again "I'm not done with you. I will not let you stop this wedding. I will do anything I can if you try to get in my way…" then she was gone.
Tai and the others remained silent, and no one spoke. They were all surprised at what had happened. Takeru and Jou made sure that Cassandra was out of sight before they came out of hiding. They both went to the others and Jou could clearly see that Tai was still pretty much in a bad mood.
"Hey Tai…are you alright?" asked Jou with worry
"Y-yeah I'm fine Jou thanks…" said Tai then he looked at Sora and asked "Does it hurt?"
"W-what?" asked Sora in shock
"Does your cheek still hurt?" he asked again
"Oh…it's fine Tai, really it is." Said Sora, she didn't want to add any more burdens on Tai right now.
As this was going on Ken spoke "Tai I suggest that we take our leave…"
"He's right Tai, I wouldn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Yama and the rest of the royal family, but I think it would be best if we just left now." Said Mimi in agreement, none of them had guessed that something like this would happen. They didn't want to cause trouble and a commotion more or less so they thought that it'd be best to leave.
"Right…let's get going then." Said Tai in agreement
The others simply nodded in reply, even Sora couldn't speak anymore. Her thoughts, were currently occupied right now. Takeru approached Kari as he saw that she was shaking a little, and he held her hand. By this time she had already let go of Tai's hand. "Kari…are you alright?"
"Hmm??? Oh yes I-I'm fine…" replied Kari, she was avoiding his gaze for a reason…what Cassandra said floated through her thoughts "I will not allow them to get near you all, not after this encounter. Now leave!"
Takeru saw through this and used his free hand and touched her cheek which made her look at him straight n the eyes "Listen Kari, I won't let her do such things. I'll find a way through this alright?" He spoke with a loving smile on his face.
"You…you have to promise us…promise me…." Started Kari as the thought still loomed in her head
"Hmm?" asked Takeru softly
"Promise me that you'll come back to the village." Said Kari with pleading eyes, she didn't want separation to happen now. Just after they've already cleared things with one another.
"I will. I promise you that Kari. I'll bring my brother with me too, we'll be there. Wait for me." Said Takeru as he leaned forward and placed a soft and quick kiss on her lips.
"…" Kari remained silent and so did all the others. Soon she couldn't stop the tear that fell down her eye. She gave Takeru one last hug before they would leave, for she didn't know when she'd see him again after that night.
"Let's go Kari…" called Tai softly.
As they were about to leave Tai spoke again "Hey T.K…Tell your brother that we left already alright…thanks. We hope to see you again, don't forget your promise to my sister."
"I won't Tai, you guys be careful too. And Tai… be alert. I think that she's planning something. I don't like it." Warned Takeru
"Yeah…we will be thanks." Replied Tai as he faced the younger blond mustering up a smile.
Takeru kept silent as he watched his friends leave the palace in a distance. He wanted to go with them but he didn't want to risk being seen. What he saw today greatly changed his points of view of Cassandra. He'd never expect her to say or do any of the things he just saw…one thing was for certain. His brother had to find out about this.
Later that night, Cassandra started to hatch her plan. She wanted to get rid of them, badly. She wrote a letter to one of the henchman of their kingdom. In the letter was her plan to get rid of Tai and the others and to make sure that they could never again interfere with her plans. Her main goal was to prove that they were guilty of a crime…a crime that would surely put their group as the main suspects… (A/N: Don't worry, this might have a bad effect at first but it'll have a good one in the end. My friend was the one who gave me the idea of Cassandra's evil plan. I actually couldn't think of anything else and her idea was the only thing I had left and it wasn't half bad so that's what I'm going to use.)
The following morning, the whole gang woke up in a not so good mood. None of them could shake off what had happened last night. They all proceeded to work as usual and most of them weren't as happy as they usually were. Tai woke up trying to forget last nights events. How could their well thought out plan turn out to cause a disastrous nightmare? He went down and saw Ken there as usual, he greeted him and proceeded like they always do.
"Hey Tai are you feeling better?" asked Ken remembering that Tai was pretty angry until they got home
"Yeah. But I can't shake off this bad feeling that I have. Not to mention that Kari's been pretty worried about me, and she's been doing a whole lot of thinking about T.K too." Explained Tai with a sigh
"Well you can't blame her can you? I mean you are her brother, and on T.K's account…I guess she didn't expect it to turn out like that especially since she's already told him how she felt." Said Ken
"None of us ever expected something like that. I have a feeling that she meant it when she said that she wasn't done with us just yet." Said Tai warningly
"How low do you think she's panning to go just to get rid of us?" asked Ken
"Pretty low, she's going to do anything to stop us from getting in her way. And to think that we ere just seconds away from accomplishing that goal last night." Said Tai "Besides I won't take what she did lightly. Not only did she hurt Sor, but she said some pretty bad stuff about Kari."
"*sigh* that she did Tai. I wonder…I wonder how Sor is taking all of this right now. I hope that she's alright. This must have caused her a lot of pain…" said Ken as he was worried about his friend and he knew that Tai was too.
Jamie was walking briskly through the town, avoiding the crowds. She quickly made her way to Sora's flower shop. She wanted to know what had happened to her friends the night before, unknown to her it wasn't anything that good and she was just about to find out. She entered the shop and saw Sora along with Mimi. It looked to her that they were having a conversation, but from the looks of their faces she figured that last night didn't go too well…
"Hey guys…are you two alright?" asked Jamie worriedly
"Huh? Oh hay there Jamie. Um…yeah sort of I guess." Replied Mimi as she gestured her friend to take a seat
"So…I take it something went wrong?" said Jamie looking from Mimi to Sora.
Sora looked as though she was really sad and lonely. Unlike the one Jamie usually saw everyday, she didn't have a bright smile on her face. "Hello, how are you today Jamie?" asked Sora
"Oh…um fine, so Mimi…what exactly happened? That is if you don't mind me asking…" said Jamie
"No of course not…well…you're right things didn't go too well last night. In fact it was more like a nightmare." Said Mimi
"That bad? What happened?" asked Jamie
"Well…" Mimi started the tale when she told Jamie that she and the others led Sora and Yamato to the gardens to be alone.
"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Jamie
"It was supposed to be a good thing." Replied Mimi
"Then what happened?" this time Jamie looked at Sora, she figured that since Sora was the one there it would be clearer for her to explain things.
"Well…" began Sora "We were just talking really…Tai seemed to have left us there on purpose anyway so we ended up talking. It started out as a simple conversation then…then he started telling me things…"
"What things?" asked Jamie confused
As Sora thought back to those words that Yamato spoke of her heart started to race again "I wanted you to know how I felt. I do care about you. You are practically the only person in the world who could ever make me feel this way. You might not be a princess, you're much more than that. I don't think anyone else can compare to you not ever her. I want you to know that I want to be there for you…." As Sora thought back to these words she was starting to feel certain that Yamato was surely trying to get somewhere.
As Mimi saw that Sora was deep in thought she spoke "Jamie…I need to talk to you for a sec. alone if it's alright with you and Sora."
Sora simply nodded, her thoughts still occupied. Jamie followed suit after Mimi and they went to Sora's garden.
The two girls sat on the grass in silence for a while when Mimi spoke "I can tell you the details…you see Tai and the rest of us planned the whole setting them up thing along with Yamato's younger brother. We thought everything would go smoothly once we activated the plan, unfortunately we all thought wrong."
Mimi began the tale again, this time she included the fact that they were able to listen to Sora and Yamato's whole conversation. "We were hiding you see. We wanted to make sure that he'd tell her how he felt."
"Was he able to do so?" asked Jamie
"That's just it. He was about to. Sora asked him where he was getting at and well…he closed the distance between them…Jamie main deal is that he likes him a lot. I mean he was just about to kiss her! If only…" said Mimi as she stopped mid-sentence.
"Let me guess, something bad happened just when they were about to kiss? Hmm…they got caught didn't they?" guessed Jamie
"Well yes, and it was Cassandra who caught them!" said Mimi
"No way! Speak of the devil, she really loves to ruin the moment doesn't she? So what happened after that?" asked Jamie eager to hear the rest of the tale
"Well, Cassandra said that Yamato was being called so he left. Sora was pretty stiff and well the rest of us came out of hiding except for Takeru and Jou. They had to stay for special reasons. Anyway…she got mad and took it out on Sora…I think you can guess what happened after that." Explained Mimi
They continued to talk up to the part of the threat and the one about Kari an Takeru's situation as well. As Jamie listened to the tale end she soon spoke to Mimi "*sigh* I don't think this is a good sign Mimi and I mean it. I think that she really is planning something and it wont be good. From the looks of it she really hates you guys right now and she'll do anything to get rid of all of you even by the use of force. I mean…she's got a whole kingdom on her side doesn't she?"
"I know that's why all of us were really out of it last night. I doubt that any of us were able to get some rest…" sighed Mimi "Tai just told us to stay alert. I really do hope we get her out of this kingdom soon, she doesn't seem to care about this kingdom anyway. She just wants to be queen…"
"Just be careful alright, Tai has a good point. I'm worried about Sora and Kari. They're the one's in the roughest spot right now." Said Jamie, she didn't want to think that her friends would get hurt because of all of this.
"I know that, we're all worried about them too you know. Sora's been pretty lonely since last night and Kari has been too, at least that's what I've heard from Tai lately." Said Mimi then she sighed once again "I hope that Takeru and Yamato are having a better day than we are…"
At the palace, Yamato didn't get much of a good night's rest either. In fact, he doubted that he and his brother got any rest at all. Either it's because they were in deep thought just like Tai and the others or the fact that they had to entertain countless guests the night before, the result was the same.
Takeru made his way to hi brothers room and he only ha one thought at the moment "I have to tell him. He has to know what happened last night after he left…"
Takeru knocked an heard the voice say 'come in' so he did as he was told and went inside the room. There he saw his brother sitting on his bed with his hands on his head. Yamato looked up to see that his brother was there in front of him and looked as though he was eager to say something.
"Hello Takeru, did you get a good night's sleep?" asked Yamato although h doubted that the answer would be a yes.
"Um…no…I mean that's not what I'm here for. Big brother we need to talk. It's important, and this time it really is." Said Takeru
"Alright, just calm down a bit Takeru. I'm here alright and I'm going to listen, just breath first then tell me what's going on…" said Yamato as he could tell that his brothers voice sounded as though he was panicking.
"Cassandra…she…last night…and Sora…." Takeru didn't know where to start and right now he knew that he wasn't making any sense
"Look Takeru, slow down…I don't really understand a word that you're saying." Said Yamato looking at his brother
Takeru took a deep breath and spoke as clearly as he could "Cassandra got angry after you left last night and took her anger out on Sora and Kari! She also said that she'd find a way to stop them from seeing us again! Oh…and she hit Sora in the face out of her anger…"
Yamato was shocked and a bit wide eyed at the moment. He then clenched his fists after taking everything in. He wanted to clear all the holes in Takeru's story so he asked him "How do you know all of this? There's no way that she'd do that in front of you and you know it." Said Yamato trying to conceal his current anger
Takeru breathed and spoke knew the source of his brother's anger "Listen big brother, Jou and I hid behind one of the bushes near the garden. Tai said it would be best if we didn't get involved for it could also cost Jou's career. We saw what happened and she got really angry when you left. She said that what she saw was enough to prove that something was happening. Then she took her anger out on Sora and to top it off she even got mad at Kari. Then before she left she said that she'd find a way to separate us from them."
Yamato was silent, the more he thought of things the more he got furious. He was pretty pissed off that Sora got hurt by Cassandra "Takeru…about Sora…was she hurt badly?"
"Well Cassandra slapped her in the face…she was about to do it again out of rage when Tai stopped her. It was actually the first time I saw Tai that angry…" said Takeru as he remembered the cold eyes that Tai had. It was the first time that he's ever seen them, but who could blame Tai? Kari was his little sister and Sora was his best friend.
"And would you mind telling me why she got angry at Kari?" asked Yamato again trying once again to control the feeling he was having
"Well…she said that…Kari could never be with me." Explained Takeru
"Oh? And why is that? Who is she to judge you or Kari for that matter?" asked Yamato his voice rising a bit.
"I- I know that…big brother she's planning some type of plan. A plan that might do something to Tai and the others for that matter." Said Takeru and his face was filled with worry. "I think that she wants to get rid of them…"
Yamato thought for a second and soon he asked "Takeru…what is it that you know and I don't? In what way is Cassandra related to Tai and the others? I need you to tell me…I need to know."
Takeru remained silent, he thought that his brother would have known by now. "So that means that Sora didn't tell you…when you two were talking outside of Tai's place…the others told me a story. One that took place at least two to three months ago…"
Takeru told the tale as detailed as Tai did when he was the one listening. He popped out the realization to his brother that Cassandra's hatred towards the others were big, big enough for her to want to get rid of them.
"They were the only one's who stood for what they believed in, even if it meant looking like a foolish act to be done in front of a princess. They told her off that day and she was out numbered so she couldn't do anything. I for one think that what they did was right." Explained Takeru
"So now that she's found out that they've been helping Sora out…" started Yamato
"That's right, it got her even more furious than before. She wants everything to go as she's planned, and getting rid of those who tend to get in her way is her main priority. She might be even get us banned from leaving the palace if we don't act now." Said Takeru
"Jou…she doesn't know about Jou being related to Tai in the others right?" asked Yamato. In his own opinion if Jou could still enter the palace them maybe he could act as their one way solution to get to the others.
"If she does banned us…I really have a bad feeling about all of this right now." Said Takeru with a sigh. After what had happened last night the last thing that he wanted was for his friends to get hurt especially if they didn't even do anything wrong. "We have to help them out. I would like it if you were married to Sora instead of her."
Yamato's face was suddenly red "H-hey now…you can't just make assumptions like that Takeru…"
"Oh come on big brother. We all know that you have feeling for each other. You were about to kiss her weren't you?" asked Takeru with a grin on his face
"Well I…Hey wait a minute! How would you know something like that?!? Takeru…you weren't spying with the others weren't you?" said Yamato looking at his brother waiting for an answer
"Well…." Takeru couldn't answer immediately but he gave off an answer anyway "even if we were it doesn't change what was supposed to happen."
"*sigh* You guys set us up then you spy on us? I cant believe you guys would do that…" said Yamato
"Hey we went through a lot of trouble to get you two alone. That's why I told you to make me that promise, remember? I was helping you tell her how you feel…" said Takeru with a smile "I mean even you deserve to be happy right?"
"I know that Takeru…I'm sorry though. All your efforts were wasted on me. I wasn't able to tell her how I felt." Said Yamato. Feeling a bit sad, knowing that his friends and his brother worked hard to help him out.
"It's all right. You were about to tell her or show her at least. You were just interrupted. None of us anticipated something like that. Let's just hope that we can clear things up with everyone." Said Takeru
As they all hoped for the best, mainly hoping that things would find a way to fix itself in time. They were all deep in their thoughts, especially Tai, Yamato, Sora, Takeru and Kari who were the one's most concerned of this issue. What all of them didn't know was that Cassandra's plan might have a bigger impact than any of the4m could have ever imagined.
A/N: Don't get me wrong you guys. This story will have a good ending, but they'll have to face a lot of things before they get there. Please tell me what you think so far. Thank you to all the reviews it really does motivate me to keep going. I'v noticed that almost all of my reviews now have stuff written about how much they hate Cassandra…not that I mind hehe Thanks again.
