Thank you for all the positive feedback on this! Chapters are longer and will have more Taiora in it. Please review (I don't want it for popularity, I want it for more improvement.) NOTE: The previous chapters took place in the summer and from here on out, it will take place in the winter of the same year. Okay, now on with the story. No criticism intended for people who are not Catholic or Christian or any other religion that doesn't celebrate Christmas. One complaint was on my transitions from setting to settings or activity to activity. I'll work on that.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon!

Ice Skating

"Sora, you're gonna be late!"

"Mom, I know. I've just finished packing!" Ugh... my mom does not like being late or on time. We always have to be early. I had to remember all my Christmas gifts. I plan to cook something special for the Digimon at the mansion, a portable terabyte hard drive for Izzy, a first aid kit for Joe, a professional hair curler for Mimi, professional guitar picks for Matt, a Nerf gun for TK, an expensive hair clip for Kari, and a signed soccer ball by Christiano Ronaldo for Tai. Oh shoot, I thought. How much did I spend for Tai? The Christiano Ronaldo ball was extremely expensive. I tucked the rest of my clothes in. I tucked in some warm clothes, a few sweatshirts, a bunch of wool clothing, a bikini... Wait, why did I need a bikini again? Oh wait, that's right. There's a hot-spring a little bit into the woods on the right side of the mansion. I stared at my navy blue bikini and finally tucked it in with rest of my clothes.

"Little miss Takenouchi, you better come down here now," came the voice of my frustrated Mom.

"Alright!" I replied. "C'mon Biyomon. It's time to go." Biyomon led the way. I turned around and looked at my room with my hand on the doorknob and I slowly closed it.

I leaned on my right side against the window and stared outside the window with a sad look in my eyes. My mom seeing this, squeezed harder around the wheel of her car.

Just three more blocks. "Sora, I know it's been hard."

Please just two more blocks. "You know that everyone has hardships."

Just get me out of here now. It's only one block. "Please don't blame it on yourself.

Great... a streetlight. "It's not your fault."

Yes it is. I can see the Kamiya's. "We care about you." I grabbed my bags and opened the door to leading outside. "Sora... I love you." I paused briefly. Love is such a meaningful word. Too many people joke about it. Without saying anything, I left with Biyomon by my side.

"Hey Tai," I said. It felt great being with Tai and the week that's up ahead.

"Hey Sora," Tai smiled. "Come in oh and let me take that." Tai took my bags and led me to the living room with Matt, TK, Kari, Joe, Mimi, and Izzy.

"Took you long enough," complained Joe. "What if the bus left without you?" Matt and TK were too immersed in baseball to even say hello. Izzy was the same motionless robot except he was handling his laptop. All the Digimon were welcoming however. I plopped myself down next to Kari and started thinking about recent events with the family. I stared outside the window to find the nice, cool view of the ocean. I could see my mom's phone call. I could see everything. I could see...

"Sora?" I landed myself back into reality. "Sora are you okay?" I turned 45 degrees to the right to find myself facing a puzzled Tai.

"Sorry Tai, I just dozed off, there's nothing to worry about."

Still not satisfied, he told me, "C'mon, the bus is here." I nodded and got up. "Oh, Sora," he whispered. "You're telling my everything. I stood in one place as everyone else left the room.

Is Tai really the right person to tell? He's been close to me, but should I tell him? What if..."

"Sora, we're not leaving you behind."

"I'll be right there Biyomon." Frowning, I left the empty room and said a thank you to Mrs. Kamiya.

There were more than enough seats on the bus. Izzy say with Tentamon, I sat with Mimi, Tai sat alone only to spread his legs and sleep, Joe sat with Gomamon, Matt and TK sat together (obviously), Patamon and Gatomon sat together, Agumon and Gabumon sat together, and Palmon and Biyomon sat together.

Mimi kept blabbering about her needs for decoration in the mansion. "... we should also have the Christmas tree on the right side of the fireplace, and a mistletoe nearby the kitchen just for you and Tai..."

"Mimi!"

"Oh sorry Sora, I let that one slip. So we should also have..." I let out a sigh. Unfortunately, no one let anyone forget the little cuddling incident that happened about four months ago. Now was the only time I actually thought about it. I leaned back on my seat and closed my eyes. I remembered how comfortable I felt. I remembered how much warmth I felt. I remembered how safe I felt. I remembered everything. I kept my eyes shut for a while.

"Sora... wake up." I woke up groaning to the sound of Mimi's voice. "Sora, we're here." I looked outside the window of the bus and saw the beautiful woods covered in untouched snow... well at least most of it was untouched. Matt and TK were already outside throwing snowballs at each other. A snowball hit the side of the bus and stuttered Tai awake.

"Tai, where's the key?" asked Joe.

"Oh here it is." Tai took out the keys and put the keys in the keyhole. He put his hands on the gold doorknob and turned it. We were all stunned at the size of the place.

"Oh no... we can get lost in this place," complained Joe. I definitely agree with Joe and he was in no way exaggerating.

"I'm gonna look for what my uncle said there was. The hot spring is on the way to the lake where we can ice skate. Does anyone want to join me?" asked Tai.

"I'm hungry," TK said.

"Yeah so is pretty much everyone else, Tai," said Matt.

"Agreed," said the rest of the group.

I was about to say that I was hungry also but it would have been mean to leave Tai alone. "I'll come Tai. I can eat later." Crap, I have no idea how to skate. "Uh yeah, Tai let's go." I threw on a scarf before I shut the door of the mansion behind me.

"Tai, you know this may seem obvious, but it seems kind of silly, but we kind of need the actual skates," I said.

"There's a little cupboard by the lake with a bunch of ice skates. I think we'll be fine." We walked slowly passing by the hot spring (that I really wanted to jump into) and through the woods. It didn't take long for us to walk over to the lakes. The lake's ice surface was coated with shine.

"Here Sora." Tai tossed me skates that perfectly fit my feet. I started putting on my skates and was having a very hard time because of the fact that it was my first time skating.

"Hey Sora! Look at this. I'm Michelle Kwan!" Tai leaped into the air and did a random spin and fell right when he landed. I started laughing and falling over. I guess it's my turn to show how much of Michelle Kwan I am. I finally slipped my feet into my skates and tightened them. I stood up in the snow and stepped on the ice. Hey this isn't so bad. I took a few more steps and I fell. I attempted to stand up and fell over once again.

"Here let me help you with that," I turned around seeing Tai looking down at me. He put out his hand and took it. He balanced me on my feet until I was able to stand by myself.

"Wait! Let me guide you through this." He skated around behind me and took his arms and put them on my waist. "Now try skating. This will help with balance." I took a few motions and I gradually started getting the feel.

"Did you feel that?" asked Tai.

"Yeah I felt it too." I looked up and saw dark clouds start to gather. "Let's slip these off and get under the trees quick. I wiped the water off my nose as I slipped off my skates.

"Sora, let's hurry up before we get drenched." I managed to limp with one shoe and one skate on under the tree that Tai was at and put on my shoe there. I stood up and leaned against the left side of the tree.

"So... Sora, what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." I let out a sigh and gave my new sad expression. I tried to recall everything that happened.

It was my mom. She was on the phone with my dad. I was standing outside the door of my mom's room listening to her speaking.

"I know we want to leave each other. We should have done it, but remember there is Sora to keep in mind. We can't leave each other yet."

At those words I gasped and fell over.

There was a pause from my mom. "I have to go." She can't find out that I eavesdropped. "Sora, I'm so sorry." The only sounds I could hear from the other side of the door were sobs.

I looked over at Tai after done explaining. He didn't have a frown or smile, just emotionless and deep in thought.

"Sora, your mother loves you."

"Tai, love is such a powerful word. It's so overused today. You should only say that to the people who you absolutely truly love. What if I wasn't here? My mother and father would be so much more happier. What if..." I was stopped shortly by a lunge by Tai. He wrapped his two muscular arms around me and squeezed. I stood motionless and hugged back as tight as I could, never wanting to let go, the rain falling all around us. The cold feeling that I got from the rain turned into a warmth being closer with Tai. We had to get back or else we'll get sick.

"Tai... I think we should... you know... go back."

"Yeah, we should." I was the first one to loosen the grip and let go.

"Where were you guys?"complained Joe. Tai and I were shivering like crazy. "Let's hope you guys don't catch pneumonia. Agumon lit up the fireplace so you guys better use it. Upstairs to the right, to the second door on the left, and then make the first right, then the go straight and make the 7th left."

I think we're gonna get lost, I thought. "Thanks Joe."

We were alone in the room by ourselves. I leaned onto Tai's shoulder.

"Here's some hot chocolate," said Gabumon.

"Thanks Gabumon," said Tai. Tai took both and looked at them before giving me the cup with more hot chocolate. How sweet, I thought.

"Sora."

"Yes Tai?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Looks like you two are finally warm," said a mad Mimi. "Sora, help me with cooking. I don't want to get my shirt dirty again."

"Since I don't know how to cook, I'm going to go play with TK and Matt," said Tai. As Tai left the room, all I heard was the sound of the shot of a Nerf gun. For the first time in a long time, I was in an enlightened mood. For the first time in a long time, I felt like talking to my mom. For the first time in a long time, I felt comfortable. For the first time in a long time, I was back to my old self.

Well me internet wasn't working so I couldn't post this. It's finally working again so here it is. R&R and I also think my transitions are a little better than usual.