Chapter Eight

Tai cheered as Sora stepped forward to shake hands with her opponent. He'd never really watched a tennis match before, but it was clear to all how good Sora was. She returned the ball every time, showing off a kind of grace that Tai only ever remembered her having on the soccer field.

She hurried over to him after the match ended, cheeks flushed. "You came!" It came out as more of a squeal than she'd intended.

"'Course I did," he replied, beaming at her. "I told you I would, didn't I?"

His words challenged her to say otherwise, but in a playful way. They hadn't had such a relaxed conversation in ages.

"I wasn't sure actually…" she said demurely as they began to walk home. "I know how much you hate tennis."

"I don't hate it," he mumbled. While he wasn't about to say it aloud, he'd begun, in the last weeks, to associate tennis with a different Sora. Matt's Sora. Tai cleared his throat. "You're really good," he continued, not realizing until after he'd said it how badly he was failing to change the subject.

But if Sora noticed his awkwardness she didn't let on. Instead she just blushed. "Thanks. I've been practicing a lot," she said, as if she hadn't been showing off for him out there today.

They began walking towards home. The silence was just about to get awkward when Sora said, "Actually, I've been thinking that I really want to try out for soccer in the fall."

Tai's head snapped around to look at her. He was beaming. "That's awesome! We can do our conditioning together over the summer. After all this, it will be a nice change."

As he gestured to her tennis uniform Sora wasn't sure whether or not she should be offended. If there was one thing that set Tai and Matt apart it was that Matt had more of a knack for sensing the mood before he spoke. A second later Sora shook the mutinous thought from her head. He was just being Tai. The Tai that she'd fallen in love with and had been missing. Tai was honest. Tai never would've done what Matt had done to her and it wasn't because he didn't have the brains for such an operation.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she responded in mock anger. "Tai Kamiya, if you think I can't still kick your ass on the soccer field just because I'm wearing a skirt, you're in for a rude awakening."

"Yeah?" If nothing else, Tai's competitive nature had been awakened. "We'll have to see about that."

Both were surprised to look up and see that they had already reached Tai's front door. "Uh… come in," he invited awkwardly, wondering for the first time whether it was unnecessary to do so.

Tai immediately headed for his room; they'd planned just to hang out that afternoon, nothing special. But Sora hesitated. She'd been in Tai's room hundreds of times and vice versa, but things were different now. Different in a good way, she reminded herself firmly, but these new feelings of awkwardness would take a while to get used to.

She leaned back casually against the wall, waiting for his return. And after a moment or so he did realize that she had not followed him. He stepped back out and was about to ask her what was wrong… but stopped himself. He took in the sight of her standing back against the wall, watching him, and was struck by how beautiful she was. He'd thought he'd come to this same realization years ago as they were led through the Digital World, but suddenly it was like he was seeing her through a fresh pair of eyes.

Silently, with a strange hesitance that contradicted his normal behavior, Tai moved to her. Closer now, he stared down into her eyes for a moment and she stared back, not daring to break the moment. Slowly, he brought his lips down to meet hers.

Their kiss was deep, and before he knew was he was doing, he'd pushed her lightly back against the wall. She didn't put her hands to his chest, either to explore or push him away, but her fingertips did graze over the muscles in his back. There was no use in pretending anymore that she didn't want this just as much as he did.

Sora noticed something different between Tai and Matt almost immediately. While he may have had his reasons, Matt was not willing to get adventurous. Tai had no such qualms. After a few minutes of them just making out, Tai's hand began to travel up her thigh… It reached the edge of her skirt (which she'd just really begun to appreciate about now) and continued to climb-

The two jumped apart when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Faces red, eyes still glazed from the heat of the moment, both were still able to feel the slightest bit of relief that they'd been caught only by Kari. For Sora this was quickly replaced by the embarrassment that accompanied being caught in the act at all.

"Other people do live in this house, you know," she reminded them, managing to sound a little annoyed, a little repulsed, and a little amused all at the same time.

"Yeah… I guess I'll, uh… see you tomorrow," Sora said awkwardly to Tai, her cheeks still flushed. She gave him a modest peck on the cheek then hurried out the door.

Tai watched her go. He stared at the empty doorway long after she was gone and didn't make any sign of acknowledgement when Kari disappeared into her room. His head was filled with a pleasant, dazed buzzing. He wasn't completely sure what had just happened, but he did know that, after that, he couldn't wait to see what tomorrow brought.

Review please!

I'm sure this is the last thing on everyone's mind, but I'm apologizing now in case I royally messed up the tennis scene. I'm a fencer and a soccer player, but I don't know much about tennis…

Also, I'm sorry this is so short, but I wanted to get it out, and I have big things planned for the next chapter. (:

I don't own Digimon!