Chapter Nine

Sora was practically walking on air as she headed toward home. For some reason, everything just seemed… nicer. Humanity was kinder, the sun was warmer… yes, Spring was on its way, but Sora knew that wasn't it.

She let herself into the apartment she and her mother shared and found filled with a wonderful smell. Her mother was cooking something. As delicious as the scent was, it didn't stop Sora from realizing how strange that was. Her mother did not cook. Not for no reason anyway.

Which was why Sora wasn't completely surprised when she heard voices coming from the living room. One she recognized as her mother's; the other she didn't recognize at all. It was deep, a man's voice.

Sora's eyebrows furrowed. "Mom?" she called out, a tad bit hesitantly.

The conversation taking place in the other room immediately came to a halt. A moment later her mother came to the kitchen doorway.

"Sora! Welcome home." Her mother's voice was warm but just a little too cheery. Before Sora could respond a man came to stand in the doorway behind her mother, looking a little too used to the position for Sora's liking. He had dark hair and eyes and when Sora's mother smiled up at him Sora began to feel a little uneasy. "This is Yuuji."

Sora cleared her throat. "Mom… I think we should talk."

Her mother didn't seem to get the hint, but Yuuji did, disappearing back into the living room. Her mother's cheeks were flushed and Sora wondered if that was wine she could smell. Her mother did not drink. Mostly because she did not seem capable of holding her tongue when she did.

"Who is that?" She asked pointedly, nodding towards the living room where she was sure Yuuji was hanging onto their every word.

"I told you; that's Yuuji. He's a friend of mine that I've been seeing."

"A friend? You never said anything…" At least, Sora didn't remember anything. Had her mother been disappearing off to dates at night that she hadn't noticed, being so wrapped up in her own problems?

Her mother rolled her eyes and Sora involuntarily tensed. While it was hard to fully assess the just how bad situation was from here, her mother was certainly was not sober.

"Calm down, Sora," she said lightly. "Give me a break. I haven't seen anyone since your no-good father took off."

Sora stared at her, incredulous. "Dad died, Mom."

Her mother waved her hand dismissively. "Same difference." At the look on her face her mother's expression turned a bit sour. "Oh, calm down," she said again. "You hardly have any room to complain. It feels like every time you talk to me you have some new boy twisted around your finger."

Sora stiffened. This had swerved drastically from the usual you-never-talk-to-me-anymore wail. Sora took a step back at Yuuji reappeared, looking appropriately worried.

"I can't believe you just said that to me," she whispered.

Sora turned and ran right back out of her apartment. Her tears had begun to fall long before she was gone, but she doubted her mother would notice. Not with Yuuji there. Sora made it all the way to the park without stopping and headed into the woods, taking one of the paths at random. She didn't pass anyone on this particular trail. She didn't even realize where she was going until her tears finally ran out.

Sora had sat down on the edge of the pond in the middle of the woods. Matt had taken her here when they'd first started dating. Tears welled back up in her eyes. She didn't want to think of Matt. Not after her mother had just implied that she had become a total whore.

Sora didn't move until the sky began to darken. Then she laid back and watched as the first stars began to appear. It was pitch black when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Sora? Sora!"

She sat up immediately. "I'm here!" she called, rising to greet him as Matt walked into view.

"Hey!" he said, rushing over to her. "Are you okay? Your mom called me. She said you ran off. What happened? She sounded awful."

Sora sighed. "It's a story I'd rather forget…"

Matt just looked at her for a moment then said, "That's fine. It's dark though. I'll walk you home, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks."

"No problem." She shivered and Matt gave her his coat. As they walked home, Sora couldn't help but notice how familiar this felt.

…

"Hey, Tai." Sora caught up to him in the hallway. "I waited outside your apartment this morning, but Kari said you'd already left. Hey, what's wrong?"

Tai looked around then leaned down and said quietly, "Do you wanna tell me what's going on between you and Matt?"

For a moment all Sora could do was stare at him. "What? Nothing's going on with me and Matt."

"No? Then why did I get swarmed by a group of girls this morning talking about how they'd caught you two walking out of the woods together late last night? What were you doing with him?"

"I wasn't doing anything with him. I got into a fight with my mother last night and stormed out, okay? Chill out, Tai. It's not like I chose him over you. My mother called him. I didn't even know he was coming until he showed up. We broke up, remember? That means it's over. You have nothing to worry about," she assured him, leaning up to kiss him.

He gently kissed her back. "Okay," he said softly. "I'm sorry for overreacting. I guess it was just too soon, you know?"

They smiled simultaneously and he took her hand, walking her to class.

But as Sora noticed later, that didn't seem to be the end of it. Whenever she saw Tai and Matt pass each other in the hallway they regarded each other with cold looks. She knew she should confront Tai. (Everything's over, remember?) But she said nothing. She just gripped Tai's hand tighter, waiting until Matt was out of sight.

…

But Sora needn't have worried. She didn't want to see the confrontation and when it happened, she wasn't there to witness it. Tai made sure of it.

School had just ended. One surprise came to the pair of them. As much as Tai had wanted to say something to Matt he wouldn't… for Sora's sake. She'd always hated to see them fight. And he'd expected Matt to think the same. So he wasn't expecting it when Matt cornered him as soon as the final bell rang.

"Matt."

"Tai." Tai's voice had been surprised; Matt's was just cold.

"What-"

"We need to talk."

After a moment, Tai nodded. He didn't say a word but followed Matt through the school until it was nearly empty. They stopped in the empty cafeteria. Matt turned on the spot so he was looking Tai in the eyes.

"Is there a problem?" he asked in a low voice.

"Excuse me?" Tai asked, mimicking his tone.

"Well, I'm assuming there's a reason you've been glaring at me all day."

Tai almost smiled. "Don't give me that crap. You're in no position to play dumb."

"And after all I've done for you recently, you're hardly in any position to be such an ass," Matt shot back, his anger rising. But not as fast as Tai's.

"You think you're such a fucking martyr, don't you? Well here's a news flash, you jackass. Nothing you did counts if you're going to go back and try to undo all your work after!"

Matt glared. He wanted so badly to hit Tai. But he managed to refrain himself. "Just remember this, Tai. I may have been leading her on for you… but that doesn't mean I didn't really love her. And she didn't know the plan when she agreed to date me." Matt turned on his heel and left Tai before he did something he would regret.

…

Sora was laying on a bench outside the school, her eyes closed, soaking up the sunlight. She had a tennis match today, but not for another hour or so. Until then she was just hanging out at the school. She opened her eyes when she heard footsteps. She smiled when she saw it was Tai. He reached her and bent down as she reached up ever so slightly and kissed him. Then she moved over so he could sit down as well.

"What's up?" she asked because, as happy as he looked to see her, something appeared to be troubling him as well.

He just smiled down at her, the moment looking only a little bittersweet. "Do you remember when we were kids and we'd walk down to all our soccer games together because our moms wouldn't let us walk there alone?"

Sora smiled and nodded. "But we were always okay just as long as we were together… Remember when we caught that stray cat and tried to hide it under your bed because your mom wouldn't let you keep it."

Tai laughed. "Oh yeah… and when she found it, she let Kari and me get one to keep. We were in so much trouble… Remember when we all went out to eat, and I dared you to go into the boys' bathroom and you got caught?"

Sora rolled her eyes. "How could I ever forget? My mom freaked and bought me about a dozen dresses afterward. She even made me wear some of them."

"How awful," Tai teased.

"Well, it wasn't awful for you!"

"It wasn't," he agreed. He smirked playfully. "I knew you'd never tell on me. You were such a chicken back then."

"You jerk!" she laughed. "I didn't tell out of the goodness of my heart." There was a pause, and then she continued their little game of 'member when'. "Do you remember when we went running on those forest paths? And we decided to make our own path and I twisted my ankle."

"How could I ever forget?" Tai mimed. "I had to carry you up that huge hill."

A thought struck Sora. All this time she'd thought their adventure had begun in the Digital World. She couldn't believe it had taken her this long to realize that they had started long before that. "I was so afraid you were going to drop me," she replied, laughing.

Tai gave her a serious look. "You were depending on me. I'll never drop you," he told her. "I promise."

Review please!

I don't own Digimon!

And you can all thank dault3883 for PMing me and giving me the little push I needed to get going and finally finish this chapter. I actually planned to have it up earlier, but I didn't factor in all the family gatherings for Easter…