Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Stories of December ❯ One-Shot

LOL, just when you thought it was safe to go back on the net... I'm back....... ^_^

ok disclaimer: I own nothing. This you know. This story was originally a series I was creating. But I hate confinements and having to write a series is a confinement, though I am sure I will be doing that soon enough, there is a subtle beauty of a short story. Ok I sound like a greeting card...

This is kinda stupid, but I have been swamped with mail requesting a new fic... well I hope you enjoy it.... let me know what you think at logan91235@aol.com

"Stories of December"

By Logan

The black jeep flew down the desolate road at a velocity that exceeded the speed limit. The road was silent aside from the whipping cold winds that tore at the snow capped trees. The winter landscape loomed around them with it's soft blanket of icy snow. The trees that stood at the roadside were dusted with a thick layer of snow. They bore no leaves, just the black skeletal branches frosted with snow. The rode was the only sign of mankind's presence on this strip of icy landscape. It was a peaceful rode in its' isolation from the busy cities that lay before it. The snowy white carpeting gave their surroundings a sense of blank and empty tranquility.

Though the road was treacherously slippery, the jeep's chained wheels clung tightly to the sheet of icy asphalt with relative ease. The jeep continued down the road, it glistened a shimmering black in the midday light. Thought the car was adequately equipped to deal with the iced road, it was somewhat lacking in the resistance to the biting cold outside. The cold outside filtered into the cabin with little effort. The figures inside huddled together tightly, each was wrapped in one large quilt Kari had liberated from her apartment. The fabric of the quilt and the mutual body heat of the teenagers was enough to keep them relatively warm.

Kari held tightly to TK who smiled down on her with a warmth that overpowered the biting chill of the air. She rested her head on his chest softly. TK didn't quite know how to handle this, he and Kari had been best friends for a long time.... yet lately she had been acting different around him, like now for instance. Here they were huddling together to stay warm...... nothing wrong there.... but she was pressing herself so tightly to him that no glimmer of daylight passed between the two bodies... he could feel her effect over him. His pulse throbbed inside his veins as her warm breath brushed over his neck. A crimson blush crept across his cheeks as he looked down over the soft brown hair across his chest. Her head lay against his heart, and for a moment he was afraid she would hear how his heart was becoming more frantic with each moment. He remained silent.

He could hear her soft rhythmic breathing as she became slightly more limp against him. Takeru smiled lightly as he realized she had fallen asleep. By some strong force he put her arms around her, she sighed happily as she snuggled deeper tword the source of the warmth.

"What's happening? She's my friend... I don't love her..... do" he thought.

His eyes shifted from Kari to the driver. Tai..... he had been Sora's best friend for twice as long as TK and Kari had known eachother. But his friendship had changed to Sora..... where once they were best friends now they were the basis on how TK weighed what love really is like.

TK had only known what love was like through watching those around him. His parents had divorced when he was young, thus he had never known what it was like when they still loved eachother, yet according to matt life was no picnic before the divorce... his brother was the supposed expert in all that is romantic. Yet... in his whole romantic existence a single girl had not lasted for over a week. Maybe he wasn't ready for a solid relationship, maybe he didn't attract the right type of girls.... but the pattern remained.... over the corse of the week she would either tire of his lack of commitment. Or he would become annoyed by the stiflingness a girlfriend could cause....

now ironically his pride had been shattered. He had gotten into a situation his looks or reputation couldn't pull him out of. He had developed a thing for Mimi, yet upon his first attempt to start dating her he was stunned to find he was unable to compete with his two other rivals. Joe and izzy...... who would have thought they had what it takes to battle the great Yamato Ishida to a standstill. Yet the three romantic rivals seemed to remain in a deadlock for Mimi. She refused to choose one over the others.....

TK sighed heavily as he thought of Matt. They say that being humbled can have a positive effect on the ego.... maybe this rejection would be enough to deflate his growing ego into something more manageable.....

But Tai and Sora were different. They treated eachother with more love and tenderness then ever witnessed by the younger TK. Tai loved her in a way that Matt was yet to learn. It was based on the respect and friendship they had forged in their childhoods. The bond of friendship strengthened into the deepest love TK had ever witnessed. The comradery turned to passion with the same inevitability of a caterpillar to a butterfly. Upon examining the change it was found to be a metamorphisms that no one could have stopped. Tai and Sora were linked to eachother in a way no one could understand.

TK looked to the rearview mirror to find Tai's knowing eyes looking into his crystalline blue ones. TK blushed lightly as he realized that Kari was asleep in his arms. Tai snickered lightly at the look of both embarrassment and fear on TK's face.

"Hey PJ.... Would you mind getting your hands off Kari!" Davis growled from where he lay cramped amidst a mass of disgruntled teenagers who were snarling about the lack of space in the cab of the jeep.

"Would it help if we all started wearing name tags!?! MY NAME IS TK!" the young blond snarled venomously at Davis.

The two growled viciously at eachother from their respective places on either side of the waken Kari. She groggily looked around the car blushing as she glanced at TK's affectionate smile.

"Have a good nap?.... beautiful......" TK gave a knowing smile to Kari who caught on quickly.

"Oh yeah...

I always sleep well wen I am with you.... but... all your cloths were in the way this time..."

she pouted seductively. Casting a quick glance to Davis, who was glowing a volcanic red.

The two tried to hold in the hysterical laughter with little success. Torturing Davis was quickly becoming their favorite car game. Their laughter broke like a dam as they watched Davis's expression of both rage and horror at the mental images that were flowing through his mind.

Tai smirked at the young Takeru through the mirror...

"Ummm.... TK......" he said softly causing TK to pale at the mention of his name.

"Yeah?....."

"Next time you feel like abusing poor Davis.... try to not use some of the more...." he paused

"Colorful comments about my little sister.... ok" he asked in a low threatening voice.

"Ok..." the meek TK replied. With a wicked smile Kari chuckled over TK's fearful expression as she playfully patted his cheek.

"It's ok... Tai likes you.... he would make it quick and painless." she chirped with the same mean sense of humor Tai brandished. TK just sighed and ruffled her hair in response, resulting in another chorus of laughter from the young Kari.

Tai smiled over to the daydreaming Sora beside him. She found herself broken from her thoughts by the feeling of Tai's eyes on her skin. She turned to him and smiled lovingly at him. She was bundled in a quilt Tai's mother had given her for her birthday. Its' warmth radiated into her despite the chill that was in the mounTain air. The gift was one of her most precious possessions. Tai's parents had welcomed her into their lives so readily.... maybe it was that they knew the final destination their friendship would take, or maybe it was just the people they were. The quilt was miss, Kamiya's "labor of love" for the young Sora... her own way of welcoming Sora into the family...

This trip was a special one to Sora.... the destination was Tai's grandparents' winter cabin, one of the nicest in the area. Tai's grandfather had been a very respected lawyer as was Tai's father... the family had graduated to the status of wealthy within the same time frame that Sora had been assimilated into the Kamiya household. Both Sora and her mother had lived a life of relative poverty... the flower shop kept them financially afloat, yet it didn't offer the excess of money to have vacations to a ski cabin like this one. Tai was one of the strongest forces to insure both Sora and her mother were not excluded from some of these activities. He wanted Sora to be as happy as he could make her... he had dedicated his life to that goal, and as far as Sora was concerned... he was doing a great job.

This trip was also the first un-supervised outing Tai and his girlfriend had managed to connive from their parents.. A four day weekend at a cabin like this was a real shock to Tai and Sora. They had argued that they were mature enough to go on this trip.. But they never once expected they would actually get it... the fact that they had to bring the other kids was the only safeguard to this weekend not getting any more cozy then a evening by the fire was not lost to them. Yet the presence of TK, Kari, Davis, Mimi, izzy, Joe, and the others was no hindrance on the weekend's festivities...

Tai glanced to the black van behind them. Matt was obviously having a great time being in the same car as Mimi, izzy, and Joe... Tai snickered at the sarcasm of the thought. His only question would be if there would be two less people making the return trip.

His eyes glanced to the passengers in the back. "Everyone warm enough?" he asked with a tinge of concern in his deep voice.

He mearly got a few chattering words uttered by the frostbitten Cody in response. The young boy groaned angrily at the frosty breath that billowed from his blue lips. Tai was slightly shocked by the effects of the extremely cold weather. He didn't seem effected by the cold as the others were. He could see his own breath flow from his parted lips only to disperse in the light breeze of the overworked heater.

It was strange to Tai.... something in him had changed in the digital world. It scared him at times..... it was as though the boy he once was died in that savage land, and was replaced by a battle wearied warrior... the body can adapt... but not like this... he was different now.... the digital world evoked a power from within... the cold that was assaulting the others was nothing more then a thought in the back of his mind... he could effortlessly take it twenty times colder...soccer was no longer a challenge now.. The digital strength was always present in his body. He regretted the power in some ways.... he couldn't feel right about soccer anymore... it was as though he were cheating. But the abandonment of his sport was the last thing that bothered him.....

The digital had also changed his personality, he was a great leader now... he could think and plan in seconds what once would have taken weeks of thought. He was more caring tword the others... he was a father to them, leading and guiding them, but all the while supporting and protecting them. The question left his mind more numb then the dulled cold... "Is this me, or is it the digital?" and if it was the digital..... would that mean Sora loved this new Tai more then the old one.... that was the root of all his fears.... Sora....

He glanced over to her... the cold was dulled to her as it was to him, though to a lesser extent...

She smiled back sweetly to him. With a gesture of her hand she alerted Tai that it might be time to speed up before the others decided to start a fire in the back seat for heat....

"Hey guys.... might wana buckle-up.... I'm taking a shortcut."

Kari's eyes widened in terror.....she frantically began working on her belt with rapid movements. She cast a warning glance to TK who took the hint and began on his own. Cody and Davis stared bewildered at the two.

"Davis.. You really might wana get buckled in man... Tai's driving can be a little.... extreme...." TK said in a knowing voice.

"Thanks for the warning TJ.... but I think I can handle a little bumpy ride" he said with a cocky grin.

"Suit yourself...." TK smirked......

***********************************

t he jeep skidded to a stop amidst the flurry of snow the spinning wheels kicked up as they came to the screeching halt outside the cabin. The occupants of the jeep were looking flustered as they tried to frantically scramble from the car. Tai smirked as he watched Davis stagger outward only to land on his hands and knees. The young boy was putting all his effort into not losing the contents of his stomach to the blanket of snow beneath him.

TK and Kari looked down on him with a mean grin on their chapped lips. Davis growled lightly at the sound of TK's snickering from above where he lay hunched over.

"We did warn him......"

Sora slipped out the passenger side and breathed in the cold mounTain air deeply. The cold exhilarated her as she softly rubbed her arms trying to generate some warmth. She sighed quietly as she watched the smoky breath rise from her soft pink lips and swirl gracefully in the chilling breeze before vanishing into the air. It was strangely hypnotic.. She repeated the act of drawing a lung-full of frigid air in, then slowly expelling it to see the elaborate dances it preformed in the wind before disappearing into the breeze that carried it.. She smiled lightly. The coldness evoked memories within her. Memories and feelings of contentful ness.

Back in the digital world they had days like this... on some of their travels they were forced to deal with the snow and cold of a digital Christmas. They had lost count of how many years they spent in that world. They were on the verge of losing hope constantly... and this season was the worst of them all. Christmas was always characterized as a time to spend with family... so the fact that they were lost in a violent and alien world was not lost to them.... Sora was forced to be strong for the sake of the others. It was her place to be the rock... Tai was the soul of the team, while she was the heart.. They depended on both of the two of them to be the strong ones.... the ones to continue to inspire faith in the fact that they would make it home and not die in this world.

The strong are the most lonely.... that is what Sora learned on those long nights... when TK would break down and cry it was her place to hold him and re-assure him.... yet she was afforded no such luxury. And when the others slept she would take her turn to cry... yet no arms would swoop her up and whisper that it would be alright.... until one night.

She smiled as her mind drifted back to the night....

***********************************

Sora watched the others as they peacefully slept. The cold stung her skin as she took her turn at guard duty. She hated nights like this.... she was so far from home.... memories of her mother and soccer flashed through her head. Hundreds of simple things she enjoyed were no so far away. The soccer field and the flower garden were nothing more then paintings in her mind now. And as she continued to remember the smell of hot coffee as it brewed in the mornings before her mother left to tend the shop. The dams broke. Hot stinging tears leaked over her cold cheeks, they froze upon her skin as she shook from both the temperature of the wind and the bitterness of her memory. She cried softly as she continued to look down to the fire which struggled against the blowing winds.

Her mind leapt as she suddenly felt a pair of warm arms wrap around her and pull her to a warm chest that she had known so well. The scent was familiar... she recognized the earthy aroma to belong to Tai. The hands began feverishly rubbing against her arms in an attempt to warm them.

She tried to speak but found the words couldn't be summoned from behind the trembling lips as Tai turned her to face him and then pulled her to him. She clung to him tightly to both the surprise of him and herself. The proximity was needed by both of the two... they were drawn to the heat of eachother's body with animalistic need.... Tai took the blanket from beside them and wrapped themselves into it together. Then with the same need for heat Tai's lips met hers in a deep and passionate kiss. He moaned lightly inside her mouth by the pleasure and heat that came from the connection their open lips made. Words were un-needed... they only needed the pleasure and solace the act of love was providing the two of them.

***********************************

that had been the first Christmas of the Digiworld... and the most memorable one Tai or Sora had ever shared.

They had continued their secret late night meetings for the entire time they had spent in the digital world... no one had known about them until they finally confessed their love to the others after the digital wars had ended....

The landscape reminded Sora of that night. It looked so similar.... the trees were nothing more then blackened skeletal faces on the blanket of ice. There was a air of mystery to the day. A simple quietness. The calmness was all around them... Sora smiled as she felt those same arms wrap around her waist and the warm lips of Taichi Kamiya press against her neck as he playfully nipped at her soft skin.

"Hey! Quit it! That tickles!" she giggled as Tai continued playfully kissing his way to her frigid earlobe. The two began to play as children in the snow. Tai laughed wholeheartedly as Sora tackled him against a Mattress of snow. The two rolled around in the snow laughing hysterically as the tickling continued. This was a typical moment in Tai and Sora's life. They could be the most solemn, or the most childish at a moment's notice.

They continued rolling around in the powdery snow until coming to rest with Sora straddling the grinning Tai. They became silent suddenly as they stared into one another's eyes. The panting of their breathing suddenly became softer as Sora lowered her lips onto Tai's own. The moment where she lowered down to taste of his lips was a moment that burned into Tai's mind.... the angelic smile she wore and the soft dusting of snowflakes over her auburn hair made Tai inhale sharply. She was an angel... his angel..... it was moments like these that he questioned life..

Maybe he had died in the digital world and the existence he knew now was simply a more perfect rendering of heaven then any poet had ever dreamed.... Sora was all he needed of paradise, and the idea that she was his in both mind and body was more then he had ever wanted in life. She was to good to be real... and she was his...... The moment was real to him.. And as he felt the heat of her mouth to his own, he was consumed in the fantasy, wether it was real or a perfect illusion it was his. And he treasured his waking dream more then anything.....

"Should we turn the hose on them?

"I don't know.... would it be enough?"

TK and Kari gigged from their vantage point over the blushing and irritated older teens.

Tai looked up to his sister with a hateful scowl.

"You are the poster-child for a contraceptive add you know that Kari?" Tai scowled bitterly as he helped Sora up from the snowy ground.

"Gee Tai.. Guess you can forget that career in hallmark....." Sora smirked as she ruffled his hair lightly.

TK smiled softly as he took the scenery in for the first time. The black asphalt stretched from the road up a steep hill to the large garage at the side of the cabin. TK marveled at the cabin... it was of thick earthy construction. The exterior was of light reddish brown logs darted occasionally with large windows that shimmered in the noon light. It was huge.... two stories with diameter concealed by the wall of snow capped pines. The house stood apart from the forest that surrounded it only by the irregular shape of the terrace and the large smooth stone chimney that loomed over the roof of pure white snow. The gardens lay barren now, yet in their season there would have been a lush crop of wildflowers and other various sweet smelling and ornate flowers. Sora had always loved the cabin during the spring...

The hill was slightly steeper then Tai had remembered it from when he was younger, yet the same old stone steps lead the winding path from the road to the main house. The steps were a soft grey, which seemed black now against the contrast of the whiteness of the snow. They were carved into the hill which seemed ready to swallow the small and minor encroachment of man into itself... the humble cabin as it had always been called was more of a castle to the eyes of the younger children.... while to Tai and Sora it was the same palace they had played in together during their first summers together as children.

As Sora looked over the field she remembered wild flowers, and the sight of Tai barreling down the hill at breakneck speeds before tripping and coming to a very graceless halt at the feet of the young Sora. She could still remember to this day the bashful smile he would grin at her as he sheepishly dusted himself off only to repeat the act in another five minutes. As children they had eaten strawberries here till their soft tummies nearly exploded. This place was the same palace to them.. Each wall was a memory of carefree days or bore the mark of a recorded height upon itself. Yet along with these carefree memories there were sad ones to mirror the others to opposite directions....

Tai remembered the day his grandma had died... he remembered it as a child... the helplessness of it... the loneliness... the all to real knowledge that he would never play with her by the lake again. That she would never again tuck him into his little room they had put in for him and Sora when the two children visited. She was gone... and he would miss her. His grandpa had died long before he was able to remember. He knew his face only by the faded black and white picture of him she had kept locked away in a gold locket... the locket still sat atop her nightstand... it seemed eerie that it continued to wait for her even though she was now gone...

Memories are neither good nor bad.. They are.... just as life is... it exists beyond us and around us. We cannot change or alter the memories we hold..... but they continue to change and alter us...

Tai drew in a sniffling breath of cold air as he debated if he was ready to walk up these sTairs again after so long. A soft hand found his. Her lips solemnly moved to his ear.

"I miss her too Tai..... but she would want us to be happy...."

Sora kissed his cheek. A light crimson blush appeared on his cheeks... even though he had became very well acquainted with her lips they could still catch him by surprise every so often.....

We are at the mercy of our memories... some we recall with silent laughter, while others we relive with quiet tears........

***********************************

t he five year old Tai sat on the stone wall numbly. Tears sTained his childish features which shimmered dimly in the clouded mourning sky. They had buried her today... He stared down over the grass with a sorrow that was never before know to the carefree child... he had cried till no tears could be born from his crimson eyes... and then by shear will the tears were resurrected and flowed freely down his cheeks.

"Grandma...." he sniffled out in a voice that was to labored to be recognized as that of Tai's.

He cried painfully as he stared out over the lake. It was tranquil... and still.. As though the earth were doing all it could to comfort the shattered young boy. He was lost in a world of loss... the lack of her presence made it harder for him to continue.. He missed her so much...

A pair of soft thin arms suddenly wrapped across him pulling him to the source of the warmth. They held his crying form to him with loving tenderness Tai had only felt from two sources. The woman who he loved, and had lay tear soaked roses across her memorial this very day, and the girl who was his partner in crime and partner in everything else. Sora held him to her in a way she had seen his grandmother do before... head against her heart and arms around his neck stroking his hair softly. She found the position natural to her as her only goal was to make him feel better.

Though her own eyes were soaked with freshly shed tears she felt the strength to console him. Though no blood bound Sora and Taichi's grandmother together.... they were as strongly bonded as she had been to Tai. The loss was felt just as hard by her as it was to him.... they bled as one, and mourned as one, and pooled their strength as one.

"It'll be ok Tai...."

"I lost her...." he whimpered

"No... she's still with us inside..." she patted his tear soaked chest with a soft touch

" but....... you'll always have me Tai......"

As the words left her mouth their attention was drawn skyward by a shimmering radiance never before seen. The warm morning air glowed with reds and purples and pinks. The hues resonated

again and again with varying brightness and intensity. The children drew in a stunned breath as they continued to watch the aerial dance of the glowing colors. They sailed on the wind as would a vast and weightless scarf of varying colors. The stratosphere swirled around them as they remained in frozen wonder. There was no fear... just silent spectral in the radiating heavens.

The crimson tendrils of the smoke drifted downward until it sailed over the earth as a fog... yet it moved more as an animal then a element. The turns and maneuver it made could be compared to that of a snake as it glided through a still and glassy pond without the slightest ripple.

Tai stared into the intangible display of light and warmth as it glided around the two children with spectrums of pinks and red that could exist in no rose.... the beauty was staggering as glided around them. it evoked feelings within the very core of the young Taichi... with a slight movement he reached out and intercepted one of the spectral tendrils, it felt so warm on his skin... the warmth was as the sun feels upon your skin as you lay upon the soft and sweet grasses. It could be described only to those who had felt it for themselves. How do you describe the feeling of being a child to someone? How could you accurately put into words the true impression of love, or comfort without using a similar word to define it.... you cannot explain love without first explaining happiness or joy.... It was one of those things in life that can be felt, but never narrated....

Tai grasped it as best he could within his child mind... he put to no thought to it's substance, just

enjoyed the feeling of it as it slipped through his fingers like warm and soft sand....

He looked to Sora with his still moist eyes...

"Are you doing this?......." he breathed softly still in awe of the spectral projections of love.

"I don't know......" came her whispering reply

the two softly liked hands and continued to watch the spectral movements once more.

***********************************

that day existed to Tai as it had then, no soft fog diluted the memory of that one moment from his youth. He recalled it all as clearly as he could remember yesterday. That was when he had first known what he knew now... he would never love another. She had been with him through his worst... he had cried on her shoulder, and when the effort of expelling the tears got to great, he had lay his head on her lap and slept to the soft loving motions as she ran her hand through his hair. He had spent more time falling asleep with her then he had with a pillow. She had been a undiminishing source of comfort, the feel of her body was all it took to part the most vast ocean of grief.

Tai had loved her every day sense then....and on that one snowy night in the Digiworld it had erupted in a violent shockwave of intimacy. She was hurting as he had once hurt... and he would have given his soul to alleviate her pain. And from that moment since they were bound together in a way no other could ever understand...

The house was massive. The large and comfortable living room was adorned with soft reddish wood furniture. There was a rustic quality to the house.. It was more earthy then the apartments back at home. The floors were hard wood, and the fireplace loomed out of the shadows of the room with a friendly quality. It was made of smooth stones hand crafted together to fit the desired look. The only light of the room came from a sTained glass window that allowed soft pink and reddish light radiate inward from above the sTairway. Tai rubbed his hands together softly to return some of the feeling before he went to work on building a fire. the task was easy enough for him due to his practice in the Digiworld, where there is usually harsh winds or rains to hinder the effort of getting warm. One of the reasons augumon was one of the more popular digimon of the group was his skill in the pyrotechnic area.

***********************************

The fire soon roared within the confines of the grey stone chimney. The blaze began to cast a warmth over the chilled room and the teens that were lounging around within. There was an air of contentful relaxation as they thirstily sipped at the steaming cups of hot chocolate. It was later in the afternoon as the sun now set behind the mass of ice-capped trees.

Tai smiled contentedly from the couch where he held the sleeping Sora against his chest. The day had been a perfect one for them all. Matt, Mimi, Yolie, Joe, and Izzy had spent the day skying while the rest had taken advantage of some of the perks of the house. Davis and Cody had spent their time in a violently cold game of pool against Kari and TK.... Tai thanked god he had managed to stay out of that room during the bloodshed that they had originally called a "friendly game." Tai and Sora knew that the best place to be was as far from them, once they heard Davis utter the phrase "strip 8-ball." he momentarily debated wether he should try and rescue Cody from the brawl that was in the making, yet.... he was in no rush to see what Kari and TK would do to Davis.....

"Cody.... you're on your own........"

Tai looked down to Sora only to find her smiling up at him. Looking at that face he could only smile... she was so cute as she grinned playfully up to him.

"I thought you were asleep."

"No... I was just thinking about when we were little here." she sat up and snaked an arm around Tai's waist. He smiled warmly and offered her the last of his hot coco, which she happily drank down, sighing contently as the warmth of the liquid ran down her throat. She looked up to Tai who giggled lightly at the marshmallowy foam on her top lip. Before she could wipe it away he leaned in and with a impassioned kiss removed the froth.

"Hey Tai, me and Kari are gonna hit the Jacuzzi. Alright?"

"Yeah no problem TK, have her show ya how to turn the jets on ok? Oh and don't forget to turn it off when you two are finished." he smirked as TK trotted off after Kari with a lot of enthusiasm.

"I'm impressed Taichi... You know it's about a fifty percent chance their bathing suits are coming off before they are out of that tub....." Sora elbowed him in the ribs playfully...

He sighed

"Just as long as I don't see it... I am to old to keep up the older bro thing.... I swear Kari is acting so flirtatious, and sexually tword TK... and she's acting just like..." he was cut off by Sora

"You?

She's acting like you Tai....." she grinned as the idea made Tai pale.

"I don't need to hear that Sora, and you act like you were the innocent one... I seem to recall you enjoying it just as much as I did." he quipped playfully.

"You're right... bet young mr. Takeru isn't complaining about the Kamiya sex drive either... she smirked triumphantly as he paled even deeper.

"Why did I bring you again?"

"Because I kiss you?" she smiled

"Oh right." he kissed her deeply as he lifted her up from the sofa. She gigged as he effortlessly spun her around the room. The spinning made her dIzzy and yet she laughed happily with her whole heart. The arms that playfully twirled her inspired great trust. She never feared that he would drop her or accidentally let her slip. It's a rare thing to truly know that someone will never hurt you. To know that they are completely dedicated to you and would die before knowingly cause you any pain... this is what Sora had grown to know of her Taichi. He belonged to her as she belonged to him.

With a smile on her soft pink lips she slipped to her feet. Tai smiled softly as he realized what she was doing. He reached over to the deep black CD player and proceeded to press the programed set. With a few quick beeps the speakers began to softly come alive with the soft music. The deep rhythmic music softly grew around them. the song was a slow one, a song meant to be danced to in such a fashion... Tai slowly walked to Sora who was dressed in mearly a pair of warm and soft pajamas, yet in the setting the casual and childish attire put the most elegant of gowns to shame. She sparkled with the same poetic splendor as a snowflake on the wind, perfectly etched to the memory for that single moment before it is lost within the sea of snow. Her hair had grown much longer since the digital world, it now hung from her in a way that framed her face more beautifully then any work of art. Her smile could melt the snow capped hill around the cabin effortlessly, and now that loving smile was meant for Tai.

The two joined together happily into the embrace. Tai's hands found the correct positions on her waist, while she looped hers across the base of his neck. The act of dancing was a happy one to Tai... for it was in this very room as a child that the same Sora had taught him how to dance at all. It was still a joke between them about the shear abuse Sora's poor feet had taken before he had developed a sense of rhythm. But the lesson was well learned. Tai had developed even more a reputation as the ideal lover as opposed to the sports star of the school. He could do all the things that filled the fantasies of teenage girls. And for this reason Sora had developed a flock of enemies who despised the fact that the sweet and gentle Tai Kamiya could only see her in a room full of cheerleaders. They simply couldn't grasp the attraction the tomboy possessed that was so beyond their charms....

Sora slowly rested her head against his heart as they continued to lovingly dance to the music. They had dated for so many years and yet they had never once lost the spark they possessed from that first kiss to now. The spark ignited within their hearts and blazed hotter then the log on the fire, or with more power. It still swelled within the two... and though familiarity had crept into their life as a couple Tai's hands continued to grow sweaty as he thought of her, as she would forget to breath when she saw him shirtless. They moved as one across the room. The world around them was gone, all there ever was or forever would be was them.

***********************************

"Do you think that'll be us some day?" Kari asked from the bubbling water of the tub.

"No doubt.... we are so gonna be cute like that when we get older." TK smiled boyishly to her.

She smiled at him from her side of the bubbling tub. The hot water countered the cold around them pleasantly. Kari smiled as she let her eyes roam over the shirtless TK. He yawned pleasantly as he too allowed a candid stare at the young Kari. She wore a black two piece bathing suit that hugged her frame in a way that TK had only dreamed possible. Her skin was a soft rosy hue, as his was now in reaction to the hot water of the tub. She smirked as she caught the wandering eyes with a light blush. With a soft dabbling movement she swirled her finger in the water, playing with the occasional bubble. She found TK's gaze drifting to the starry sky above them. with a quick splash she got his attention again.

"Where were you just now?" she smiled softly.

"Actually, I was thinking of Davis." she dropped her jaw lightly at the comment.

"How should I take that TK? You have a less then dressed me in a hot tub with you, and you are thinking of Davis."

"Ahh!... no, not like that you little weirdo.

I feel kinda sorry for him."

"How so? The guy hates you with a passion...."

"Well I put myself in his place... I have the most sweet and beautiful girls ever who for some reason loves me... if I were him it would be killing me knowing how great you are yet not being able to be with you..."

Kari slipped over to TK gracefully, with a tender movement TK took her in his arms and sat her on his lap. She sighed happily at the added heat his arms provided.

" I can't really fault him for hating me... he is an ok guy... just a guy in love with a girl he can never have... that's how I felt for a long time about you kar... I feel bad for him."

"TK have I told you lately how incredible you are? I don't think I could say that about a girl who was after you... we have only been dating for a few weeks but I...." she drew in a quick breath.

"I love you Takeru..." she said as she sat facing him on his lap. His eyes were startled and shimmered a sapphire blue. For a moment Kari was afraid she had said to much... the last thing she wanted was to scare him off with the commitment those words bring. Her eyes began to shimmer with tears until she felt his hand touch the side of her face.

"I have been so afraid of you Kari..." she looked at him questioningly.

"You have a strength... a light inside that attracts you to things. The numamon saw it in you, as did the other digimon... you lead people, and bring out their best... things are always happening to you, and I am afraid because I'm always left in the lurch... I can't really help you...." he drew in a deep breath...

"Like when you disappeared... Oh god Kari I have never been more afraid in my life. I thought I had lost you... and I hated being helpless... I wanted more then anything to know what to say or to do, so I could be by your side.... but the thing is.... somehow you found me... I saw you in my mind and somehow managed to open the gate so I could be with you...

Kari.... I found you....." he smiled lightly into her eyes.

"Kari... I love you with all my heart..."

He drew her to his lips joyously. And with a sudden moment of lust the two began kissing in a way they had never before kissed... there was a connection between them... a need.... a love.... a passion. Before they had kissed only as children. Soft and sweet, yet truly innocent done more out of experimentation then of love. But now the kissing had elevated to the way two people kiss who love eachother as a man to a woman. TK found her mouth to be more sweet and luscious then he had ever dreamed. As the kiss became open mouth his head swam. He felt his own tongue press to hers and then the two began a soft and passionate dance to one another, as they swirled against one another within their mouths. TK slowly ran his hands against her hot and wet body...

The waters of the tub seemed to boil with passion now as TK, began to kiss her bottom lip then hungrily move to her neck. He drank the water from the hollow of her shoulder as he tasted each inch of her soft tan skin. Kari found herself lost in the ocean of passion that heaved around them now. Her hands snaked to his back clutching him to her tightly as she felt him place sparse nips against her. It tickled in some ways and the yearning hurt in others... she soon found herself panting out "I love you"s against his skin as her lips met his once again in a fiery kiss. Never would they have pictured this as their ultimate destination from the first days they met in the Digiworld..... but they could never have hoped for more then that destination to have been the other. for the first time they knew what Tai had meant when he told what he felt for Sora... the words had confused them before, yet now that they too knew the feelings... Tai's words of love and passion seemed more poetic and insightful then they could have ever dreamed....

***********************************

the stars glistened in the vast sea of velvety black, as diamonds. They glowed and shimmered with crystal clarity over the frigid world around the cabin. Soft flurries of snow danced happily in the frigid night winds before they vanished into the night that spawned them.... TK and Kari now slept happily in eachother's arms. Tai and Sora had found the children lulled away in a deep sleep, still in the warm waters of the tub. Much to his joy he found that they had remained clothed.

Tai had carried the heavier TK in his arms, while Sora gently lifted Kari. The two older teens found it a surreal experience to carry them. It gave them a sensation of what someday would be their future, to carry their own sleeping children in their arms. Tai smiled lightly at TK as he lay the young boy on the soft warm couch, Sora deposited Kari next to him. The feel of her body to his automatically triggered the response of wrapping her into his arms. Tai watched this with a grin... the young man reminded him so much of himself with Sora. Needless to say Tai felt a kinship to Kari's first love.

Sora took her quilt from where it had been safely laid and with a gentle smile on her face spread it over the two children. The blanket was soft and warm... as it was laid over the two bodies it enveloped them within its' warmth, and that is how they slept. Sora knelt before the sleeping Kari and with a motherly impulse kissed her brow. She sighed happily in her sleep, and through her unconscious lips she breathed out a: "good night mom." Sora smiled softly and rose up with a light pat on TK's head. Tai smiled proudly at his Sora as he slipped his arms around her waist...

***********************************

Sora lay contentfuly in his arms as the dim light of the lamp pooled over the ivory pages of the book. Tai's words soothed her in a way she had loved since childhood. The boy's lips were able to do so much... snarl ferally at any threat with the ferocity of a lion.... kiss her in a way that words couldn't do justice.. And from the gateway of his lips could come words that carried such soft understanding and tenderness as to shame the word the voice uttered. Sora had gotten into the habit of falling asleep to the sound of his voice. And for his part he loved reading to her... words have a power all their own. like magic...

A simple incantation of words can evoke tears from the hardest heart. The words can flow as sand across the feet on the beach with the same relaxing quality as a day spent lounging in the golden sun. words had the power to send love upon swift wing, or to fill the billowy white sails of warships... words can be tender, or their innocents give way to the most true and all consuming method of foreplay. Words have powers that authors wield as sorcerers wield mystic spells. And Tai was a master of this brand of sorcery.... hiss words could break hearts as glass upon stone, or fill them with truest love ever to be felt within the heart.

"One more Taichi?" she asked cutely as a child pleading sweetly.

"I feel you are taking advantage of me...."

"What'cha gonna do?" she smirked

Tai reached blindly into the bookshelf positioned to the rear of the master bed that Sora and he had claimed as their own for their stay. The single bed had been a problem only in the minds of the parents back at home... the others saw Tai and Sora the same way they see two married people, no sin or shame existed with the way the two older teens showed their love for eachother. They had spent their lives together, and counting the digital years... their lives were within the span of centuries.

Tai withdrew the aged brown book. It was most likely a book of poems or fairytales. The books had been Tai's grandmother's... she was a lover of the written word, and had a vast collection of short stories and more famous works... as Tai thought back over his life in this house he couldn't dream of a night where his grandmother hadn't read him to sleep. Even the last night she spent on the earth had been spent with her by his bead softly reading to him.. Her voice had been weak, and the physical pain had been crippling... but she had read Tai one last, true story... the story had been forgotten the following morning when a teary-eyed mother woke him.. And told him......

Tai had fought back the mist of the memories to reclaim that story, yet it seemed lost forever in her library of books and his clouded memory of it.. He regretted that loss more then many other losses he had known. One story gone forever...

He drew up the book and froze as the cover stared back at him....

A symbolic heart and sun intertwined together. The symbols were unmistakable.... he ran his hand over the cover to insure their tangibility and confirm that they were not some strange figment of his mind.... they were real......

Sora too paled as she looked at them in wonder. He opened the cover hesitantly and his jaw slackened and dropped at the black indigo ink. The book bore a message scribbled in floral writing. And the message was one more precious to Tai then any other could ever have been:

Dear Taichi,

this story is the last I will be able to read to you

I know that you'll miss the time we spent together, but know that I will be with you always in mind body and spirit. I can only thank god for the time he granted me to be your grandmother. I could never have hoped for a better grandchild, then you. It saddens me to know that I will not see you grow up, or fall in love. I know that you will make a girl very happy. Speaking of which, I hope you and Sora find eachother in life, she is a truly special girl... and I know that you will discover that soon. I know you have questions about the symbols on this book.... you either know them already or are soon to know them.. I'm sorry but I can't tell you their origins. You'll understand someday.

I want you to know I have never been anything but proud of you. You have a brilliant destiny ahead of you my beloved little Taichi. Always know that I love you and will be with you.

Faith Kamiya

Sora smiled sadly at the teary eyes of her true love. He had found the last thing his grandmother had left him. The letter left questions... and it stirred pains that were buried far beneath the murky waters of time, and yet... more joy came from this letter then anything he could have hoped. He shared a loving smile with Sora as he felt a force compel him to continue. He felt it push his hands against the paper and compelled his eyes to glide across the text. He read by a will that was more then his own, he read to the person he loved most as his grandmother had before to him...

He smiled.

"Once upon a time, in a land far, far, away there were seven children lost in a strange world......"

stories are the link we bear to our ancestry

they tie us to our past with chains that know no breaking point

they write themselves upon our hearts, and dreams

stories are how we know ourselves

we listen, and we grow through their council

and the truly great amongst us shall become a story in themselves..