Disclaimer: Why do you think that every time you read this, you keep hoping that it'll say something different? I DON'T OWN DIGIMON! Why can't any of you goofballs understand that?!

Anyway, this the author Whose Liner speaking, and I'm pleased to say that I'm very glad that you all liked my fanfic "From Courage To Love"! And I'm sure that all you guys and gals can't wait for another awesome Taiora tale! To be honest (or maybe it's just me), I haven't seen any new Taiora stories lately...have you noticed that, too? Nevertheless, here's another great story to add on! It is an absolute NECESSITY that you give me plentiful reviews, because I guarantee that you will love my second Taiora fanfic! So without any further ado whatsoever, let the story unweave, the adventure commence, the laughs be heard, and - especially - may the romances begin!

LONG LIVE COURAGE AND LOVE!

Digimon - Second Chances For Sora

Chapter 1 - Hollow Echoes of the Present

Cold winds blew. The sky was starting to darken a bit. Snow flurries were beginning to fall from the sky. This was the time of winter for all, human and digimon. But if one were to think on a broader scale, they discover that it's much more than that (in a spiritual sense).

In other areas, you can hear bells ringing, voices singing, and a very warm feeling, despite the cold weather. This presence is that of people everywhere, welcoming the spirit of Christmas. This holiday spans not only across the planet Earth, but even to the Digital World, as well. But this next scenario does not at all concern the digital monsters that freely roam that mystical realm. Instead, we're brought elsewhere into the eyes of a regular human being.

A young girl of no more than fifteen years of age, with short auburn-colored hair and crimson eyes was busying herself at the present moment. This girl's name was Sora Takenouchi, the Digidestined of Love. Even though this little fact slipped her mind (at this moment in time), it was no surprise that love was all that really occupied every inch and centimeter of her mind.

Sora hummed a little (semi-cheerful) tune to herself as she worked her fingers around the paper in her careful and capable hands. To her, the task at hand was nothing short of the utmost importance, as she concentrated and tried very hard to neatly wrap up the special Christmas present. The girl carefully folded and pulled the bright green wrapping paper around the gift she was to (hopefully and successfully) deliver later on. With just a few cuts and taping, the wrapping was finished. To complete the picture, she pulled from her small bag of fabrics a long red ribbon to tie around her gift. She carefully cut a moderately fair length, and elegantly tied it around the box.

A breath of relief left her mouth as she proudly appreciated the quality of work she put into the gift, as well as the wrapping job.

"Boy..." Sora said with a genuine smile. "Tai's gonna love this present...I just know he will. I can't wait to give it to him..."

The girl noticed tiny flurries falling from the heavens outside and she loved the way they slowly fell to the ground, disappearing in an instant, but immediately replaced by more.

She glanced up into the sky, unable to rid herself of the smile that crept into her face. Not that she cared that it wouldn't go away. Her voice uttered a happy sigh.

"Merry Christmas, Tai...I hope this holiday brings happiness to both of us..."

A little while ago, the Digidestined received the best Christmas present they could ever receive...the return of their digimon! Tai Kamiya, Sora Takenouchi, Matt Ishida, Izzy Izumi, and Joe Kido were astounded to receive a warm and welcome visit from their digimon buddies!

This was all thanks to the contribution of the new Digidestined, Davis Motomiya, Yolei Inoue, Cody Hida, and Ken Ichijouji. (And partially guided along the way by T.K. Takaishi and Kari Kamiya.) Christmas this year was indeed expected to be a good one...but circumstances would soon take an unexpected turn...

Had any of those kids had the ability to see into the future, they would have foreseen that two evil digimon the Digidestined were currently battling against decided to crash a rock concert held by Matt Ishida's band, the Teenage Wolves.

That's what indeed eventually happened, but the attack is not what this story meant by "an unexpected turn"...let's pretend that time could rewind to an earlier moment, where unfortunate circumstances crushed the expectations of a certain someone. Specifically, the hopes and dreams of the Digidestined of Courage...

It was the late afternoon, and the news of Matt's concert was spreading fast. Crowds of people had come to see "The Teenage Wolves" perform, whether the fans had come in couples...or by themselves...

Matt's friends promised to come to his concert, but for some reason...Sora made it a priority to get there before the others...

"Wow! This is so exciting! People are already lining up for Matt's concert..." Sora noted.

Not too surprisingly, she was shaking as Biyomon, her pink-colored, bird-like digimon talked to her. But Sora wasn't shaking from the cold temperature...

"Don't worry, Sora, we'll be sure to get good seats...especially once you give him these homemade cookies," Biyomon replied, indicating the wrapped present for Matt.

"I hope," Sora said in a nervous and worried voice. There were so many other girls who wanted Matt very badly. Would he notice her? Would she be able to stand out from all the others?

She was getting anxious as to how Matt would react to this. Sora really had her heart set on Matt, and was extremely shy and nervous about the whole thing. The most she could hope for was the possibility that he would get the message and give "it" a try. She hadn't even gone as far as to think of what she would say, once she entered the tent with her box of cookies for him. But those thoughts would have to be put on hold, as the one of the worst case scenarios – originally tucked into the back of Sora's mind – would soon occur and play out just as painfully as she thought it would...

"Sora, wait up!" said a voice.

"Oh, Tai...uh, err..."

Sora was painfully forced to look up at the person to whom the voice belonged. It was her childhood (and so far, best) friend, Tai Kamiya, with Augumon in tow. Suddenly the thought of the item cradled in her hands rushed into her head. Her eyes briefly darted downwards to Matt's present, and a small pink blush faintly started to appear on her cold cheeks, actually warming them a little.

This made her feel very uncomfortable, for multiple reasons.

"Something smells good!" Augumon cheerfully noted as he and Tai walked up to Sora and Biyomon.

Matt's digimon partner, Gabumon, came out of the gigantic tent, and immediately smelt out the fresh, delicious scent from Sora's cookies.

"Matt's busy getting ready, but I'll take those to him. Mmmm!" Gabumon went.

"I betyou will, no way! You'll eat the whole thing yourself!" complained Biyomon, slightly annoyed.

"Why, I resent that! I'm on a diet!" Gabumon gently argued.

Tai found this little scene amusing, but remembered what he was really here for. So he took a deep breath, and locked his eyes with Sora's.

Here goes nothing, he thought, not too confidently.

"So, um, Sora...you goin' to the concert with anybody? I mean, not that it matters to me...just wondering."

Sora eyes almost widened, but she tried her best to maintain her composure. This really was a tragedy for both of them, in a way. For the longest time, she wanted nothing more than for Tai to ask her out, but after three, long years...she got tired of waiting.

Waiting for him to call, waiting for him to say those three little words that had such huge meaning, or just plain waiting for him...

This was it. She had to follow her heart now and walk in the direction in which (she thought) was the right one. And the direction in her mind wouldn't be leading to Tai...it would lead to what (she hoped) awaited her inside the tent.

Sora had no choice but to reject him. She knew quite well that this act would definitely break his heart, but that wouldn't mean that she couldn't try to let him down easily and carefully.

Now Sora was the one who took a deep breath, preparing to answer Tai, who was anxiously awaiting her answer. Mentally, she cursed herself for hurting and betraying him like this...but it was the only way.

"No, I wanna be available in case Matt is free afterwards. Eh, heh..."

Tai swore that his entire body nearly froze in complete shock, and his eyes widened. Even though Sora was right there, in front of him, it truly felt as if she'd been pulled a million miles away. His heart skipped a beat, and his teeth began to chatter a bit. Sora watched in horror as Tai tried to take his rejection as best he could. It seemed like an eternity before he spoke again.

"Oh, I see...Matt, huh?" Tai's voice was noticeably breaking up.

Sora's cheeks were quite flushed as she looked away from Tai, and lowered her sight to the ground; a combination of emotions erupted and was clearly displayed. Expressions of pain, (partial) betrayal and embarrassment could be seen in her eyes and on her face.

Taking another deep (and cracked) breath, he walked up to the special, one-of-a-kind girl, and ever so gently placed his hand on her shoulder, realizing that if everything (in her favor) worked out, she would indeed soon be "off limits"...in more ways than one. As weird or confusing as this seemed, she wouldn't be at all surprised if Tai got angry. In all the time she knew him, Tai always had (more or less) been justified in anything worth getting angry over. Given the present situation, Sora knew that she'd never blame him for how he was feeling right now. She got increasingly worried then and there, and braced herself for any sort of nagging, whining, or...yelling. But Tai was about surprise her once again...

"I-It's okay..."

The red streak on Sora's face quickly vanished as she looked up at Tai's face in wonder, as well as slight surprise. She felt her eyes widen a bit, while she struggled to respond.

"Y-you're not mad at me, Tai?" Sora nervously replied as she looked at the sad smile that had just appeared on his face.

"No, of course not! Now get in there and say hi to Matt for me!" Tai half-weakly stated, as he gently pushed her toward the entrance of the tent. It was incredibly difficult to watch these last few moments of Sora as a "single" person.

"Thanks, Tai," she said, taking one last look at him.

"The least you could do is leave us the cookies!" Agumon complained, hungry as ever.

Sora giggled at Augumon and his persistence for food, to somehow lighten this sad mood. She tried her best to satisfy his needs.

"Tell you what...I'll make some special ones for you," she said, deliberately locking eyes with Tai.

With that said, she reluctantly turned away from him and entered the tent, mentally crying a bit for leaving Tai...all alone. This was absolutely terrible. The images of Tai (facial) reaction remained firmly fixed in her memory. He looked so hurt, liked a lost and now...clearly abandoned puppy. But the knowledge of whatever could be done to repair this was beyond her. She was only one girl. His last few words manage to echo through her ears...

"I'll be waiting...thanks," he said, predictably disappointed.

That sad smile was still stuck to his face. He looked at the ground and sighed.

"You know what, Tai?" Augumon asked in a serious tone.

"What?" he replied, briefly jerking his eyes to the little orange dinosaur-like creature.

"You've really grown up!"

Tai couldn't believe it, but strangely enough for some unknown reason...he found himself smiling.

SIX MONTHS LATER...

Tai bent forward in his seat, staring at a small television in his school's computer room. The image that was playing on the screen displayed a rough soccer team, dressed in black jerseys, almost effortlessly trouncing their opponents. Thankfully, the losing team wasn't Tai's. But if his team won the upcoming semi-finals...then it WOULD be them. The thought of that possibility gave Tai a visible cold sweat.

In terms of this big soccer tournament, things were really heating up. Tai's team was doing exceptionally well this season, but...the team he watched on the television just seemed to be too much for any other to handle. His thoughts began to drift over to his close friend, Sora.

Tai could still remember the good old days, when they "battled" alongside each other successfully. No one could argue against the crystal clear realization that the two of them were unstoppable on the field. They were a miniature team in themselves, and no one...NO one could ever hope to match their combined force and friendship. But Tai quickly recalled the fact that...times change.

Sora really changed a lot, for better and for worse. For one thing, she grown into quite the beautiful, elegant young woman that any boy would be lucky to have. The only problem with that was...he wasn't the lucky boy.

His other friend - Matt Ishida - was.

In addition, she had grown much closer to her mother, who understood her more and more every day. And to crown it all, she had switched from soccer to tennis. Not that it was a bad sport, but the concept that (in many ways) she'd inadvertently cut all ties to her closely shared past with Tai was unbelievable. If there ever was a time he needed her help on the soccer field, it was now!

"Tai?"

"AHHH!!" Tai yelled as his thoughts shattered.

He turned and saw Sora behind him, a partially worried look on her face.

"Sorry, Tai!" she quickly replied.

"Geez, Sora! Give a guy a heart attack...!" he sputtered.

"I said I was sorry, all right?! What's wrong with you?"

"N...nothing...I, uh...I was just lost in thought, that's all," he said, now in a calmer tone. "So, uhh...what brings you here?"

"Oh, well, uh..."

Sora was hesitant about talking to Tai of her little get-togethers with her boyfriend, Matt, but she decided not to beat around the bush.

"Y'see...Matt and I were gonna go out, but he needed to take care of some things first. So I decided to wait for him."

"Here?"

"Well, uh...it's as good a place as any, right?"

"I guess," Tai said, shrugging.

"Umm...it's our six-month anniversary-"

"Yeah, I know."

Tai knew very well that the two of them had been going out for almost half a year. He didn't mean to do it..but mentally, he kept track of how long they'd been going out, and how serious they were with each other. And was the pair growing closer? Boy, were they ever!

"So...what's the scoop? I mean, whatcha got planned?"

"Well...I asked him to take me to that hill above the town...y'know, the one where you get a real bird's eye view of the city?"

"Oh, yeah...that one..."

"We're gonna have a romantic picnic up there..." she said, sighing happily to herself. "And from now on, that'll be our 'special place'..."

Tai's eyes widened a lot at these words. Years ago, as little kids, Sora and Tai would often go up there to play. They'd spend hours climbing the big nearby tree, stay up late until it got dark so they could stargaze, and always worry their mothers sick. That area was both mutually marked by Tai and Sora as their 'special place', and they promised NEVER to share it with anybody else, no matter what. Tai couldn't believe at all what he was hearing from Sora, and it made him quite upset on the inside.

How could she even consider breaking one of their oldest promises? Matt wasn't to blame here, since he didn't know what really made this place so special. But Tai began to wonder if Sora was deliberately handing over every single thing that they previously shared to Matt. In some ways he understood, but was it not the point to build separate "special" moments with your boyfriend, instead of using other peoples' treasured memories as reference? The two of them celebrating their six-month anniversary was hard enough for Tai to contend with, but this...? The concept was almost unbearable, and it seriously hurt Tai's feelings. He did his best to resist the urge to yell at her, given the possibility that Sora might say something like...

"Oh, please. That was back when we were kids, Tai. Get over it."

That was the last thing Tai wanted to hear, so he sat silently and said nothing, while mentally wallowing in self-pity and depression. He became extremely grateful when Sora decided to change the subject.

"What are you doing here, anyway? School's been over for almost an hour."

"Well, I was waiting for Kari. She and I were gonna walk home together after T.K.'s basketball practice was over. She wanted to watch him play."

"I see...so...what's this your watching?" Sora said, pointing to the television.

"Oh...some reruns of the team that won the first semi-final round in the soccer tournament," Tai replied.

"I see..."

"Our game is coming up in a week or so..." Tai continued. "And provided we win the semi-final round, the coach wants me to watch some plays of this team...y'know, to see if they have any weaknesses."

Sora took a few seconds to watch the video replay, and the team did look formidable.

"Man, they are good," she agreed.

"That's an understatement...they creamed the other team in this game...they took eight easy goals, without the other team scoring. And then they scored five more for fun!"

Sora was pretty surprised at this little revelation. "Whoa. Thirteen to nothing."

"And we gotta be on our guard if we wanna even stand a chance against those creeps. It's times like this that I really wish you were still with us out there on the soccer field, Sora."

"Wel...too bad, Tai. I don't do soccer anymore. Times change."

"As do people," he bitterly muttered. Luckily, Sora hadn't heard him.

"Hey, guys!" said a familiar (and cheerful) voice.

The two turned their heads to see a fifteen year-old blonde standing in the doorway. It was Matt, with a small rolled-up blanket tucked under his arm. In his hand was a picnic basket.

"Matt!" Sora happily exclaimed.

"Yo, dude!" Tai waved.

"Yo, yourself!" Matt replied. "What's up?"

"Not much," Tai and Sora said simultaneously.

Matt briefly chuckled, then turned his attention to Sora. "Ready to go?"

"You bet!"

"Great! Let's get going!"

Sora nodded vigorously, and began to follow Matt, who turned to Tai.

"Hey, Tai?"

"What?"

"Umm...this may sound weird, but...you wanna come along?"

Tai was pretty surprised that Matt asked him, but what wasn't surprising was that he didn't want to. Besides, he could see Sora behind him quickly shaking her head.

"Why? As a chaperone?"

Matt laughed. "No, man! Just as y'know, company? The more the merrier..."

"Uhh...tempting, but no. There's stuff I have to do."

"Oh, okay...you sure?"

Tai gave a half-smile and a half-wave. "No, really. It's cool...I'd just be in the way."

"Hey, wait a minute, you wouldn't-"

"Besides..." he interrupted. "It's your anniversary."

Matt backed down at Tai's indication of this solid truth. It was indeed their six-month anniversary, but due to his and Sora's relationship, he noticed that she and Tai hadn't really seen much of each other, and felt that it would have been somewhat unfair to leave Tai so alone. He reluctantly nodded.

"Y...you're right."

"Of course I am," Tai smirked.

"Well, let us be off then, milady," Matt said, bowing to Sora.

"Took you long enough!" she playfully joked. Matt chuckled, and slipped his arm around her.

The brown-haired boy watched them walk off down the school hallway together. He glared a little bit at the way she treated her boyfriend, almost like Matt was her...best friend. Sora felt the need to turn her head, back to where Tai was standing. She gulped a bit at the way Tai stared at her, but quickly shrugged it off.

Tai sighed to himself as went back to watching the soccer replay. It was nice of Matt to invite him...but honestly, what would have happened? It's not as if Sora would have decided to switch guys then and there. He'd been reminding himself (ever since last Christmas that she was only one girl. In some ways, it was good that she was one-of-a-kind. It might have been very weird if there were two of her...or three, or seventy, or a hundred. It was ultimately her established uniqueness that made her very a special indivdual.

But as Tai would later find out, the concept of NOT being unique would have its advantages...

"Tai..."

"Hello?!" Tai whipped his head around. But the room – and the hallway – was empty. He looked back and forth through the hallway five times. Nothing. But he was sure that he heard someone-

"Can you hear me?"

Tai looked around again. "Who's there?! Hello??"

Nothing.

The boy slumped back down in the chair, sighed, slowly took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"Boy, I gotta take it easy...I'm so stressed out that I'm hearing things now."

"You WHAT?!"

"I just said I was going out with T.K. to get some ice cream," innocently answered Kari.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Then I wouldn't have had to waste the last hour waiting!" Tai almost yelled.

"I...I'm sorry, bro...it was just sorta like a last-minute thing..."

Tai sighed and turned away from his little sister. Apparently, his previous encounter with Sora (and Matt) left him more stressed out than he realized. T.K., who watching this scene play out from afar, leaned against a nearby bleacher to grab a small towel from his gym bag to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Patamon, his digimon pal, was also watching, while squeezed under the bleachers.

"What're those two yapping about, T.K.?" the little orange digimon asked.

"Beats me," T.K. replied. "But whatever it is, it sounds pretty heavy."

Gathering his gym bag (and Patamon), T.K. headed over to where Kari and her brother were talking.

"...no, I'm sorry!" he heard Tai say. "I guessed I'm just tired, Kari. You and T.K. go get some ice cream...have fun."

"Well, you can come with us if you want, Tai!" T.K. added, letting himself into the conversation.

"No, I'm...I'm not really feeling up to it...I'll see you at home, sis," Tai said a bit sadly as he left the gym.

A bit later, Kari and T.K. (with Patamon) walked down the street, leaving from the ice cream parlor. As Kari licked her strawberry ice cream cone, she thought back to her big brother's tone of voice. She knew exactly why he sounded all stressed out.

"So what was your brother all mad about, Kari?" T.K. asked, his mouth full of mint-flavored cream and chococlate chips.

Kari sighed. "Do the names 'Matt' and 'Sora' hold any meaning for you?"

T.K. quickly caught on.

"Oh...I get it. Yeah...these past few months must be pretty hard for your brother, huh?"

"That's an understatement. Tai tries to hide it, but me being his sister, and given the fact that he and I are very close to each other...I can see right through his farce."

"Yeah...it's starting to worry me, too. Tai's been like a second big brother to me. Don't get me wrong...I mean, Matt's a great guy and terrific brother, but him and Sora getting together seemed pretty unlikely. I really thought that she'd go for Tai."

"Well, the truth of matter is that Sora just gave up on him...so she-"

"...took an interest in my brother," T.K. finished.

Kari nodded, but then put on expression of partial anger.

"That's it, exactly. But Sora was just too stubborn and impatient to give my brother just a little more time! If she'd only waited until Christmas...! And to make matters worse, now she's practically spending all of her free time with Matt!"

T.K. was somewhat sympathetic, but tried to stay optimistic.

"C'mon, Kari...don't you think that you're overreacting a bit?"

"Remember last month when Tai took the us to the amusement park?"

T.K. nodded.

"Sora was supposed to come along with us," Kari noted firmly.

"She was?! W-where did-"

"Take a wild guess."

It hit T.K. like a ton of bricks. His mind – and his eyes – widened.

"Ohhhhh, man..."

Kari's eyebrows leaned towards each other.

"I can't forgive Sora for hurting my brother like this," she growled. "Rrrgh...she makes me so mad!"

"Hey...easy, Kari..."

"I can't take it easy! My brother has ALWAYS been there for Sora AND me whenever I needed him! I love my brother so much...I don't think I could bear it if something bad happened to him."

"I'm home!" Kari yelled as she entered her home.

She quickly saw that her parents were out, but her brother was in. She saw him sitting on the couch, leaning towrds the television, which wasn't even on. Tai's eyes seemed as if they were staring endlessly into nothingness. The lights were turned off in the area of the room where he was sitting.

"T...Tai?" she asked with caution. "I have some ice cream for you-"

"Leave it in the fridge, Kari," her brother replied in a familiar, sad tone.

Walking over to where her brother was sitting she spied a very depressed expression on his face.

"Hey..." she began, closely sitting down next to her kind-hearted older brother. "What's wrong?"

From the distant look in his eyes, Tai seemed to be pretty lost in thought, but he still answered his little sister (in no more than five words).

"It's their six-month anniversary."

"Oh," Kari said, nodding.

"Yeah," Tai replied, with barely a nod. "And she's taking him to our 'special place'..."

Kari's eyes widened in realization.

"You're kidding."

Tai didn't respond. But before he could complete another thought, he felt his sister kneel next to him on the soft couch, and wrap her arms around him, trying her best to provide comfort. After giving him a soft kiss on the cheek, the two of them sighed in sadness over Tai's inner and emotional distress.

"Kari...look, you don't have to-"

"I want to."

She always said that in his times of need. A lot of sisters probably wouldn't do this sort of thing, but not Kari. The Kamiya siblings were closer than most.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," she almost whispered into his ear. "I promise."

"I hope...look, I-"

Tai stopped short of his words as he tried to figure out what exactly to say. What was on his mind was an apology. Ever since the beginning of this emotional downfall since last Christmas, Kari had noticed a growing change in her brother.

Naturally whenever he was around other people, he always out on a cheerful face, pretended like nothing in the world bothered him, and acted as wacky and happy as ever. But only Kari could truly see that Tai's heart wasn't in it.

More times than either of them could count, Kari had put aside her free time to hang out with her friends (Digidestined or not) in order to continuously console her brother.

"You what?" she asked.

"I...I'm sorry you're taking all this time to...I mean, you're spending all this time with me and giving me all these...hugs..." he said weakly.

Kari giggled a bit.

"Well, if it's the hugs you're concerned about, don't worry...I have plenty of those in stock. Free of charge."

Tai gave her a half smile and finally hugged her back. "In that case, I accept...I'll take a free hug anytime."

Kari smiled a little more as she continued to firmly hold him. "I'll be here for as long as you need me."

Things didn't get any easier when she persuaded Tai to spill the beans about the specifics regarding Matt and Sora's anniversary. Even more so when she found out that it was Sora's idea. Needles to say, Kari was a more than a little peeved about it.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya soon came home and started dinner. Tai once again put on his cheerful facade for the benefit of his parents. Kari knew that it had to be somewhat exhausting to pull off an act like that so often, but it only made her appreciate his strength more.

Predictably, Tai decided to go to bed early. Kari tried to get him to play a game with her or to go online to talk with his friends, but his decision was final. She sighed and looked out the window, glancing over the entire town. In the back of her mind, she was glad that she couldn't see Sora from her apartment, even though the sight of the hill where Tai and Sora used to hang out was within her range of sight. The twelve-year-old glared as she continued to look out the window.

You'd better enjoy yourself for now, Kari thought, as if to project her raging words into Sora's mind. I hope you know just how much you're hurting my brother. And you know what? It's so good to know that you're always there for him as much as he is for you!

SOMEWHERE ELSE...

"Brrrrr!" went Sora as she hugged herself on the hill.

Matt looked up from his sandwich to his girlfriend with concern in his eyes.

"Something wrong, Sora? It's not really that cold out today, is it?"

"I don't know, Matt," she said, partially confused. "I just felt a sudden chill..."

10:42 p.m.

Kari yawned as she got up from the couch, turning off the television. She was getting tired and finally decided to hit the sack. But not before obtaining a little pre-midnight snack. She pulled open the refrigerator and the cupboard.

Meanwhile in her shared bedroom with Tai, one could practically taste the pain, tension and sorrow that was radiating from the lower bunk. Tai was tossing and turning. Though he was indeed asleep, his unconsciousness didn't nearly provide enough shielding from the haunting voice inside his head. Mentally, he tried his absolute hardest to fight off or yell back at that voice.

"Tai..."

"Who the heck are you?! What do you want from me??"

"Please...I'm here for you..."

"Leave me alone!!"

"Tai...I'm here... I love y-"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!"

Tossing and turning in bed, Tai woke up with a cold sweat running down his forehead. His head turned to see his the concerned look on his sister's face. Quickly putting down her plate of cookies and glass of milk, she rushed over to her brother without hesitation. Apparently Tai yelled that last line out loud, and Kari (not to mention everybody for the next ten blocks) heard him clearly.

"Tai?! Tai, what's wrong?!"

Her brother sat up in his bed with beads of clear liquid, flowing downwards from his forehead...and his eyes.

"I...I..."

"Take a deep breath...don't worry, I'm here."

"Lately, I've been hearing this...voice in my head...and it won't leave me alone."

"Uh-huh..."

"And every time I hear it...I get that feeling of guilt...that I lost Sora..."

"Hey, hey!" Kari said, vigorously and quickly hugging her brother again. "You have NOTHING to be guilty or sorry about! You hear me?!"

But Tai continued to mutter to himself.

"She always used to be everything to me...she meant everything and anything to me and I...I didn't..."

"Look, just hush now! It's not your fault! None of it is!"

"I loved her so much..."

"Shush! Shhh...it's okay. I'm right here and I'm not leaving you, y'hear? I won't leave you!"

Tai stopped talking as he began to cry like Kari had never seen. It was so hard to not cry herself at the sounds of his voice, but Kari stayed strong and did her absolute best to hold onto her brother and be there for him...just like he had always done in her times of sadness and depression.

Kari briefly grew angry, as her mind drifted around the cause of Tai's predicament.

Sora's my friend, she thought. But I can't and won't forgive her for this until she makes things right.

After ten minutes, Tai finally started to calm down, and Kari offered him her food. Tai wasn't very hungry, but took a sip from her glass of milk. He calmed down even more, as the milk felt cool and sweet as it poured down his throat. He handed the glass back to Kari, but she pushed it back into his hand.

"No, it's yours. You drink the whole thing, okay?"

Tai didn't speak, but slowly nodded. Kari put on a pained smile as he continued to drink.

As he slowly gulped the milk down, he turned to Kari and did his best to put on a straight face. Kari took this as a sign that he wanted to talk.

"What is it, big brother?" she asked she tenderly stroked his cheek.

"Well...you remember that voice I was telling you about?"

Kari nodded.

"It's just that...I started thinking...and I can't explain it, but...I know who that voice belongs to."

"W...who?"

Tai took a deep breath and carefully locked his eyes with Kari before answering. And his response fell upon disbelieving ears.

"Sora."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Well, well! Hello, people! Yes, yes, SO good to be back again writing my SECOND Taiora! I don't mind tellin' you that I've been dying to write this story, and I'm sure that all you fans have been dying to read it! Also as a bonus, next chapter...the "first" appearance of Mimi!! The one Digidestined whom I've neglected for so long will finally make her debut in the second chapter! Anyhoo, like I promised a while back, this story will have MUCH more Taiora mush than my first one! Yecch! But trust me when I say that you will all LOVE it! So with that said, please review and prepare to take the next few steps into one of the best fics that will keep the spirit of Taiora alive! TAIORA FOREVR!